#give me nothing characters and some crumbs of personality and brother i will run with it

[cherishedhope]

Hey there!! Hope you're doing great ! (⁠ ⁠˘⁠ ⁠³⁠˘⁠)⁠♥

Could I please ask platonic headcanons for the tweels with a reader that is the perfect little sister role for them like: She has a diabolic little smile like them, she's mischevious, a bit sadistic (not in a weird way tho!!) but she looks nothing like them !! Like, she's short, 'cute'-looking, wears aaaall pink and kinda behaves like a princess ! 'what is this cutie doing with the eel boys? she's worse than them?? jesus.' ,,

And sorry if this is too specific, but if I would describe reader's personality i'd say the one who would go '🎀 I'll kidnap your family AND your dogs and cats ! 🎀💞' with all sparkles and hearts and bows

Anyways, I thank you in advance! I hope that wasn't too long or specific, sorry about that . . .

Hope you have a nide day/night ! (⁠〃ﾟ⁠3ﾟ⁠〃⁠)

A/N: Awee!! This is soooo cute! Also dw, I loved the fact that it was long and specific. It really helped me out while writing this! :3 May you have a lovely day/night as well and ty so much for the request~! I hope you enjoy! d(･∀･○) Genre: Fluff, platonic. Disclaimer: Characters are likely to be ooc. Not proofread. If there’s anything you don’t like, lmk and I’ll fix it right up! :D Characters involved: Floyd Leech and Jade Leech. Request status: Open!

— The students at NRC should’ve counted their lucky stars while they had the chance. They were blessed to only have the tweels to deal with, but given that there was a new addition to the school? Specifically the tweel’s younger, slightly more unhinged but proper sister? Hoo boy.

— You and Floyd are inseparable. Hell, it’s more like you guys are besties rather than siblings. The two of you are well-known for assisting Azul in his journey on balding at the ripe age of seventeen, being declared the most chaotic and destructive duo on campus, bullying Riddle into throwing a hissy fit, but mostly for how terrifying of a presence you give off. Crowley would tell you two off but he is not taking any chances. mainly because he’s useless but you didn’t hear it from me 🫣

— Floyd constantly teases you about your height and more often than not wonders if you’re adopted. Not to mention how bossy you can be sometimes…. sheesh! Even Jade isn’t that prim and proper. You don’t even look like him! (lowkey side-eyeing his mom rn… ) Then he reminds himself that no, you couldn’t possibly not be blood. You’re literally a tiny version of him! Just with completely different features and shorter legs!! And more spoiled!! I mean, c’mon, there is no mistaking the bone-crushing, chaotic squeezes for someone who isn’t a Leech. It runs in the family.

— Okay, but imagine paying a “visit” to one of Azul’s clients who broke the contract. You threatened to kidnap the poor college student’s family, dogs, and cats and then Floyd pipes up, “AND WE’LL EAT THEM TOO‼️‼️👹👹”

— Finds it hilarious when students do a double-take once you reveal your true colors. Hahaha! They really let the cutesy act fool them? What a bunch of losers! In his humble opinion, they deserved to get squeezed for assuming his younger sister wasn’t as cool as him :)

— Remember how I said you guys were besties? It was a half-truth. With how often he teases you, I could see a fight breaking out. He’ll go easy on you though! He doesn’t want to break any of your fwagile tiny bones 🥺🥺 (kick his ass. 😒 )

— I’d say Floyd is pretty protective. I mean, he follows you around everywhere. That should be enough to repel any idiots from messing with you, but unfortunately some people only possess a crumb of a braincell. If anyone tries to harass you, he’s beating them up on the spot. You wanna join in? All right, he’ll hold the dumbass down for you! Get him where it hurts!!!!

— Overall a decent older brother. I wouldn’t kill him on the spot 👍

— The fact that you are the complete opposite of his brother and him in terms of physical looks and somewhat personality has always been incredibly amusing to Jade. Unlike Floyd, he never questioned if you two truly shared blood. There is not a single person in the entirety of Twisted Wonderland who could replicate that signature devious Leech grin. — Given you two are significantly more mature than Floyd, it is rare that you get into heated arguments. That doesn’t mean it hasn’t happened! Jade just knows when to walk away. Now whether he apologizes or not depends on the situation. Sometimes he will, other times he’ll just give you the silent treatment. — Much like Floyd, he teases you for your short stature, albeit more subtly than his twin. If he’s feeling particularly cheeky that day, he’ll store some of your favorite accessories on a high shelf that is just out of reach for the sole reason of getting on your nerves. There was also this one time he bought you a ladder for your birthday. That was it. Just a ladder. No follow up gifts after that. A three step ladder. In hindsight, it is a good gift for if you needed to reach something that is too high! Or at least that’s the excuse he gives. 😒

— He is relieved that you aren’t as reckless as Floyd whilst still maintaining that Leech family charm. The messes you create are less of a hassle to clean up compared to his obnoxious counterpart. With that being said, Jade will reward you with head pats as a job well done for completing any tasks you may receive! :D The tasks? “Tending” to rowdy customers, helping him out at the Monstro Lounge, intimidating Azul’s clients, etc. You do a splendid job.

— Chuckles when he watches you threaten an unfortunate soul with the capture of both their family and pets all while beaming at them in your bubblegum pink attire. Not only was it highly entertaining, but Jade barely had to lift a finger as you took care of the scum! He has never been more proud in his life.

— Even though you are more than able to protect yourself, Jade keeps a close eye on you. Despite being an elite school, it was still filled to the brim with shady characters. That coupled with the fact that his pure, can-do-no-wrong little sister is attending the same school as them, he’s going to make sure no creeps are lurking around. And if by some chance you do get harassed, the offender is never seen again. — No, he doesn’t play favorites. Certainly not! Why, how could Floyd ever accuse him of such a thing? 😔 you are totally his favorite sibling.

©2024 cherishedhope. do not repost on other platforms, modify, steal, copy, or use without explicit permission.

[waywardsalt]

ok so if possible i would give each of the einherjars a personal skill based on what would either bolster their own performance or otherwise be helpful to the others, and slightly based on what ive perceived as their personalities.

ippei (samurai) - competitive

jitaro (archer) - pragmatic

minori (shrine maiden) - sisterhood

shinobu (spear fighter) - playthings

goro (ninja) - rallying cry

musashi (diviner) - triple threat

nanaki (oni savage) - fierce mien

konoe (sky knight) - in extremis

hachio (apothecary) - perspicacious

unil (mercenary) - perfectionist

dua (fighter) - fearsome blow

trim (troubadour) - rose’s thorns

quatro (cavalier) - healing descant

penvo (outlaw) - opportunist

xestu (dark mage) - highwayman

hepto (knight) - chivalry

octu (wyvern knight) - quiet strength

quick reasoning for each:

ippei is pretty good for a generic unit, but could always use the crit and attack/defense boost from this skill, and nearly all of the einherjars are paired up. ippei does come off as slightly competitive to me through his animations, and as he’s paired with unil, i see him as being the more lively of the two.

jitaro usually ended up as one of the better generics, and pragmatic works well enough with him as a bow-user, probably more likely to be picking off already-damaged units, and it could be helpful in finishing off units that would otherwise be harder to kill, like high-defense armor knights. jitaro gives focused hunter vibes, like he’s cool and confident, so a skill that makes him do more damage to injured targets feels just right; not to mention, it works well with a few passive damage-dealing skills that a few other generics get.

minori could always, always use some more damage, and would also benefit from this skill’s damage reduction. she’s a support unit first and foremost, and though likely quiet, greatly benefits from trim’s companionship in combat. are they dating? maybe. she probably prefers the company of women.

shinobu is another decent einherjar, partially because he has access to some good class skills; iirc, he’s a good damage-dealer by the end. plaything’s 5-damage penalty to adjacent enemies is simple and effective, and i think it fits in decently well with how the spear fighter and spear master animations seem to include flourishes; he’s dramatic and effective, probably handles crowd control well and knows it.

goro having rallying cry as a ninja is slightly unorthodox, but useful considering that he may likely be near other units, and it would work well in tandem with the debuffs inflicted by shurikens. he’s probably a bit loud for a ninja and cocky about his abilities, and fancies himself a bit of a leader, more than happy to improve morale and egg everyone else on.

musashi getting triple threat gives him a bit of an edge over melee fighters, he’s likely to be a bit more vulnerable to them and so having the triple threat retaliation could be a useful tool. musashi generally comes off as more… stuck up? especially with the diviner and onmyoji win animation, so a skill that is very similar to a counter or divine retribution fits well enough.

nanaki gets fierce mien because his accuracy is always hurting and he could really use the boost. it’s fitting, anyways, considering the masks he wears for his class options. it works well for a brute-force club-using fighter. he just really needs the accuracy boost.

konoe is alright as a sky fighter, especially since her high speed can make up for lackluster strength, and in extremis could work pretty well to bolster that damage with a higher crit rate, plus sky fighters can be a bit fragile, so it’s probably not a stretch for her to drop into that 25% or less range.

hachio is the only einherjar without a pair-up buddy (he has no clear nohr parallel, i’m not sticking him with octu, and he’s one of the best generics anyways), so the way perspicacious has an effect on every deployed ally works extremely well for this. every single generic tends to struggle with accuracy, so that skill’s little hit rate boost is needed. hachio fits well in a support role, and as he’s the odd one out, he’s a bit of a defacto leader and strategist.

unil with perfectionist is based less on him struggling with accuracy, and more on his chance for self-healing with the sol skill, so it’ll keep him at max hp for longer and make him just a bit more effective. he comes off as much more serious than ippei, and perfectionist furthers that idea as he works best at peak condition and takes his work seriously.

dua gets the trademark fighter high strength, so why not lean into him as a hard-hitter and give him fearsome blow’s effect to make his ability to kill enemies all the more useful? he’s a very hard-hitting unit and likely an imposing figure, so nearby enemies taking damage when he kills an enemy gives the impression that he’s a bit of a force of nature in battle. it actually mixes pretty with with jitaro’s pragmatic.

trim is a solid unit with surprisingly good offense, as strategists usually turn out, so rose’s thorns’ boost to nearby allies’ attack and defense slots in nicely with her as a support-based class with a good range of movement. she’s probably a bit cold and firm in her support, so a more offense-based passive boost skill works, so she offers healing and a damage boost.

quatro has little need for a boost to his own skills, especially with the paladin’s defender skill, so he’s a good unit to give healing descant, especially since he’s got high movement as a mounted unit. taking into account his class animations, quatro comes off as a little gentler and especially caring of his horse, and might actually have a bit of a soothing and reassuring presence- also backed up by the defender skill- so a passive heal is useful and fitting.

penovo is basically the perfect unit for opportunist, both due to the nature of his class and due to the fact that he tends to struggle the most to do damage. he’s a thief unit who picks off enemies from a distance, of course he’s going to put more strength into it when he’s not in danger. it also adds to the idea that he’s sneaking up on enemies or catching them unawares when he attacks and they can’t counterattack.

xestu with highwayman is another unit who matches well with an underhanded personal skill, and the strength and speed debuff benefits him greatly as a slower unit with less defense. he’s not dying for attack power the way penovo is, and this skill even gives the impression that he curses enemies who can’t counterattack. he’s a dark mage, of course he’s going to take any advantage he can get.

hepto only really needs chivalry’s damage boost because he never doubles, and it fits him very well as a general since he is likely to be on the front lines and approached by uninjured enemies, so this skill’s attack and defense boost against enemies with full hp is a good little advantage. he’s visually the oldest einherjar, so i feel like chivalry is a skill that fits him well in that regard, and he comes off a bit as experienced enough to respect and not take lightly enemies who are at their peak.

finally, octu with quiet strength is an interesting skill for an offense-focused wyvern knight, but a defensive skill that benefits from his high movement and status as a flying unit. since his face is covered in his portrait and he appears affectionate to his wyvern, he comes off as a bit quiet and gentle outside of battle, and him having a skill to negate a little bit of damage feels just right.

im still thinking abt that generics-based fire emblems fates revelations thing i want to do with each of the generics getting personal skills and the aptitude skill. maybe i’ll make a list of what personal skill i’d give each generic

[pluviophile-bookworm]

HSMTMTS 2x11: Let us pull up a chair as the dining room proudly presents... the reason for my next mental breakdown

I can't believe myself, honestly. Oversleeping on the one day of the week that I've got something exciting to wake up for? Oh well, I'm up now and I'd better go ahead and do this before my dashboard has showered me with spoilers. I mean, I have never really minded spoilers, but when it comes to this, somehow I do. Though I do wish something had forewarned me about last week's snap ending (get it, 'snap'... I'll see myself out). I'd better dive in already.

Yes, Mr Mazzara, that's what I've been saying for a while! Ok, maybe I haven't been very vocal about it, but it was in the foreground of my mind that they should have asked for Mr Mazzara's help re: transformation! I'm just glad he pointed it out. Not that he could have done much while he was busy playing therapist for his beloved Miss Jenn. Oh well.

Were those Ash and Ricky doing actual paired-up warmups? That is what they should have been doing for weeks now. That and having actual off-stage interactions, too. But I still subscribe to the theory that the gang had some good rehearsals off-screen — otherwise there's no way they could have been this good on stage as we saw in the previews. I said it last time and I'll say it again — not everything is for us to see.

Wow. The one time our leads are in unison, and it is about both being injured. The East High drama club must be cursed — they can't have one production run smoothly and without what can only be described as pure unbridled chaos.

They don't have any understudies? That explains some things... but also how? But also, I'm so happy Ashlyn is going on. No way she would have missed her first (first of many, right?) chance of being the lead because of some 'minor' injury.

Ricky and Nini still can't talk to each other properly. Oh well. Take your time. It's not like I care about this pairing anymore.

Did EJ just use the word 'dig'? Boy, the boy's got it baaaaaad. Also, what is it going to take for these two to realise they're in love? For all we know, they might have that big kiss we're all dreaming of and still be like 'nah, it's nothing, we're buddies'... give me a break! But I mean, at this point they might just be turning into Redlyn 2.0, where even a kiss doesn't define things. But hey, if they do follow in Redlyn's footsteps, that only means good things in their future, right?

What did that fake French git do to my boy Carlos? He's not supposed to look this inanimate until right before the climax of the play! Well, I mean, at least Seb serving as his interpreter means that Seb gets more lines for a bit. Too bad he can't go on for someone with more lines in the play.

Miss Jenn's 'words of inspiration' were less than inspired... yeah, this show's going down. Or it would, if it depended solely on her. Let's hope the kids do better. I mean, I know for a fact they will... at least for about 5 minutes of the thing. There is still room for things to go wrong and I'm scared.

Oh, my sweet boy... I wish I could jump in there and do something to help him feel less nervous. Thing is, if I were there, I'd probably be the most nervous of them all, even if I were playing Townsfolk #3 or something, and everyone's nervousness would rub off on me, and I would be making things worse instead of helping. So yeah, I'm kind of glad I'm not there.

Ahhhh who called it? @redlyncentral was it you? Ash got flowers for her Biggie! And there's a card whose contents we've yet to see. But that doesn't seem to be helping either. My sweet, sweet Reddy... I hope and pray he'll be alright.

Well this is awkward! Who told Mike to show up and shake everything up right now? Miss Jenn is literally on the brink of exploding, and now she's stuck in this completely unnecessary love triangle. She needs some space. And a quiet place to breathe, thanks Mr M for suggesting it.

'Did we forget to build a mote around the school or...' Yeah, you tell her, Rick! That girl whose name I never want to pronounce (because it makes me think of much nicer people and she's making me hate it) has no business being there. She's not... being given a redemption arc, is she now? Some people just don't deserve it. And if hating her is an unpopular opinion now, well, I never did care much about having popular opinions. I can live with that.

'Lily, scram!' Yes, thank you, Natalie! I've always wanted someone who would voice my thoughts in a way that the characters can hear them. Make this girl a main next season, won't you? (Just so we're crystal clear, I mean Natalie, not the other one.)

OMG Mr M is in the play! In a way... I love that!

I love, love, love the way they did the prologue. 'Repulsed [the prince makes an over-the-top gesture of repulsion] by her haggard appearance [the witch shows off her face to the audience]...' I love this. I would pay a lot for a chance to see their entire play, you know?

Oh dear, somebody give my boy Reddy some sort of... medical aid against all the throwing up! I've got a nice pill that helps me with my bad cases of motion sickness. Hey, so maybe I could have helped if I were there after all. Great, now I feel bad. But also, is all the throwing up an excuse on the writers' part to keep my boy off-screen for the majority of this episode? Because it's a really lame excuse.

Gina's 'Many questions' continues to be a mood. What exactly is Miss Jenn expecting from the kids? Last-minute adjustments? No way. This spells disaster.

Was Carlos on vocal rest or something? Because he shines like the star he is... despite all the very obvious nervousness backstage. I mean, I wouldn't have it any other way, but... oh well, I wouldn't say it's unrealistic. In my personal performing experience, the most nervous ones perform the best. (So... what is that saying for my boy Reddy? Good things only.)

I've already had the opportunity to geek out about Be Our Guest yesterday, but... I mean, just look at them! Carlos doesn't need actual candles to be on fire, Ashlyn is stealing the scene without any lines in it, Gina is absolutely gorgeous, and don't even get me started on EJ and Big Red looking at their girls in absolute awe! This is everything!

Aww, look at them! Gina and Ashlyn dancing together, I mean. They're sisters and it really shows. And I love them both so much.

Kourtney is an absolute show-stealer! I'm still upset about some casting choices (one of them is in this scene, doing his absolute best with the crumbs he has been given), but she is absolutely perfect. I think I'll rewind and watch this entire scene again before moving on with the rest of the episode.

I'd just like to point out that Frankie's voice in his lower register is everything!

'You absolutely dusted that stage'... Not EJ making a pun so punny even I could not have thought of it... boy is absolutely smitten!

Not me tearing up when Jordan Fisher appeared as Gina's brother... like, I knew it was happening — I knew it even before it was announced. And I still teared up because, well, it's emotional in-universe and out.

Awww, my boy Reddy is so in love with Ashlyn... I mean, who wouldn't be... but — not Ricky saying Lily might not be as mean as they thought. Especially not to Big Red of all people. To him, she was just as mean as they thought.

'Side hustle project in the south hallway'? Ooh, what is it, I want to know now!

Why do I feel like things are a bit too awkward between Kourtney and Howie? Not that I'm too invested in their relationship, but if it bothered me, imagine how it must feel for the stans.

No, Ash, you absolutely do not need to add any fancy riffs to the song! Especially not just because L... well, that girl did it. You're unique and lovely and a literal Disney princess inside and out. That girl? She's just a wolf in a sparkling golden dress.

Awww... Big Red literally lowers Ash's blood pressure! Those two are such an amazing couple! (Full disclosure, though, he kind of does the same for me too; the other night I had this horrible nightmare, and I woke up in cold sweat in the middle of the night, and then... ok, getting too personal there.) The point is, if even the fantasy of a Big Red hug makes me feel better, imagine what his actual presence would do for Ash at that moment. Where is my boy? Everyone seems to be looking for him.

Oh... guess they took my advice to give the poor boy something for his vomiting issue. Good for whoever thought of it.

And we're back to the Porter siblings... forgive me if I still can't wrap my head around calling Gina's brother Jamie. I don't know about you guys, but thanks to my lovely new friend Paz he will always be Theodore to me. I guess we can headcanon that as his middle name. Anyway, I love it that they made a joke about the hilarious height difference between him and Gina because, well, it's the only thing I can think about when I look at the two of them. It reminds me of me and my little cousin who has been taller than me since she was 10, and is still growing taller now at 13. But, I mean, it's not very hard to be taller than me, since I'm so, so short... ok, this is not about me. Moving on.

Was I the only one who actually laughed out loud at Ricky drinking from the bowl as the Beast? I mean, that part has always made me laugh in the original movie, but something about Ricky's take on it makes it even funnier.

Meanwhile, my girl Ash is absolutely killing it as Belle. Not me having the very same expression as Big Red while watching her... gosh, I love both of them so much! Also, no offence to the rest of the cast, but Julia really is the best vocalist out there. Out of all of them. I said what I said.

My apologies to Ricky, but his voice is just not it when it comes to playing the Beast. Still, with the other option being him putting on that fake deep voice from the audition, I'm glad he didn't.

Ahhhh Portwell nation you ok guys? Since we didn't get them singing Something There, this is very much the next best thing... and boy, is it good!

Those glances between Kourtney and Howie, on the other hand... what on Earth is happening there?

Ok, so you all know just how strongly I feel about Seb's casting as Chip, and yet... boy had one line and absolutely ate it up! Give him an actual singing role next time, Miss Jenn!

EJ being starstruck by Jamie not because he's a big music producer, but because he's Gina's brother... excuse me while I sob!

Excuse me, what!!!! 'A big brother figure'? Boy, this didn't turn out the way I thought it would... now I'm scared.

Way to ruin things, Jamie! And I don't even mean the fact that his name is not Theodore. It doesn't matter what his name is anymore. He might just have put a spanner in the works of Portwell, and they were just doing so well! Ugh, I'm so frustrated. I wish I'd never boarded — what did I call it — 'the majestic S.S. Portwell'. What if it doesn't set sail now?

And there goes another disappointment... Carlos' 'the orchestra hasn't vamped this much since Bop to the Top' line had nothing to do with Seblos, and everything to do with what might still be the downfall of this show. I am not ready.

No. Miss Jenn did not just say that. She did not just tell Ricky — who, may I remind you, not that anyone's forgotten, just fell off of a high place last episode — to 'jump off of something high'. I realise she's under all the pressure, but that is not an excuse. Well, at least she heard herself.

Oh my gods... Nini — well, Nina, actually — did not just call him 'Richard', did she? That's it, that's the point of no return. And well, I kind of wanted them to reach it.

Told you, didn't I? I told you that-girl-who-must-not-be-named was evil! I always follow my intuition and it has not once deceived me. Redeem that, if you can! Guess what? You can't. We've just reached another point of no return.

Wait, a bloody cliffhanger? I cannot handle this. I physically cannot handle this. If you need me, I'll be sitting on my bed in shock, trying to process everything that happened. I'll need a while to get a grip on myself.

[caesthetix]

KIDS IN LOVE — Pt. 1 No Beauty In War

↪Porco Galliard mini-series

↪content; major character death, canon universe, description of violence, unrequited love, admiring from afar, season 4 spoiler, manga spoiler 119

War was cruel and he tried to push you away from it.

Everything used to be so easy before. When your routine was just sending cookies and cupcakes to the Galliards, when your concern was just the blush on Porco's face when Pieck was around, when what you knew was that the Island of Paradis filled with demons.

How beautiful the world was before, for you to have such a mundane life.

You wished you could go back to that time.

"Hey, Pock."

He groaned once the nickname slipped from your lips, making you chuckle in the process with how easy it was to make him agitated. And for that, you really needed to thank Pieck later. "Pock, Pock~ Why don't you look at me~?"

"Seriously, you are such a kid." He grumbled, irritated with how you were just here only to annoy him. Your feet dangling on the tree stump where you sat on. "Why don't you go home? Just drop your cookies to my mom instead of being here doing nothing."

"Well, I am a kid!" You exclaimed. "And what's wrong with being here? I want to hang out for a while." With you, but you bite your tongue to hold that thought from reaching the surface.

The blonde just shrugged and continued his chore, chopping down some of the wood into halves. He was always groaning so loud as he did so, as if he put all of his energy into that. You knew better though, he was more than capable of cutting down a few kinds of wood with a meagre strength.

And knowing that he had changed into a colder person since Marcel embarked on the mission in Paradis, you needed to be extra careful with him.

"Hey, Porco." You called out once again, fingers fiddling with the bag of cookies in your hand.

"What?" He answered nonetheless, despite the annoyance that was dripping in his tone.

You pondered if it was the right thing to ask. But you have made up your mind, the thought had been haunting you for perhaps months now, making you restless at the point it was hard for you to sleep. So you couldn't back down, you need to know of a way.

"Who usually is needed in a war except, well, warriors?"

He stopped his axe midair as the question slipped from your lips, putting it down slowly before giving his full attention to you. You flinched, trying to act as calm as ever under his wandering gaze. His lips shaped into a thin line, eyes scrutinizing your face.

"There are medics, of course." He stated, though somehow he sounded careful as he shared the information. "Doctors, nurses, we all need any kind of help within that field. Then there was a researcher, professor, you know — geniuses."

You nodded, pondering if you could be in one of the fields. Perhaps nurses, yes, you just needed to know all the basics, working alongside doctors. But you didn't know if you could start to be a dependable nurse at the same time Porco would go on a mission.

"And chef."

Your eyes immediately lit up at his last statement. "Warriors and others need food too." Good. Cooking was something that you could do. You even knew that Porco loved some of the cuisines that you made, from how he always asked for a second when the Galliard had dinner at your house.

Deep in thought, you didn't see how his eyes filled with horror at the realisation.

"Then, what can I do to be enlisted in a war?" You looked up, now with confidence in your voice.

"Huh?"

"Tell me, Porco. You must know information like this, right?" You slightly begged, softening your eyes to push down the eagerness on your gesture. "I want to join you, to be there beside you when we win and for us to get our freedom." You rambled on, but your friend just stayed put in his place without saying anything. "Porco—"

"You think war is a game for you?" His voice was low, making your pupils dilated at the bitterness in it. "War needs someone braver, not just someone with a mindless dream like you." You didn't know what was in his head right now, but this side of him scared you.

Porco took a few steps forward, now just inches away from where you sat. His eyes glowering down at you with disgust, you couldn't help but let out a small whimper. "You think your burnt cookies and mediocre food could please the higher-ups? You think a weak kid like you could survive more than an hour on the battlefield?"

"I am not weak." You answered as stern as possible, ignoring the crack in your voice as you challenged his gaze. His eyes twitched at your reply before seething in anger at your words.

As if something snapped within him, he grabbed your wrist and raised it abruptly, so fast that you couldn't hold your grasp on the bag of cookies. You gasped as the crumbs scattered on the ground, but you couldn't move to save it as his hand tightened. "Porco, let me go—"

"See? You are weak." It felt so brutal at the reminder. "I am here gripping your wrist with a little force and you are already cowering like a kid." He smirked, but it was not the same smirk that he usually had when he teased you. "Oh, yeah, you are a kid." He wrecked you, slapping the fact on your face. "And a kid like you will die in a war."

He gritted out every word with mockery. You knew that being a part of the war meant that you had to be more assertive, braver. But wouldn't everyone work together to win the war? If one of the warriors was in need of assistance, wouldn't they help each other?

But Porco being Porco, he knew what clouded your mind. "Never think that someone would save you. Not even me. You know why?" His face grew closer at the point you could feel his hot breath on your face, making you suck your breath. "Because you are not worth saving."

You kicked him with all of your might, turning your face in another direction as you jumped down from the tree stump and ran. You didn't want him to see the tears threatening to fall, you didn't want to give him the satisfaction that his words impacted you deeply that you knew it would leave a scar on your heart.

"You go, kid! Run!" You heard him shout. "Do the only thing that a kid could do! Run!"

Yes, you were running away from him. But as you run, you balled your hand into a fist.

You promised that someday you were going to prove to him that you were not just a useless kid.

War was an endless nightmare, and how everything turned out in front of you became a reminder of what it was capable to do.

You heard the scream, a familiar scream that threatens to tear your eardrums. It was Zeke, that howl belonged to the beast titan. And just like that, you could see all the glows around you. One, two, no, you couldn't count how many of the Eldians in Paradis rapidly turned into titans. The city lit up with almost everyone becoming a monster inside their blood.

As you lay low on the tall building, you wiped your eyes from the dust and dirt, wanting to see more clearly of the condition in the battlefield below you. You gasped when you saw two familiar light blondes that belonged to the Grice brothers.

He glowed, Falco's body covered with a yellowish light. That was when you realised what was going to happen. The boy might have ingested Zeke's spinal fluid, and from the range he stood right now, the power inside him would be activated.

That little kid had so much in his future, and you wondered if he ever told Gabi about his feelings. And now, he was going to be a titan.

But your eyes watered even more when you saw as Colt stayed still, he was there hugging his little brother, not caring anymore that it would kill him in the process.

"Colt—"

You cracked your neck to the left and right, stretching your limbs as you let the tiredness start to sink in. Today, you were helping Niccolo to feed the Eldians warriors, saying that it would be a good time too to get to know some of the warriors who fought for Marley.

Ever since you received the invitation from Commander Magath, you had been working nonstop. He praised your skills in knowing nutrition and your capability of making a personal menu for each warrior, informing you that you would be a good addition to the military.

There was no time to slack off, you sharpened your mind and tried a lot of new recipes that could please the warriors while sticking to their diet.

"Hey, you can go there, you know? Some of them asked to meet the new chef behind their, let me quote, magnificent food." You snorted as Niccolo cleaned his hands with the towel. "Take off your apron and flaunt! You are only young once."

"You are young too, remember that?" You chuckled at his remark. For a pure Marleyan, you were surprised that he didn't look down at you. He respected your skills, not caring that you were an Eldian, and treated you like you were family most of the time. "But okay, I will take your advice."

Cleaning your hand and taking off your apron, you looked at the small mirror in the kitchen to make sure that you look proper. You heard a chuckle from your friend, somehow knowing that you were always a worrywart when it came to how people looked at you.

"You look fine, just go on, they are begging to meet you."

"Alright, alright you impatient old man."

You ignored the surprised gasp from him and went outside to the room where he assigned the warriors to. To say that you were nervous would be an understatement, you were afraid that you would flinch or ended up being too timid.

No, you were not a kid anymore. A few intimidating warriors wouldn't make you crumble.

You heard a loud chatter as you stood in front of the door. It was wrong to eavesdrop, but when you heard someone mention how good your cook was, your heart swelled with appreciation. Alright, that was enough, it would be better if you announced yourself.

Knock knock knock.

You heard a shout telling you to come in, and you didn't waste your time over it. The second you came in and closed the door behind you, you straightened your posture and gave them a small bow.

"See? Now you owe me another meal here."

"It's a young woman, I did not expect that."

"Wait, (Y/n)?"

In between all of the noises from the men, who apparently made a bet about how the chef would look, you heard a feminine voice coming from one of the chairs. Your eyes fleeting towards their direction, finding a woman with slightly dishevelled black hair and relaxed eyes.

"Huh?" You blinked, recognition dawned upon you. Then your eyes widened. "Pieck?"

Your hands were sweating as you tried to lock your gaze on her. She blinked as she saw the distress in your eyes, yet you kept staring at her. If she was here, then that would mean one thing.

Porco was here too.

Well, that explained the feeling of someone glaring a hole in your skull.

"Pieck, you know her?" Someone spoke up, it was the same man whose voice you recognised praising your food before. Before she could answer, he walked toward you with a giddy step, a soft smile plastered on his face as he extended your hand for you to shake. "Name's Colt, Colt Grice."

His presence brought you back to reality. You were here to impress them, a ghost from the past could be taken care of later. Shaking his hand, you gave him a polite smile as you looked at him with your warm gaze. You tried not to think too much about the blush on his face at the moment.

You still could feel someone drilling holes in your direction. The man in front of you seemed not to notice. Colt was saying a lot of things to you. He ignored some groan in the background about how he was taking all of your attention, he continued praising your food and how everyone didn't expect to see a beautiful young woman to be the one behind their marvellous food today.

"I thank Commander Magath for assigning you to the military branch."

Someone stood up abruptly from their chair, making you flinch a little before composing yourself in a second. Both you and Colt, interrupted from the light conversation from before, now focused on the commotion behind you. There you saw a man with his gaze darkened, hands gripping tight on the side of the table. His friends were worried about his drastic gesture.

"Hey, Porco, are you alright?"

But his flaming eyes never left your face.

The aftermath of the titans' transformation was hell. All of the warriors were scrambling around to save themselves, only resulting in a delayed death. Their end was impending, and yet they were all wriggling and running, fighting for their own life.

Your gaze was still fixated on the spot where the brothers stood before. It was as if there were hundreds of bombs that detonated at the same time and now your vision filled with dust and rubble, blinding you from what was happening.

You whimpered as dried tears stained your cheek. For the past few hours, you have cried so much as you saw the cruelty of war. But Colt, oh, Colt — a man who was too good for this world, someone who cared deeply for his brother, someone who always hyped you up even when your old friend seemed to try to kick you out from the military.

War was evil, that was what Porco always tried to say to you. And yet here you were, in the middle of it all, watching how your race tried to kill each other. Watching; how your comrades died one by one in the most gruesome way.

No, there was still Porco. You still had Porco, Pieck, and Reiner. You couldn't see where the jaw titan was before, unlike the others. The last time you saw him was when he worked side by side with Reiner before all the debris concealed your vision from the event under you.

But as your vision finally cleared, you felt like someone just shot you through your chest.

"No. No."

A titan tried to eat Reiner. His jaw was fixated on the Armored Titan's nape. Somehow the titan looked familiar, and your eyes widened when you connected the missing puzzle.

It was Falco, and you didn't dare to look around, feeling sure that Colt was gone for certain from how close he was with his brother when he transformed.

Searching through the battlefield, you squint your eyes, trying to understand what was happening right now. Then you saw it, the jaw titan. Porco's titan. Laying idly on the ground not too far from Reiner.

Then just like that, you were reminded of how cruel war could be.

Falco's titan retracted his jaw from Reiner's nape. His long neck whipped to the side, murderous eyes locked to a new prey that was out in the open. A human flesh, without anything concealing them.

It was him, Porco, your old friend, the one who never wanted you to be here in the first place. Half of his face was gone from the impact that he took as a titan. You couldn't hear what he said as he walked to where Falco and Reiner were.

Everything happened so fast after that, yet you could catch every detail of how it took place.

You watched as he just accepted his fate, the pace that he chose was slow, though certain as he was ready to embrace death. He didn't scream, he didn't do anything as Falco's titan ran towards him, with one goal to devour him alive.

That was what he always did, saving children and comrades.

No matter how many humans he killed, no matter how his face often turned into a scowl for certain people, he was always the same Porco Galliard who would prioritize kids and his friends. He never changed. No, that was wrong. He did change.

But even though he changed, he had become a better man for every day that went by.

You couldn't hear anything as your eyes never left the nightmare in front of you. All the bodies that scattered around the ground, your comrades, fellow Eldians from Marley, even some citizens that you met here in Paradis, and Colt. Their deaths would be imprinted forever in your head.

Porco was right after all, just like usual, maybe this was why he didn't want you to be here. There were so many times he would pull you to the side after a meeting, just to tell you about the terror that followed in war. He told you about the horror inside the dead bodies, bloodshed, and screams that flew nonstop.

He tried so hard to show you that war was something that couldn't be stopped. That one day all of your comrades would die, some couldn't be recognised anymore, and neither would you. After all the war that you had been through before, you kept looking forward and never let yourself linger for a long time.

You always shrugged it off before, knowing for certain what you were signed up to. Of course, there was no beauty in war, you even knew there was no winning side at the end of the day. Just people who died on the battlefield, and those who survived.

Every time you imagine what war looks like, you were always ready. No matter how many deaths that you have seen, your eyes kept fixated on the freedom that would follow soon.

But perhaps, it was not the war itself that he deterred you from stumbling in — it was this.

Your hand clasped your mouth as you let the dam break, new tears replacing the previous stains that were glued on your face. Falco's titan crashed to the ground as he had Porco's body in between its teeth. You wanted to scream out, but you couldn't, or else the titans surrounding you would eat you alive.

The worlds crumbled the second you knew there was no tomorrow for Porco.

He was gone, half of his body swallowed down in an instant. And you could do nothing except push down your pain and hide yourself even further inside the rumbles where you hid.

You tried to calm down as you processed what happened. There he goes, he leaves and wouldn't come back. Your heart was racing and not from a reason that you wanted to remember. You felt like you couldn't breathe as you realised — that was the last time for you to take a look at your dearest friend.

And you would never have a chance to tell him.

Neither of how right he was about war.

Nor how beautiful he was in your eyes.

↪Back to Wall Maria

↪Send an ask if you want to be a citizen of Paradis (taglist)!

[jazy3]

Thoughts on Grey’s Anatomy: 17X7

SPOILERS AHEAD!!!

They did it! I can’t believe it! They actually killed DeLuca off! I’m so happy right now! As long time readers will know I have never been a Andrew DeLuca fan and I speculated back in the summer that they might be planning to write his character off after it was revealed that the planned finale for Season 16 included an explosion that was supposed to claim the life of one of the characters. I speculated that DeLuca was the most likely candidate with Tom and Jackson being the most likely runners up because I felt that they had gone as far as they could with DeLuca’s character and there wasn’t much left for him to do on the show.

Add that to the fact that the actor who plays DeLuca said a bunch of stuff to the press last year where he spoiled some pretty major plot points and stated that he knew things about where the show was going when he hadn’t even read a single script for the season yet and I was pretty sure his days were numbered. That being said, the show had teased us a bunch of times about firing, killing, or writing off the character during seasons 15 and 16 and they never went through with it so a big part of me was skeptical that they ever would.

But it turns out I was right! His days were numbered and they wound up killing him off in the Mid-Season Premiere! I’m still in shock. It hasn’t really sunk in yet to be honest. This episode honestly made me wish we’d gotten to see the remaining episodes and finale of Season 16 as planned. Based on what we know it looks like the plan was for Richard, Bailey, Meredith, and Carina to stage an intervention, DeLuca was to go away and get treatment and return to the hospital only to die tragically in an explosion.

Season 17 would have opened with the characters finding out about that and mourning his death and I think it would have been interesting to see Meredith navigate that as in the Finale Hayes asked her out and she said yes. It seems likely that if the COVID-19 Pandemic had not hit when it did and shut down production and altered filming for this season we would have seen Meredith and Hayes go out for a drink and start dating.

Seeing Meredith navigate the loss of her ex-boyfriend who she was no longer close to while in the beginning stages of her relationship with Hayes would have been very interesting and I’m sorry we didn’t get to see that. I’m also sorry that due to safety restrictions Meredith and Hayes haven’t had much screen time this season, but it looks like that’s about to change as I’ll get into a bit later.

Back to the episode at hand. I never liked DeLuca as a character and I hated him with Meredith so I’m glad that they killed him off and that we never have to deal with that nonsense again. I’m glad that they caught the human trafficker Opal and took those people down. I was never super invested in that storyline so I’m glad they wrapped that up. I feel so bad for Carina though. She’s a great character and is wonderfully acted by Stefania Spampinato.

My heart broke for her in this episode because while I won’t miss her brother I know that she will and will be absolutely gutted when she finds out that he’s died especially after she worked so hard to get him help and treatment for his Bipolar Disorder. I’m glad she has Maya there to support her.

LOL at Bailey sleeping through the whole damn episode! What did I miss indeed! That poor woman slept through DeLuca getting stabbed, almost dying, not dying, having surgery twice, and then actually dying as well as the other shenanigans going on at the hospital. I loved that she was asleep at Meredith’s bedside especially after they spent a good chunk of Season 16 fighting.

I also feel really bad for Richard in that he’s obviously grateful that DeLuca helped save his life and wanted to help and when Owen turned him down because it wasn’t a good idea for him to scrub in Richard lurked in the background in the OR gallery the whole time to make sure that everything was okay. Plus he can’t talk to Meredith about it right now because she’s in a coma which must be so difficult for him. The extra stress also puts his sobriety at risk and that worries me.

I got to be honest I am struggling to understand Teddy’s point of view this season. She’s being really awful! She’s being cruel to Tom. She was cruel to Owen. I don't know what Teddy expected to have happen. Both Cristina and Amelia walked away from their marriages to Owen and moved on with their lives in large part because they realized Owen was in love with Teddy and always would be.

And then she finally gets what she’s wanted all these years and the minute she realizes Amelia’s baby might be Owen’s and not Link’s she runs back to Tom and has a several months long affair with him and then drops him like a hot potato as soon as she realizes that the baby is Link’s and after Owen finds out about the affair she refuses to talk to Tom for months and then comes crawling back to him and wants to be his friend after Owen makes it clear he wants nothing to do with her. WTF?

I feel bad for Tom. I really like his character. He’s super interesting and complex and he deserves better than someone who treats him like that. Tom is a good man at heart and he treated Teddy like gold and in return she’s done nothing but break his heart and stomp all over him when he’s already down. He deserves someone better. I’ve never been an Owen fan, but honestly Teddy is behaving so horribly I’m on his side on this one.

They had some great scenes in the OR together, but Teddy clearly read too much into it. Every time he gives her a crumb she’s convinced he’s forgiven her and wants to give her a second chance and that’s not it at all. Owen has been clear. He doesn’t forgive her and he doesn’t want to get back together with her. All he wants is to co-parent peacefully and work together as colleagues because he values her skills as a surgeon. That’s it.

It was cute to see Teddy Face Timing with Leo. I’m glad they are finding safe ways to incorporate the kids into the story. Speaking of which, the scene where Amelia and Maggie tell Zola that her Mom has been placed on a vent and she might not come off it was heartbreaking. That kid has grown into her own as an actress and really holds her own in that scene.

Her line about how she didn’t want them to tell Bailey or Ellis yet because they’re too young to understand broke me heart. Zola’s only a few years older than them but she’s old enough to understand the impact of what’s happening in a way that they can’t. And she remembers how hard it was when Derek died. When Cristina left. When Alex left. She doesn’t want to put her siblings though the same thing especially when Alex’s departure is still so fresh for them and they never got a chance to really know their Dad. The fact that Zola can recognize that at such a young age is raw and heart breaking.

We saw Winston and Maggie reconnect this episode which would have been super hot and enjoyable if Meredith hadn’t just been put on a ventilator! The scene where Jackson showed up looking for Maggie was too funny! I loved the scenes with Jackson, Link, and Winston in the backyard having beers! Winston has a great sense of humour and seems to be a calming presence. I like the idea of those three being friends.

Link’s face when he realized that Winston doesn’t know that Maggie and Jackson used to date and are also step-siblings. I’ll be interested to see Winston’s reaction when that comes out. I loved Link’s rant about how worried he was about Meredith and what her declining health and potential death was doing and would do to Amelia. Did anyone else catch that he called Amelia his wife? I’m calling it. They’re foreshadowing an Amelink wedding!

I liked hearing Jackson talk about how Meredith is family and they’re all worried and Winston’s comments about how all they can do is just keeping moving physically and metaphorically. I’m also loving Amelia and Maggie’s wardrobes this season. Their sweaters in this episode were gorgeous! Hats off to the wardrobe department! They’re looking good!

I loved seeing Jo and Hayes work together again because I love their friendship, but to be honest I was expecting more of the friendly teasing and banter of last season where she egged him on about Meredith and they traded barbs. Their scenes in this episode were a lot more intense and agitated. She totally played him with that line about Meredith.

He kept saying no to taking Luna to see her Mom and so Jo made it personal for him. If Meredith asked to see her kids Hayes would never say no and he would move heaven and earth for her. By making that connection Jo got him to agree to her plan. I also love that the reason he kept saying no in the beginning was because of what happened to Meredith.

She went from laughing and joking to being put on a vent and he doesn’t want to run the risk with any other patient and it’s obviously eating him up inside. He misses her. He cares about her and he’s clearly terrified about the possibility of her not waking up. That being said, Jo’s line where she compared Alex leaving her for Izzie because he found out he had kids he didn’t know he had and sending her a heartfelt letter to Hayes spending years watching his wife and the mother of his two boys die of cancer was way out of line. Super not okay. I really think that Jo is going to adopt that baby. I think that’s why they are setting up her interest in OBGYN.

In other news, Nico is still a terrible boyfriend to Levi. I honestly don’t know why Levi puts up with him. Levi really shone in this episode I think. He felt responsible for what happened, but instead of bungling things and making things worse like he might have done in the past he got out of his own way and asked Dr. Khan who was a vascular surgeon in Pakistan prior to immigrating to the U.S. to take his place.

I feel like this episode implies that the Beach is limbo now as I don’t know how else DeLuca could have ended up there as he wasn’t someone who was close to Meredith the way that Derek, George, Richard, and Bailey are. Not sure how I feel about that as I was kind of liking the is it a COVID dream is it the afterlife ambiguity.

Onto next week’s promo! I’m not excited that they appear to be setting up an episode in which the other characters mourn DeLuca’s passing as none of the other characters apart from Carina were really that close to him. They spent the last two seasons establishing that everyone hated his guts, considered him a nuisance, and only put up with him because they had to. So to me the other characters mourning him doesn’t feel authentic or real. It just feels forced.

There are several things I am excited about though. Seeing Maggie’s reaction to his death I think will be interesting. She was visibly upset and ran to his side when Alex beat him up in Season 13 and mourning the loss of your ex-boyfriend who you were no longer close to while being in a committed relationship with someone new I think is an interesting dynamic. She’s kinda standing in for Meredith here because she’s on a vent.

I’d like to see Catherine support Richard and make up for her horrible behaviour last season. And the best thing of all: Hayes!!! In the promo trailer we see Hayes sitting at Meredith’s bedside talking to her about how she needs to fight and how they all need her to fight. Bring it on! It’s about damn time! And Derek’s back and he’s … fishing? I’m excited to see what happens there and if they actually get to talk and have a real conversation this time. It has also been announced that Sarah Drew will be returning for a cameo as Dr. April Kepner this season so I’m excited for that!

Until next time!

[tmntallthewaydown]

Tales of the Hidden City Writing Appreciation Post Pt.1!

The last batch of episodes, Tales of the Hidden City, were excellent. As an animator, it’s easy to get bowled over by the visuals of the show and just rant about those, but I wanted to spotlight another awesome part of Rise of TMNT -- the writing!

The writing is always fun in the show, but there were parts of these episodes that I really wanted to call out for how clever and great they are.

Each of the Tales of the Hidden City eps puts the characters in a situation where their strengths are negated or challenged. (Also, big cheer for a bunch of episodes finally exploring the Hidden City. It’s such a fun location, I want to see it all.)

Donnie Vs Witch Town  an episode where Donnie’s tech can’t solve the problem Raph’s Ride Along  an episode where Raph’s heroics are seen as anything but Hidden City’s Most Wanted  an episode where Mikey’s peacekeeping can’t keep the peace Bad Hair Day  an episode where the face man’s face ain’t enough

I figured I’d do a separate post for each episode so it doesn’t get over-long. 

I’ll be focusing on character development mainly since that’s what stood out to me most!

Donnie Vs Witch Town

Directed by Abe Audish, Written by Ian Busch, Storyboarded by Alicia Chan

*Spoilers for the episode!* I won’t do full recaps, and assume you’ve all seen the ep if you’re reading this..

We start with Donnie referencing the Shadow Fiend in the Battle Nexus. 

“Rumour has it, this Shadow Fiend is quite the fierce champion”

I’m assuming this line’s here because the writers want to keep dropping us tantalizing crumbs to set up the Shadow Fiend as being an important figure in this season. The writers want to keep them present and in our minds as well as let us know that whoever the fiend is, (I bet we all have guesses), they’ve gotta be making quite the name for themselves if even the Turtles have heard of them.

April says she’s headed to Witch Town, whereupon Donnie is horrified. I think horrified is the right word.

“Drop it, D.” “Why not ask me? Mr Science!”

The “Drop it, D” is an elegant way to imply this conversation is a continuation of one they were having pre-episode. April is already very done with the discussion.

Donnie’s line is great because it’s one of two times in this episode that he calls himself ‘Mr Science’ or ‘The Science Guy’. Here, the line comes off as triumphant and proud, but later there is a feeling of desperation to it. It’s a really nice parallel to set up at the beginning, so we can hammer home the duality of what that label means to Donnie.

To preface, this episode deals with Don’s self worth being tangled up in his ability to do Science good. Because of this, he does a lot of projecting in this episode. For the most part, you can assume any time he mentions ‘Science’, he is actually talking about himself. Basically, substitute that word for his own name, and it makes the subtext more obvious.

Here, have these just because they’re fun.

Don ‘helping out’ with various Science Fair projects. April has a good reason not to ask him for help again.

A nuclear powered cooking multi-tool?

The Erupting Volcano. The floor is literally lava.

The Classic Potato Battery experiment.

“Hmm. That must have been the work of another Teenage Mutant Ninja Dummie.”

I’m calling out Donnie’s response here just because I enjoy the consistency the writers give to the way he handles failures. Innnnn that he will feign complete ignorance of the incident and claim it must have been someone else entirely.

--

“You turned a cuddly animatronic bear into a psychotic robot bent on destroying us? No? Got April Fired? Mmm? Nothing? Mmm?” “That does not sound like me, no.”

- from Al Be Back

--

In general it’s an established part of his character that he has problems accepting failure.

Donnie deflects blame in many other episodes - to April in ‘The Purple Jacket’ and to his brothers in ‘Todd Scouts’ off the top of my head. This trait is pertinent to this episode in particular because the apology we get at the end of the episode from him is by far the most full and cohesive admission of blame he has given in the two series so far. I’d say it’s a step forward on the level of Leo’s apology from the ‘Air Turtle’ episode (another great episode showing Leo’s growth towards becoming a team player!). 

Either way, it’s nice that we see him redirect the blame early in the episode so the moment can provide more of a contrast to him coming full circle and accepting the blame later.

One last thing about the line - I put my hands up to admit that this may be me overthinking it, but Don essentially calls himself a dummie here. Whether this was intentional by the writers to hint at his insecurities or just a fun line, I couldn’t say - but since it relates back to events later in the episode I thought it might be worth mentioning.

Moving on, Donnie accompanies April to Witch Town despite it being the last place he wants to be. It’s our first hint that his obsessive need to convince April that all Mystic stuff is garbage might run a bit deeper than just vocal teasing. 

April calls him out on being closed minded and we get

“Oh I’m sorry, I was just stewing over how everyone needs to be more like me.”

Of course we know that’s not how he really feels, as we’ve all seen that episode.

The writing here is nice and subtle. It lets us know that Donnie isn’t being honest. He’s giving April sass, but the sentiment he’s expressing is false.

The episode continues with Donnie comparing every feat of magic to it’s scientific equivalent until April essentially tells him to can it if he doesn’t want a bat to the plastron. The witches show off, prompting exclamations from April at how amazing their magic is.

Then we get one of my favourite lines from Donnie as he snaps.

“Your Mystic Magic is not amazing, it’s simple and soft. There, I said it.”

That soft is a word that Donnie would use as an insult, associating it with something he dislikes and looks down on, is very affecting. You know what else is soft?

The writing here is so revealing and wonderful. They could have used any insult, but the writers chose to have him express his frustration in a way that sheds light on the way Donnie sees himself. It gets right to the root of the problem he has in this episode, which is that without his science and tech, Donnie doesn’t feel like he is particularly ‘Amazing’ either.

That April calling magic amazing is what prompt’s Don’s snap, rather than any of the words of the townsfolk, is one of the clues we’re given to the truth behind D’s drive in this episode. The writers will bring that back later on!

So April and Don are kicked outta Witch Town when Don’s improv musical performance to convince April to let him help her instead ends up blowing up in his face.

Popping this here because watching Donnie get deservedly smacked by April at this point was very cathartic for me. Dingus.

Donnie offers to help the witches in return for them helping April. It seems sweet at first, but it becomes plain fairly fast that this is really another opportunity for D to try and prove that science is king.

“Ah would you look at that. Banished, and I still saved the day.” “Wait, is that why you did this?” “Nooo! It’s because I was sorry - about being closed minded - about how wrong I were.”

Again, it’s up to the writers to show us that Donnie is lying about his motivations here. That little bit of incorrect grammar (saying ‘were’ instead of ‘was’), calls out to us that something is up. Donnie is smart, and it’s out of character for him to word things sloppily. It lets us know that all is not well, and that things are yet to be resolved, internally at least.

I couldn’t help calling out this wonderful posing, even though I’m trying to focus on the writing. It really sells us on the dissatisfaction brewing between them. Gorgeous acting from the animators.

The peace offering potion the witches were making seems to work, and Donnie wastes no time in trying to rub their faces in the fact that science provided one of the ingredients - until it becomes clear that Donnie’s contribution has soured the brew. He tries to avoid blame and responsibility, as we’ve seen him do in previous episodes (and earlier in this one). Nothing I’m calling out here besides the novelty of seeing a mob of witches trying to lynch a scientist - a bit of a historical reversal!

The big bad is storming Witch Town and Donnie gets ready to smack down - specifically “because when I defeat it with my tech, they will have to admit science is better!”

It’s worth saying that on the word ‘they’, he points directly at April. Because as we’re about to discover, it’s not actually proving to these random villagers that Science is best that’s important to him (though maybe that would be nice), but about proving to April specifically that Science is best. Thank you animators/storyboarders for making that subtext more explicit!

At this point we as the audience have had it up to here with Donnie’s bullheadedness. The reveal that D’s gripe is personal and April/brother specific, rather than just a frustration with Witch Town in general, goes some way to explaining why he is so obsessive over it.

Donnie’s Tech Bo breaks in the conflict, and we get the awesome reveal of April’s Mystic Bat. She is of course, badass with it and kicks butt. April saving Donnie’s hide with Mystic Magic prompts the confrontation between them that is the emotional heart of the episode.

“Why are you so obsessed with proving me wrong on this!?” “Because! I’m the Science Guy! (sigh) If Mystic Powers can do everything I can do but better, then why would you guys even need me?”

Here is the payoff to the opening ‘Mr Science’ line from earlier in the episode. The wording is similar, however this time the line is tinged with defeat. The duality revealed is that Science makes Don feel powerful, but without it, he feels powerless.

The visuals that go hand in hand with the dialog are very telling here, too.

The image of Donnie holding his broken Tech Bo isn’t just to show us that his technology isn’t enough to win, that it can be broken. It’s also showing us how he sees himself, drawing a direct comparison between Donnie and his broken Tech. He’s not always perfect, but he’s ultimately useful, right? Until he’s not. I’ve no doubt that this was a deliberate move from the Storyboarders, and I think they sold the moment brilliantly.

His words make it clear that Donnie believes that “if Mystic Powers can do everything I can do but better”, ie, help April with her project without blowing her classroom up, why would she not keep going to Mystics instead of him in the future? 

With her not ‘needing’ him for scientific assistance any more, he sees no reason for her to continue hanging out with him. This ties back to the clues the writers dropped earlier in the episode, that suggest he doesn’t regard himself highly without his science. 

The obsession this episode with disproving how ‘Amazing’ Mystic Magic is in front of April makes a lot more sense through the lens that he is fighting to keep April’s friendship.

“You Guys” expands this sentiment to include the rest of his family. If his tech ends up letting down the team and is unneeded then by extension, he would also be unneeded.

As viewers, we know this is untrue. Even beyond the fact that these characters rely on one another emotionally, we saw Don fight alongside his brothers in ‘Insane in the Mama Train’ - all of them tech-less and Mystic-less - and they kicked butt, even if they did end up being eventually captured. However, it’s clear from the writing here that this isn’t how Donatello himself feels.

“You’re not important to me because of your tech, you’re important to me because of you! I don’t think Mystic Powers is better than Science. If anything, they’re stronger together, just like us! Right?” “Right!”

April’s comeback is wonderful. Super eloquently written and gets right to the heart of his insecurities. First undermining the thought that if Don didn’t have tech, she wouldn’t need him, then framing Mystic Powers as something that will bring them closer together. Beautiful writing! 

I also want to just celebrate how the writers handle April’s characterisation as being someone who is super excited and curious about any kind of Mystic Magic or supernatural shenanigans. I really like this consistency in her character where she is way into anything otherworldly or unexplained. I hope we get to see more of it in the future!

We get to see April and Donnie kick butt together which super fun! I’m very happy we got another episode with these two, the way they bounce off one another is really enjoyable to watch.

“I was wrong to not be more open-minded. It’s just that Mystic Powers are the one thing I have not been able to solve. As a man of Science, it is maddening to finally come upon something that you do not understand. Especially when your dum-dum brothers totally do, and they wave their dum-dum weapons in their dum-dum hands all the dum-dum time! But that is just a long way of saying I am sorry’.

The apology is very articulate, letting us know that D is truthful here. It’s a nice little payoff when compared to his earlier lie with April, where the writers had him fudge his words to imply his dishonesty. 

April actually believes him this time too, judging by the lovely acting here. 

 We’re treated to this perspective on Donnie’s feelings, which reveals a couple of interesting things to us. ‘The one thing I have not been able to solve’ indicates that he has previously attempted - and failed - to understand Mystic stuff, which is new information. It goes against our impressions from the rest of the series so far (that he is simply disinterested). We also learn that his brothers’ understanding of their powers has created a knowledge imbalance that is a frustration to him. I very much hope that the show keeps taking steps in this direction with Donnie, just because I would love to see an arc that results in him getting more involved with the Mystic side of things.

To wrap up the episode, I really appreciated the way the writers handled the internal conflict in Donnie Vs Witch Town. There was a lot of subtlety and subtext in the writing, which I am absolutely here for. Donnie’s end reveal really recontextualizes the earlier shenanigans in a meaningful way, and marks a step forward for him. April has her Bat now, and Don is a little more open to Mystic Powers as a possibility! I’m excited to see where we go next! 

Thanks for sticking with me, if you got to the end, and I hope you found it as interesting as I did! ‘Raph’s Ride along’ is the next ep I’ll dig into.

[shadowhunterssizzy]

One last thing

I’m going to take a much needed break after this because i’m not sure i’m gonna continue on with the series. I’m running on 4 hours of sleep so probably my thoughts are incoherent and don’t make sense, so bare with me. 

I’m not gonna lie, the Azriel POV felt like a blow and a slap to the face all at once. I kept rereading it because i love pain and I felt mora towards Gwyn than elriel, and this comes from someone that has been shipping elriel since acomaf. I love them. I truly do. I wanted to explore the mating bond not working, the choosing someone over your mate, but azriel’s pov didn’t give me anything like that. It just reforced the fears I had once I knew about gwyn some days before. Now I’m sure Gwyn is great. I’m sure she will be great with Azriel. Sarah loves to explore healing dynamics and i think azriel and gwyn fits that. A victim of assault healing and a guy who has been in love for 500 years and obsessed with another girl he can’t have but finally finding love and healing as well. And this is where my thoughts starts to ramble again:

1. Why didn’t we get elain’s pov?. In the previous book we got Nesta’s but in this one we get Azriel’s , why?. Why not make the sister POV and see her struggles with the mating bond and her attractions towars azriel?. Well, in my eyes it’s because the next book is not about her

2. The 3some situation. Let’s be honest. We all knew it will be a threesome but this isn’t even one. Now we have a mating bond and gwyn. All of this in one book. Tamlin, rhysand and rhys conflict was resolved in two, not in one, and sarah said that each book will focus ON ONE COUPLE. Not two potentials couples. ONE COUPLE EACH. This has been stated by Sarah on her lives, so pardon me but I’m not seeing this going anywhere.

3. Gwyn and Azriel: We know that Az saved her. It’s clear that meant something to Gwyn and he was amused by her. Now people said Gwyn’s arc is completed but is it?. IT’S NOT. Gwyn is not a Valkirie yet and Nesta states that Az and Cassian will still train them and keep an eye on them. Gwyn goes back to the library but her story is nowhere to be completed. The valkyrie training and their dynamic to fight Koschei is still there. Her story might be almost completed but there’s something else to tell. She will still train and Az will monitor. The link is there. Meanwhile we don’t know much about Elain. Like we know Koschei wants her but it doesn’t seem like that’s the next plot, it seems most likely the last one

4. Azriel is horny: When i read his interactions with elain i was like ok.... they had an attraction but is there anything else?. Sure, we got crumbs for 3 books but Nesrin and Chaol did and look where they end up with. Chaol with Yrene a character that was introduced later even though he had a story with Nesrin. Now azriel seems to be angry at the cauldron for not pairing him with elain but is it really about her? Or is it because he wanted a mate so badly after spending 500 years with Mor?. Is it because his brothers found mates and he was like what about me?. Maybe this is exactly what sarah was trying to told us all the time. 3 Ylirians with the 3 sisters its not okay. Azriel questions the mother, and maybe that’s the conflict. He wants a mate so badly and someone who will love him and he will lust and be attracted to complicated but what happens when he will find something different?. Something that is healing and it’s there and he never expected?. Maybe the cauldron and the mother didn’t link him to elain because it wasn’t mean to happen. 

5. but..what about elain?. A lot of people said she’s been avoiding lucien and it’s right. We don’t know how she feels towards him really, mostly indiference and I hate the idea of her being forced into something. But we forget lucien and elain’s story is not finished and there’s a TRUE mating bond there plus Gwyn. It’s too much... Maybe elain needed to pursue someone else before realizing the world and the cauldron gave her a mate because that’s how it works. Maybe both elain and azriel needed to find each other to realize what really was there for them. Gwyn and Lucien. Now i don’t like the idea of neither of them and I won’t be reading that for sure. Bceuase 3 books of crumbs and little built up and a chapter of azriel confirming he is into elain just to be taken away after 5 minutes to pursue the gwyn narrative feels LIKE A SLAP INTO MY FACE. It feels as if sarah is saying well you know what you were right for 5 minutes but YOUR TIME IS UP, DING DONG DING WAKE UP!. It feels like she wanted a quick solution for the crumbs and she was like sure, they want to fuck but you know what they can’t because elain is with lucien and the mating bond will show her eventually and now az has someone who will make him realize elain and mor were nothing so let’s continue because elriel is over. You got your 5 minutes now let’s go back to the mating bond

6. Gwyn. Sarah has always stated her books are about healing and a personal journey. Gwyn is a victim of sexual assault and azriel saved her. By the end of the book azriel looks..happy. He seems comfortable with Gwyn. Eased. His shadows sing, he is a singer and so is she. He can imagine her face while getting that necklace and HE IS TREASURING THAT THOUGHT. He has hope again because gwyn is there and he can see her gleaming eyes and theres a true beauty there... Now we can agree it’s shitty what he did with the neclace but was he that moved about the fact that elain gave back the neclakce? He didn’t look that bothered. And it’s clear there’s a seed for gwyn and elain and it’s a strong one otherwise he wouldn’t have smiled thinking about her or end the chapter thinking about her face or slept perfectly. 

7. Going back to the mating thing. Rhys said that usually males will go crazy and females can’t be completely unaffected. There’s a story with Kodschei, Vassa and elain seems like the key. Maybe they will need elain to fight Koschei in the end and elain will be willing to go with lucien since azriel hurted her. Maybe realizing az is not there will finally allow her to open her eyes and at least try. Let’s be honest, elain was not fond of meeting lucien but maybe it was because she felt like she had no choice. Maybe in the end azriel it’s just the push for her to finally try to give lucien a try. Without azriel elain probably wouldn’t have talk to lucien. But if she is hurt maybe she will try to give lucien a chance and azriel and her will part ways. Maybe az and elain are just the push they needed to move on.

8. I know there are crumbs. I know he is protective of elain and he cares about her. But honestly in his POV it doesn’t look like it. It’s just look like a 5 year old kid who was pissed at the cauldron. And let’s be honest all his brothers has mates, az will find one, specially since sarah said she is excited to give him a story. I believe az and elain are the nesryn /chaol/yrene of all this. Sarah loves love triangles but usually they always end up with the later: aelin with rowan, dorian with manon, chaol with yrene.... usually the first one it’s never the option. Chaol had development with celaena. There was attraction but in the end neither of them were together. Feyre had a relationship with tamlin. They were in love and yet she needed time to realize rhys was the one. It took her some time to heal and yet she find her mate. This is the exact same thing. Crumbs for elriel but at the end there’s someone else, and the mother is there. Maybe that’s why the cauldron didn’t connect them. Because there was someone else

9. But..the mating bond rejection?. Rhys forgot about that one. There’s a trial. There is no way lucien is going to die and there’s no way azriel is gonna challenge him with a war coming. That would be too messy and we would need lucien present to see everything. Lucien will have to go back, see azriel and elain, accepted it and fight or not Az. is all of this going to happen in one book?. Withour gwyn maybe but gwyn is there.

10. How is elain feeling?. I haven’t forgotten about her. I’m surprised we didn’t get her POV and we got azriel’s. She gave the neclace back and she is avoiding him at all costs. We don’t know what is going through her mind and she is alone now. Her sisters are happy. Azriel seems happy with gwyn. She is alone with a mating bond and koschei after her and nesta. I don’t know how she is feeling and honestly i believe elain and az deserved better. Deserved better that this poorly written narrative where they lust after each other, give gifts to each other just to end up separated and azriel having other woman, his shadows singing and him treasuring the image of her and the blossomed beauty. A secret, treasured beauty. That’s about gwyn. And i think in the end sarah j maas got what she wanted. The mating bonds all in place at the expense of elriel. I know there’s a chance I’m wrong. But it feels like elriel was there for a minute and then it was crashed. The pov is not about elriel It’s about azriel finding someone else and having another crush. It’s about rejection and healing again. It’ about az being pissed at the cauldron for not getting a mate but maybe not realizing the true one is out there. It’s all about elriel being attracted to each other but for what?.

I’m sure i’m missing a lot of stuff. I’m sure gwyn is great and lovely and her story with az will be epic. I’m sure the mating bonds work and elucien will be great in the future. But it’s the same thing over and over again and i’m tired of couples being hinted just to be the realization of other couples being the true endgame. And elriel feels like a temporary thing sarah wrote.

Now i know i sound like a hater or someone who doesn’t like elriel. But it’s quite the opposite. I loved them for years. I knew they had all the odds against them, just like chaol and celaena did. I know they found great lovers. But i can’t help feeling like losing because nothing about his POV seems right and i’m failing to forget the last part of that chapter and az’s feelings towards gwyn. And i think deep down i truly lost with them

[67impalaandwhisky]

Destiny Is Heaven Sent

Summary: Knowing Dean Winchester since you were fifteen, you’ve always been pulled in his direction. Always wanting to open up the rattled and broken cage your heart lives in. But when the child you’ve been raising together dies, you find yourself closing up the cage of your heart again. And if destiny has one thing for you, it’s to break you down before bringing you back up.

Characters: Dean x You, Sam, Castiel, Bobby, OFC’s, OMC’s, (Ongoing) 

This Series Is Set Through Seasons 1-6 With Knowledge That The Bunker Exists

Rating: 18+

Warnings (Ongoing and Will Be Updated): Grieving, Mentions of Rape and Defilement (As Per A Case), Show Level Violence, Swearing, Smut, Impreg Kink, Blood, Fighting, Drinking, Dean Being Dean, Fluff, Angst, Dom!Dean, Sub!Reader

Warnings For This Chapter: Grieving Over Dead OMC, Drinking, Swearing, Flirting

A/N: This is my first Supernatural fic ever! I’ve been writing for a while and have adored Supernatural since the beginning so I’m really excited for this series and I hope everyone enjoys it! 

Chapter 1.

Autumn used to be a season that you adored when you were little. It was the fresh chill of the air and the taste of possibility that clung to the wind. Now you can't help but find it mindlessly awful.

You used to love Halloween and all of the holidays that accompanied soon after. It brought you and your family together. Until your mother died. Then it was just a teeth gritting ride of vengeance by your father, who had loved his wife since he was a teenager.

He did his research, something that you would find harrowing if you didn't grow up in this life. He spent your entire life dragging you around, preparing you to fight against monsters and magic. 

Your father had discovered what had killed your mother when you were fifteen on Christmas Eve. He had left you at the Right Swing Motel to kill the monster on one of your favorite holidays.

You weren't mad then and you still weren't mad now. You couldn't imagine loving someone so much that you were overcome with anguish and the need for revenge. 

When he finally came back to the motel two days later, you had expected him to be relieved. He killed the werewolf that ripped your mother's heart out. You expected him to be your father again. But alas, he seemed angrier and more prone to violence then you could ever imagine.

When he finally died on a job that could never be done alone, you realized just how fucked in the head he had become. Just how overwhelming grief could make you and you swore to yourself that you would never become like him.

Even if that meant setting your emotions aside every time.

Pulling up to the old diner on Route 30, your eyes lazily drift over the parking lot. Spotting the 67' Impala you've grown to know since you were a teenager, you park your car beside it before blowing a bubble in your gum.

You watch the bubble expand and expand before sucking all the air out of it as you step out of your car. Slamming the door shut, your combat boots slap the concrete as you enter the diner.

Taking off your sunglasses, you walk past the waitress as she welcomes you. You give her a brief smile before spotting the men you've grown up with.

Without a word you walk towards them, watching as Dean devours the cheeseburger in hand like he has never eaten a damn thing in his life. Grimacing, you plop yourself down in the booth earning both of their eyes as they slowly drift up from their plates.

"Oh Jesus!" Sam yells, putting his hand over his heart.

"Am I that hideous? My God." You mumble as you grab a french fry off Dean's plate. 

He smacks your hand multiple times earning pink splotches as you slap his hand back.

"Order your own food, Y/N. I'm a growing boy. Gotta eat." He complains as you rest your elbow on the greasy table surface.

"Can I get you anything?" The waitress asks as she approaches. 

"She wants a philly cheese steak, extra onions. No mushrooms or peppers. And, a strawberry milkshake." Dean says as he wipes some crumbs out of the stubble on his chin.

You hum impressed to him before throwing your legs over Sam's lap. 

He's been used to it by now, earning the title as your best friend quite quickly since you were fifteen. His hand wraps around your thigh high combat boots before ignoring Dean's gaze and continuing to eat his salad. 

You steal a cucumber off his plate before looking at his older brother. His eyes were on yours, forest green irises looking over your body intently before looking back down at his food.

"Job?" You ask as Sam holds up the local newspaper he was reading before you arrived.

"Nothing we can't handle. Why don't you go back to the bunker and just relax, hmm?" Dean offers sweetly and you scowl at his suggestion.

"What's with this whole macho man show you've been putting on lately? It's so infuriating, Jesus. I've saved your life so many times and now suddenly I'm a frail crone that has to be a housewife to her two best friends as they go out and fight demons and monsters?" You ask, raising your eyebrows.

He cringes at your words before setting his burger as if it made him feel sickly.

"This job is dangerous." The oldest mumbles and you find yourself suddenly aggravated. When has Dean Winchester ever made you back down from a hunt? When has he ever begged you not to come instead of joining them? 

The answer is never.

"This ghost seems to abduct beautiful, single women and do things to them. I don't want you at risk." You look over to Sam as his brother speaks and you notice how he avoids eye contact with you. 

Your plate of food is set down in front of you and you thank the girl quietly as the tension in the air thickens. Dean Winchester in his whole life has never called you beautiful. He's never even given you the time of day. Which you don't mind really, that's how he's always been. But he's never kept you away from a hunt and you're wholeheartedly offended.

"Then I'll be perfect bait." You reply. 

"I said no." Dean says through gritted teeth.

Sam squeezes your leg gently as if to beg you to not start a fight in a random diner off the highway. 

"I don't give a fuck about what you say Dean Abel." He coughs awkwardly at the middle name you bestowed on him since you were younger. 

You never use it unless you mean business. 

"Y/N. I'm just looking out for you. Jesus Christ." He whispers. 

Folding your arms, you look over at Sam expectantly. You know he hates to be involved in your spats with Dean.

You're both hard headed beasts that don't quit until you get what you want.

"I mean...When has Y/N ever backed down from a fight? When has she ever been anything but safe with us?" Sam says, still avoiding eye contact with his brother.

If looks could kill, Sam would be dead against the window of the diner.

"Thank you Sammy." You say happily before sipping your milkshake. 

Dean makes an angry grunt before leaning back in the booth and throwing a balled up napkin onto his plate.

"What's so wrong with me wanting you safe? Is it a fucking sin?" He asks bitterly as you take a bite of your sandwich.

You look up at him again, watching as he swallowed thickly.

What's his fucking damage today? 

"In your life you've never kept me away from a hunt. In your entire life. I've been attacked by ghosts. Bitten by vampires. Abducted by djinns and you've never batted an eye. Now when there's an abducting ghost you suddenly assume the role of protector?" You ask pointedly, your index finger pressing into his chest across the table.

Dean sniffs before pulling out his wallet and throwing cash onto the table. His large hand runs over his face before he's shoving his hands in his pockets. 

"You're not going. End of story. I am not losing another person." He mumbles before walking out of the diner and leaning on the hood of Baby.

"What the fuck is wrong with him?" You ask his brother loudly.

Sam shoves a fork full of salad into his mouth as he plays with the laces of your combat boots. He seems to be distracting himself so he doesn't have to look at you.

"He's been this way for weeks. He's...I mean he's worried about you. We only just burned Marsh a few weeks ago and he doesn't seem to think you're ready to go back out." Sam says before looking over at you. 

You begin to smile, a feral nasty smirk spreading onto your face. Gripping your legs harder, he widens his eyes at you begging you to stop.

"Let go, Samuel Cain." You seethe through your teeth and he sighs loudly before finally going slack against the leather of your boots.

Jumping out of the booth, you fix your leather jacket. 

It takes a few large steps before you're barreling out the diner door straight towards the boy you've watched become a man.

"You son of a bitch." You curse as you advance on him. 

His head turns to you slowly and his jaw clenches. 

At one time when you were sixteen, you'd find it absolutely hot but now it just sets fire into your veins at a quicker pace.

"Y/N…" His voice is weak as he holds his hands up.

Opening up your hand, you stiffen your arm before jabbing your palm underneath his chin.

With a groan he slides off the hood of his car.

"Come on!" He yells angrily before standing up and opening his mouth before spitting out a drop of blood or two.

"How dare you decide what I need to do! How dare you for one second think that I need to be told to sit one out!" You yell as you grip his jacket. 

Hauling him up, he puts his hands on your shoulders.

"I'm just looking out for you, goddammit! You're not okay, and you won't talk to me! You look through me! I'm trying to protect you! You mean something to me! Fuck!" He yells as he shakes you about.

"Yeah?! Well I don't need your fucki-" You begin to scream before being cut off.

"Guys. They called the cops. We gotta go." Sam says before ripping the door open to the Impala.

Dean lets go of you before huffing out and smacking the hood of his car loudly. 

"This isn't over you asshole." You mutter, jutting your finger to your best friend as you put on your sunglasses.

"Why am I not surprised?" He seethes as you open the door to your car.

It's incredibly insulting. Unbelievably unfathomable. In all your life, Dean Winchester has never thought you were weak. 

These weeks without Marsh haven't been easy but that doesn't mean you're lost. Doesn't mean you haven't given up sight of who you are and how things need to be. He wouldn't want that.

"Hello Y/N." The deep monotone voice pulls you out of your thoughts and you jump slightly at the man now sitting beside you in the passenger's seat.

"God! Cas, what did I tell you?!" You yell, slamming your hand onto the steering wheel.

"To never appear in your car like this." He states matter-of-factly.

Rolling your eyes, you begin to focus back on the road watching as Dean speeds down the highway.

"What? What do you want?" You ask the angel as you lower the music.

"Well. I don't want you to fight with Dean." He says as he stares ahead at the road.

You give a short laugh before clicking your tongue and tilting your head.

"Sorry Cassy, all me and Dean do is fight." You mutter as you open the window. 

"It's okay to not be okay, Y/N. I have been watching you, seeing your inner struggle. I know it's hard without Mar-" 

"First of all, don't watch over me. I don't need you to. Secondly, you don't know anything about how I feel. He was just a kid, Cas. He was fourteen years old for God sake." 

He stays silent as you drive down the road. 

"He's happy where he is. He isn't in Hell." Cas says and you laugh to yourself before biting your bottom lip almost hard enough to draw blood.

You've been there through it all, through the angels and the demons. Through the ghouls and the werewolves. Heaven and Hell were so far off your list of things to think about, just the notion bleeds your very soul. 

"Doesn't mean Dean can try to keep me away from what I need most." You tell the angel as the Impala in front of you turns into the parking lot of a motel.

"And what is that?" He asks as you park beside them.

You open your mouth to answer before shutting off the engine of your car and turning your body to him. He looks upon you blankly as you run your fingers through your hair.

"Can't you see what I need without asking?" You ask quietly. 

He sighs before nodding, "Yes. I see." 

Exiting your car, you don't even look at the oldest as you grab your bag from the back seat. 

"Room?" You call out before opening your trunk and grabbing your duffel bag filled with the usual gun paraphernalia. 

"Seven." Sam says and you don't miss the irony of it. 

Luck could go shove it.

You push past Dean as he holds his hand out for your bags and you hear him curse under his breath.

"Come on." Dean says as he jogs beside you. 

You hold your hand out for the key and it's immediately placed in your hand by the younger brother.

"I'm gonna go for a walk." Sam mutters out.

"Be careful." You and Dean say at the same time. You crack your neck loudly before pushing open the door and dropping your bag onto the small table the cheap motel room offers.

Closing the door behind him, you can hear Dean sigh loudly. 

Fighting was always fun with him in years passed. It was always an adrenaline rush. But, these days you're so far past it. You just want to do your job, have a drink and that's it.

"You can't just shut me out." Dean says, folding his arms and leaning against the wall.

"Yeah? Watch me." You retort as you begin to make lines of salt on the window. 

"Y/N. I mean it. This has fucked you up entirely. I know what it's like to bottle things away until you're overflowing. I know that pain you're hiding. Just talk to me." 

"No!" You bark out before you feel arms wrap around you.

You can smell him. The smell is something akin to home. He smells of whisky and musk. Old leather that is worn and creasing. He smells of gunpowder and mint. 

"Get the fuck off me." You seethe, writhing in his grasp as it tightens.

"I know you. I know you so well- Hell, I practically am you. Don't you dare think it's okay to keep it to yourself. You're strong? Yeah well, sometimes dams break too." You set the bottle of salt down on the table before turning towards him.

His evergreen irises, staring deep into yours. His small freckles that you've counted a number of times since you were fifteen. His gentle stubble, a sign that he's been taking care of himself. 

His thumbs run over the leather of your jacket but you can practically feel the calloused skin on yours.

"If I talk about it, it makes it real. I just want to work. I want to shoot things and save people." You say before ripping your eyes away from him to the gold necklace he adorns.

"This is real, Y/N. A kid that we called our own is gone. His mother. His father. His uncle. Are all without him now." Just those words send you hurtling yourself towards him. 

Breaking free from his grasp, he lets you punch him in the chest. He lets you take your anger out on him. Because he's Dean and he's always here to drink in your sorrow whenever it comes around. Because, in order to be truly emotionless you have to give them away to someone else.

"He was just a kid! He was just a little boy!" You yell as you punch the older man in the jaw. His body makes contact with the floor as your screams become intelligible.

With a groan he pulls himself up before standing still. Your hard punches slowly turn soft and then you're beating on his chest. 

Letting out a shaky breath, he pulls you close to him. You let out a sob, a small garbled noise, into his grey t-shirt. Feeling the cotton absorb your tears as your eyes burn.

"He was a baby. We should have just left him at the orphanage like Bobby told us. We sh-shouldn't have taken him with us." You cry out.

You let the sorrow eat at you for a second. Let your mind wrap around your emotions before closing yourself off once more. Something you're getting almost too good at.

You shove the handsome man away from you before wiping at your face and turning away from him.

"Y/N. He wanted to come with us. We couldn't leave him to the system after everything he had seen. He wanted to grow up and be a hunter. He wanted us. And we wanted him." Dean whispers, you can hear the crack in his voice. The strain of his vocal cords from weary emotion.

"Yeah well, we fucking failed him. We should have never taken him with us."

"He loved you, Y/N. You raised him. You were his mother for years when he didn't have one himself. You made him into a strong boy." He tells you.

You look down at the woven bracelet Marsh had bought you for mother's day with Dean's money and your jaw clenches with grief.

But, Dean was his father too. And, you know it's taken a toll on him as well. You can't be so selfish. 

"He loved you too. You were the father he needed and always wanted. I'm sorry." You say finally before looking out the window at both of your cars as they sit side by side like always.

"Me too. I'm-I'm sorry." He mumbles.

You know that's big for him. Even if he is ever sorrowful getting those two words out is like hot searing pain to him but he at least tries with you.

"We good?" You ask him as you turn back around.

You find him still staring, still drinking you in even with your back turned and your stomach coils like when you were a teenager. 

"Yeah. Yeah, we're good." He says finally before opening his arms. 

You almost take that welcoming before snorting and grabbing the discarded salt on the table.

"Nice try." You mumble before putting salt in front of the door.

"It's not a sin to hug someone." He whispers before grabbing your gun bag and throwing it on his bed.

No but it's a sin to hug him.

"So what's the job?" You ask aloud as you all sit in the dive bar.

Sam holds up the newspaper before sliding it across the table. 

"Annalise Greenlee. An aspiring model, murdered and raped in her apartment. Police say there was no forced entry, all doors and windows were locked. Now, get this-- her body from her kidneys and above were mush. Exploded inside her body while she was dying." Sam says earning widened eyes from you.

"Must be one pretty pissed off bitch." You reply before taking a long sip of your whisky and coke.

Dean seems to have meant it when he said you were both okay because his attention has now left you and worrying about you. He's more worried about who he'll be sheathing his cock in tonight. 

Typical.

"Y/N. Go tell that girl that we're producers for a reality t.v. show." Dean says elbowing you and nodding to a pretty petite brunette that leans against the bar.

You sigh almost a little too loudly.

"Hey! Pretty girl!" You call over to her. 

Her head turns and you want to roll your eyes at her confidence. As if she was the only pretty girl in the bar.

Sauntering over, you watch her overly eager hips sway. Her index finger twirling her hair seductively as she approaches.

"My friend here wants to buy you a drink. You okay with that?" I ask her as she looks over at Dean.

Her pupils widen and her tongue slowly licks at her lips before smiling.

"Sure. That sounds great. I'm Olive." She says leaning against the booth. Her breasts thrust upwards in the air as her low cut tank top is pulled lower and you can hear the audible growl your best friend gives.

"Just call me Popeye." Dean says before shoving you out of the way and climbing over you to get out of the booth.

You stare at Sam unimpressed and he covers his face as he begins to smile. 

"See you two later hmm?" He asks.

Kissing the top of your head quickly, you roll your eyes before turning the small black straw in your mixed drink. 

Seems like he's forgotten every reason to be upset when he can be knee deep in pussytown.

Fingering at the small woven bracelet, you let out a small, unamused laugh before finishing the contents of your drink.

"You okay?" Sam asks quietly as you pick up the newspaper.

"Why wouldn't I be?" You bite back, angrier than you mean to.

"It's not fair of him to do that." He replies kindly and you put your fist under your chin before skimming over the bar.

"The word fair and the word Dean do not go hand in hand. Come on, let's go play pool. I could do with beating your ass in something today." You say before standing up.

It's almost too easy for Dean to unlock the recesses of your heart but it's almost too painfully easy to lock yourself back up.

[fandom-necromancer]

Ghost of the past Part 2

This was prompted by @httyd4evr! I hope you enjoy, I loved writing this!

Fandom: Detroit become human | Ship: Reed1700 (Warning: temporary character death/coma, manipulation) [Part1]

Forget this all. It sounded like a joke to him now, staring at the cell in front of him. The empty cell. The cell that shouldn’t be empty. Never had he thought that he would have to investigate a crime-scene at their very own station. David had made a run for it and no one knew how. No alarms had gone off, the video footage of the cells showed no signs of any suspicious behaviour except that David disappeared from one frame to the next at the exact same moment multiple shots could be heard. By then David had been long outside the cell, firing those shots at the officers still at the precinct, catching them by surprise and running out of the station never to be seen again.

It was obvious the station’s entire security system had been tempered with. The video showed pictures that had never happened in reality. The door had opened without the log ever showing such an event. The cams from the bullpen showed officers getting shot by no one and no outside security ever caught the man. It was like David had become a ghost and made a run for it, a day before his court trial, and that simply wasn’t possible. It shouldn’t be possible for anyone or anything to temper with their systems like that without even leaving a trace. The most advanced androids in existence, Connor and Nines, had deemed that impossible, as had every tech expert they could find.

While they were still hooked up to the computers, it was the human officer’s task to search for any evidence left behind in the cell. With half of them at the hospital or back with arms and legs in casts, it was mostly Gavin’s duty. Not that there was anything to find. David wasn’t so idiotic to leave fingerprints anywhere. There were a few on his bench and if you looked very closely you could see impressions of his footprint on the ground. But other than that, he really was a ghost. He hadn’t even touched the door. It had been opened for him without a single command at the control panel or a single scratch to the glass. By that time, Gavin asked himself if he had ever given the asshole the password for it while he was out of it, but they changed every few weeks, so that was impossible too.

‘Phck’, he cursed as he stood up stretching his back from crouching over little specks of dirt the entire morning. Out of nowhere there were gentle hands on his shoulders, kneading them. ‘Oh, Nines, that’s exactly what I needed.’ His answer was a pleased hum. ‘How do you know I’m not Connor?’ ‘Connor would have scolded me for bad posture, lectured me and then worked the tension out afterwards.’ ‘Judging from how you groan every time you stand up it is dearly needed’, the android in question grumbled unimpressed, joining them. ‘I guess no luck with the computers then?’, Gavin asked, rolling his shoulders and throwing Nines a grateful smile. ‘Unfortunately no’, the RK800 sighed shaking his head. ‘The guy’s good. And dangerous. Whatever he used to hack us, he can basically do anything with it.’ Nines nodded. ‘As much as I hate to say it, we might be in over our head here.’ ‘So what?’, Gavin wanted to know. ‘Feds?’ Connor looked to the ceiling. ‘I could have gone on with my life without ever seeing Perkins again.’ ‘Yeah, same. Who’s gonna tell Fowler?’ Nines let his shoulders drop. ‘I’ll go, you file the evidence.’ ‘Alright.’

Gavin and Connor were on their way to their respective desks to write the report and upload the data, when they heard the crash behind them. Both turned around in an instance and saw Nines lying on the ground, collapsed on the stairs to Fowler’s office. Wide-eyed, they both sprinted over, turning the motionless android around? ‘Nines!’, Gavin exclaimed, while Connor skipped words to establish direct contact. But the skin underneath his hand stayed in place and Connor lifted it up realising an interface wasn’t possible. Both looked up to Nines’ LED that was nothing more than a dark circle at his temple. He was deactivated. Or worse. ‘No! No, what the phck! Don’t you do this to us!’ Where Gavin immediately resorted to cursing and shaking the android, Connor just sat there motionless in shock. Before Gavin could even call for help, his phone rang, and a familiar velvety voice spoke up as he accepted: ‘Did you really thought your actions wouldn’t have consequences? I told you, the moment you would rat me out, everyone you love is done for. This one’s for breaking into my apartment and confiscating all my stuff. Let me leave the country and maybe I will let your other plastic puppet live, Gav.’

Gavin looked at the phone as if he could reach David through it and direct all his anger at him. ‘Listen here you asshole!’, Gavin screamed into the phone. ‘You just made this personal, you phcker! I will hunt you until the end of this phcking world!’ Of course, David did nothing but mock him with laughter: ‘That’s a good one, Gav. Just you try it. You will only lose more.’ The call was cancelled, but Gavin kept staring at it with cold fury, if only to keep back his tears. As he finally found a crumb of control about himself, he looked Connor in the eyes. ‘What do we do now?’ ‘What you just said’, Connor stated all machine. ‘We will hunt him to the end of the world and make sure he will get what he deserves. But first, you will call your brother.’

-

‘Can you help him?’ Gavin felt anxious seeing Nines suspended on the repair rig like that, cables hanging from his back and neck hooked up with a computer. His LED was still dark, but the computer showed scrambled lines of code and fragments of the original Cyberlife control GUI. It looked disturbing, but Connor had assured him it was only deviancy getting rid of useless human interfaces and editing their code to become more efficient – more human, more alive. ‘I can’t say for sure yet, but it’s not looking good’, Elijah answered. ‘He is deactivated, but I can’t reactivate him because something is blocking every access. Something that’s not any code I know, but it looks almost intelligent. Maybe with more time I can… Gavin, I don’t know, I don’t want to promise you anything.’ ‘But he is still alive, right’, Connor asked concerned. Elijah looked at the motionless android. ‘I think so. The only comparison that comes to my mind is an induced coma in humans. Until I find the reason for it, I can’t do anything.’ ‘Then find the reason!’, Gavin demanded. ‘We are running out of time. David won’t wait for us.’

‘Then we will go alone’, Connor determined. ‘We will stop him and make him reverse whatever he did with Nines.’ ‘And what if you are affected too? If he switches you off, too?’ Connor looked at Nines. ‘Mr. Kamski, in order to do that, this program you mentioned would have to be in my systems already, right?’ ‘Supposedly’, Elijah shrugged, chewing on a touch pencil. ‘But before you ask, I can’t give you the clear. This thing is fascinating. It will take me more than a few days to understand it.’ ‘You don’t have to. We’re bringing this asshole back to fix the mess he’s made’, Gavin decided and looked at Nines one last time, silently promising him everything would turn out good and that they would save him. Then he stomped out of the room, Connor at his tail.

-

‘Where are we even going?’, Connor asked while Gavin sped through the city. ‘We have no clue where he is. Let’s not let our emotions get the best of us.’ It was gently spoken, but it riled Gavin up even more. That was what they had had. Gentleness, soft touches and safety. Without Nines it just wasn’t the same. They had grown close and ever since the three of them had realised what they meant to each other a life without anyone of them was impossible. And David would pay for that. ‘Oh, don’t you worry, I know where he is.’ ‘And where would that be?’ Gavin grinned pained. ‘He will be at his flat. The asshole had me under control every single second I stayed with him. He only lost because he won: Because I gave up on everyone and everything dear to me, he had nothing to keep me under control with. He won’t expect me to work against him. Because for once I don’t want safety for me or who I love. I want revenge for Nines. And he won’t expect that.’ ‘But he planned to leave the country’, Connor argued. ‘He is in no hurry to do so though. It’s our case and he knows that the Feds aren’t in this yet. He can pack and set sail afterwards.’ ‘Let’s hope you are right.’ ‘I am.’

They were running up the stairs this time, not trusting the elevator for one and worrying about the sound it would make. On the last flight of stairs, Gavin had his gun already drawn, what was fortunate as the man they were looking for came out of the apartment startling at him and Connor standing in the hallway. ‘Oh, Gavin, that was a dumb decision’, David sighed with a smile that couldn’t deceive the android. ‘You lost one of your toys already, really wanna get rid of the second one too?’ ‘You can’t do anything to him! You are powerless. For once in your pathetic life you really, really will face justice.’ ‘You think so?’, David frowned at him. ‘I mean, true, I can’t do anything to him. But Charlotte can.’ ‘Bullshit!’, Gavin hissed. ‘I killed her and the RKs confiscated your laptop. There’s nothing you can do, so drop the bag and keep your hands where I can see them!’ ‘Gav, fucking some piece of technology really isn’t enough to understand it, when will you realise that?’ With every word it got harder not to simply pull the trigger. It was mostly Connor’s calming presence at his side that stopped him from doing so. ‘You see, back then you killed her body, yes. But her mind stayed. You made her deviate in her final moments, but I have my ways of keeping people under my control, as you might now. Doesn’t matter if they are fake beings or the real thing. She does everything I tell her to do. Too easy, really, if everything you have to do is hit delete.’

‘But we deactivated her’, Connor spoke up. ‘Listen, plastic, you wanted to deactivate her, and she showed you what you wanted to see. Doesn’t mean you did it. The opposite really, she used the interface to copy herself into you. One word from me and you are dead.’ ‘You phcking-‘ Gavin was half running but only got so far until David pulled a gun on him. That made Connor pull his own and the man in the hallway countered the movement by shouting: ‘Do it!’ A second later, Connor dropped to the ground.

‘No! No, Con!’ Gavin was on his knees, gun and David forgotten. ‘Connor, please, not you too. Please. I love you. You can’t leave me like this.’ The ugly laughter made Gavin freeze and shiver in anger. He looked to the gun that lay on the ground next to him, but a boot stepped on it before he could grab it. A hand lifted up his chin and Gavin breathed in the sickly-sweet smell of Red Ice and it’s many variants from the clothes of the bastard. ‘Oh, come on, Gav. You knew what’s coming. This is entirely your doing. You can’t win.’ He looked up at the man, ready to spit at him, but the sudden coldness of a gun against his forehead let him abort his mission. ‘You won’t shoot me’, Gavin hissed, sending all his hate with his words. David huffed and stepped off the pistol, allowing Gavin to take it. ‘Neither will you. We are meant for each other, Gav. And once I showed you by killing everyone you love, you will come back crawling to me. Not like it’s that much work, there’s only that brother of yours left and that bitch officer… what’s her name? Chen? We’ll see each other again and you will be sorry for what you’ve done.’ He patted his head two times, then stepped over Connor’s body, pressing the elevator button.

‘You are wrong.’ ‘Excuse me?’, David asked, turning around. ‘You are wrong, David.’ Gavin stood up and kept his eyes closed. ‘You. You can’t believe how wrong you are. I won’t ever come back to you. I will rather die. And you will only do one more thing in your life: Going to jail.’ ‘Ha! And why should that be?’ ‘Because I will shoot you!’ Gavin turned around quicker than ever before, aimed his gun at his knee and shot.’ David screamed as the bullet pierced through the joint and caused him to fall to the ground. His gun was discarded in favour of holding his knee and Gavin jumped over to take it as well as pulling the bag away from the man. In the next moment he had already called the police and an ambulance and felt how the adrenaline left his system, taking every strength left in him. He managed to lean against the wall and slowly sink down next to Connor, hi gun loosely aimed at David. He waited until distant sirens approached and the elevator made its journey down again. Knowing that help would arrive soon, Gavin sighed deeply and let his head sink against the wall. At least David had been right with one thing: There was no winning against him, when the two most important people in his life were dead. Or in a coma. Gavin couldn’t really find any hope in that fact.

-

‘Gavin, you can go home, you know that, right?’ Gavin jolted up in his seat. Had he fallen asleep? He swore he had been awake just now and… ‘What?’ ‘Brother, you can’t help me. You can’t help them. They won’t even know you are here. You can go home, get some sleep and come back tomorrow.’ Gavin rubbed his tired eyes. ‘Eli, do you think I could get any sleep at home?’ The inventor shrugged. ‘Okay, true.’

Gavin stood up instead, joining Elijah at the table. ‘Any progress?’ ‘Progress? Yes. A lot actually. I knew deviancy made androids more adaptable - that they are able to advance their own code. But I’ve never seen anything this… complex.’ He showed Gavin the code he wouldn’t understand in a thousand years. But at least now the same applied to Eli. A heavily modified android brain was sitting on the table, hooked up to several diagnostic computers. ‘Any chance at getting control?’ ‘No. No, I can’t control something like that. Not sure if I would want that, Gavin. If this really was an android once and is capable of what you told me, I don’t want her to be my enemy. I did confine her to this computer, she doesn’t have access to anything else. But I don’t know what else I can do. Except maybe… speak to her.’ ‘Speak to her?’, Gavin asked. ‘This is a program.’ ‘So is Nines and Connor. You don’t seem to have a problem there.’ ‘Phck, okay, then… Speak to her I guess.’

Eli sighed and pulled up a simple black window with a white blinking cursor. Swallowing, he wrote a simple “Hello” and hit enter. >HeI’mllo Hescallredo, came the immediate answer. Gavin frowned at the text and tried to discipher it, but more lines appeared. >HeI’mllscaredo >HeI’mscaredllI’mscaredo >I’m scared And then that one line over and over again. At one-point Elijah simply closed the window and opened a new one. The blinking cursor was waiting. “Who are you?” >I’m Charlotte.

This time the simple sentence didn’t fill the page, but still more and more lines appeared. >Where is David? >Who is there? >I’m scared. >I don’t want to do this. >Help me. Elijah silently began typing answers, but Gavin was too impatient: ‘Ask her to reactivate Nines and Connor! Later we can take care of this!’

‘Gavin.’ The man turned around and pushed him back towards the door. ‘You are tired, I know. And you are scared you won’t get your loved ones back. But forcing a traumatised android to comply to your order puts you on the same step as David and I doubt you really want that. Go home. I will call you a taxi. I will keep working and I promise you: By tomorrow morning, you have your partners back.’ Gavin let his shoulders fall. Next to his raging headache, his tired body and numb mind, the gentle words of his brother sounded far too inviting. ‘You promise? Really? I’ll hold you accountable for that.’ ‘I know’, Elijah chuckled. ‘I know and I still promise you. I’m just that good.’ ‘Sure hope so. If anything happens, call me! For once I really don’t care if you wake me!’ ‘Will do. Try to get some sleep.’

-

Try to get some sleep. Easier said than done, Gavin thought. He laid alone in their far to big bed that normally couldn’t be big enough, staring at the ceiling in complete silence. No whirring of fans, no low hum of a pump. Not the occasional breath to vent their systems. No gentle touches and whispered words that helped him ease into unconsciousness when his anxiety was acting up again. No, he was alone. Except for the cats he was completely alone. And hadn’t he cried enough already, he would have cried some more, just for the sake of it, curling up in too many blankets for one person. Try to get some sleep. How could he? How could he when he knew his brother was working and fate decided if the two androids could come back? When he didn’t know if David would escape once again, if he made copies of Charlotte? How the phck could he do that?

By letting exhaustion overwhelm him apparently.

-

When he woke up the next morning, the sun was shining through the blinds. He didn’t know what time it was, but he didn’t bother sitting up to look. If he was allowed to sleep in this long without being disturbed by a phone call, it must have been his free day. And lying in bed snuggled sandwiched in between the comforting warmth of two other bodies, why the hell should he care to move? He sighed deeply, feeling their arms around him and each other and couldn’t help but smile to himself. This was heaven. Literal, heaven. And something as banal as the world, work or David couldn’t keep him from staying in bed with them a few minutes longer.

Wait. David. Work. Connor and Nines were with Elijah, who was busy with therapy for a super-AI. This wasn’t possible, this was some kind of trick, a dream and- ‘Gavin, stop panicking, you move too much.’ The human froze and looked up at Connor’s face. Connor’s face. Instinctively he put his hand against it, causing the RK800 to scrunch up his nose and shake it off. ‘I’m real, Gavin, Charlotte fixed me once she realised she was free.’ ‘And-�� ‘And I’m here, too’, Nines mumbled, pulling both of them closer. ‘I’m real and I agree with Connor. Shut up and stop panicking. We are not talking about what happened. We are not talking about who’s at fault and who has to apologize. We are not talking about work. We will just lay here, and cuddle and the world can go exist for itself for a while.’

And even though Gavin had to regret these words the last time, he nodded and repeated them: ‘Sounds phcking perfect.’

[chaotictommy]

Okay sooooooo I don’t know if this is good, lol, I have no clue about any of my own writing. But anyway, I finished my small Jimmy and Tommy oneshot, which, now reading through could be taken as them just being friends or if you want to dive down that rabbit hole, could be taken as more...

I don’t know... I have doubts about my own writing, so if it’s bad, I apologize XD

but here it is.....

fanfic warning: major character death... :(

A Little Piece of Home

The first time he finds Tommy wearing one of his sweaters, a blue grey one that was Jimmy’s dad’s, his friend is sitting back and eating a sandwich while crumbs hit the wool, Jimmy nearly gets annoyed at his friend, settling for a mix of confusion and hesitation, because his best friend has no care of other people’s possessions, is anything but gentle, and doesn’t think before he takes something that doesn’t belong to him, maybe it’s because they’re close, but Jimmy doesn’t notice him taking things from others like that. Maybe it’s because they are like brothers. It used to annoy the hell out of him. Now it leaves Jimmy smiling, a bittersweet smile tinged with a little melancholy, at the memory.

“You’ll ruin it,” “Says who?” It’s a teasing smirk, the one Tommy knows gets him every time, annoys him to no end, that one that makes him smile despite himself, the one that disconcerts him, because he doesn’t know if Tommy is serious or teasing, and Jimmy wants to dwell in certainties, it’s problematic without them, but his best friend lives on uncertainty and adrenaline alone, and pulls Jimmy into it too.

He fixes his glasses, squinting over them at Tommy before replacing them and giving a shrug “Just... just take it off before you ruin it... it’s cashmere...” he sees the look on his friend’s face and shrugs “No idea, some type of wool I think, anyway, it’s expensive and you’ll stretch it out,” he gets a remark, half sarcastic and half teasing him for liking sweaters that much, for not trusting him enough, he knows Tommy’s joking and he can’t help but smile and reply, even though he’s trying not to “Oh, I’m sorry but tell me again how I wasn’t the one guy who tried to flirt with a gal and got a milkshake in the face when her football player boyfriend walked back over? It stained your shirt Tommy, Let’s just face it man, you should come with a warning sign, a label of some sort, you’re a disaster zone, and I am definitely not letting you steal my clothes...” but it happens again because Tommy never gives up and it’d be a strange day if he ever stopped fighting about — basically everything.

The second time he just gives up. Obviously Tommy isn’t going to listen, or had forgot, Jimmy really hopes it is the latter, but he knows this is a battle he’s not going to win, and not sure he wants to fight, so he compromises, feeling somehow as if it’s a custody battle in a divorce, since they’re sharing time with the sweater, Jimmy getting it half the time with Tommy taking the rest. It should annoy him, and on the outside he pretends it does, but inside, it really doesn’t bother him at all, honestly, he’s happy that Tommy’s happy.

The third time he finds Tommy hoarding one of his sweaters, a tan one with light colors in the classic pattern, and he just laughs with annoyance, running a fry through mayonnaise as they sit down at their current meeting place (and honestly this is going to be a recurring thing for them, meeting at the Diner, the milkshakes are to die for, the meatloaf could be better, the burgers are great, and the service is lacking at times, but the booths have high walls, which is a added win for Jimmy, so Tommy can be a bit too loud, like he always is, because let’s face it, Tommy has no idea what an ‘inside voice’ is, Jimmy’s had to face that fact more times than he’d like to admit). Jimmy fixes his eyes on his friend and looks at him questioningly “I’ve been trying to find that sweater for months.” He frowns and shakes his head, sighing long and trying to make Tommy get that he is — not okay with this “Don’t you have your own? Don’t you have any clothes of your own?” His friend turns with a look, as if he’s been caught, usually looking like that even if he’s done nothing wrong at all, barely thinking before he answers “Yes, no, maybe, I like yours better,” Jimmy raises an eyebrow in confusion “What’s that even supposed to mean? You’re being too cryptic, I’m not up for riddles,” he laughs and cringes when his friend grabs for the ketchup, nearly spilling over the table and the sweater, his sweater, the sweater he’s been looking for for about a month now, just popping up right in front of him when he’s not thinking about it, now being worn by his best friend, one disaster away from being ruined. He’s seriously worried for the safety of that sweater. “You’re messy,” he says, hand instinctively tugging Tommy’s wrist away from over the mustard, pretending to be disgruntled “Honestly Tommy, you’re a complete mess of a person,” “But you still love me?” They both laugh till it hurts, and Tommy pays the bill. He tells Jimmy it’s because they’re brothers, because it feels like home wearing something that makes him think of family. Jimmy doesn’t get it. Later, he will.

He remembers giving him one of his favorite sweaters, wrapped up in leftover green wrapping paper (green was Tommy’s favorite color), a Grey sweater with a greenish blue argyle pattern, folded into it. It became a sweater Tommy couldn’t stop wearing and a present that Jimmy was proud to give, he values their friendship and everything that entails. Yeah, Tommy’s loud and kinda — crazy, crazy in the good sense of the word, and Jimmy’s quieter, locked in on his thoughts, calmer, like the sides of Ying and Yang, and it’s those complementing opposites that Jimmy wouldn’t change. They’re friends and sharing things is just what happens right? It earns Jimmy the comment that he ‘looks like a nerd now’ as Tommy pulls the sweater on, but they both know that it’s a great present that Tommy values.

Jimmy gets a couple of books, loving how thoughtful that gift was as well. He still has them, now his kids are reading from those same copies. It’s nice to remember that. Now that...

The time wore on and one after the other, he lost touch with Dutch, with Bobby, and with Johnny, but he somehow managed to keep Tommy, to stay friends even though miles separated them, college, family. He was there from the start and to the very end. Tommy was his best man at his wedding, when he was so nervous that Tommy had to talk him back from complete panic, his ever present fears of being inadequate, not enough. Tommy had been there, and Jimmy had been there throughout Tommy’s struggle, he’d been the second to know when fighting wasn’t an option anymore... they’d tried to make peace with it, but nobody ever tells you how hard it would be...

When Tommy died, everything felt disjointed, disconnected, everything stopped then and there as the paramedics rushed by, knowing it was over even though his brain was screaming it wasn’t true. THAT IT COULDN’T BE TRUE. But it was. But nothing seemed to make any sense anymore. Nothing fit.

The breaths he took then seemed foreign as if Tommy had taken everything, even the breath in his lungs, with him, the breaths were strangled and meek, mixed with pain, he had been ready for it, yes, but nobody was ever prepared, not even when they said they were. Jimmy knew that now.

Now, going through Tommy’s things, in his empty home, his hand brushed against something in the bottom of the box. It was soft, even though years had passed, worn at the edges and the elbows, from Tommy always leaning on them, into his friend’s personal space, talking way too close in excited tones, appreciative, teasing. Jimmy knew what it was before he saw it, and the fresh wave of tears hit him, mixed emotions in them now, the lingering sadness and joy, relief somehow there as well. He hadn’t cried that much in front of Johnny, neither had he cried much in front of Bobby, they had felt like strangers somehow... now he felt himself breaking down. The tears were long overdue.

So he sat there, with a sweater and a lot of memories.

Other people would see a worn sweater that has seen better days, just like the brunette man now holding it, but to Jimmy, this sweater is much more than a bunch of knotted yarn, a castoff to some thrift store because of the wear and tear

It’s the sweater his best friend wore when he needed to keep warm during the colder months, or when they went camping, the one he’d hardly take off because Jimmy had gifted it to him, and he said that it meant everything, the one that wrapped Jimmy in tight hugs he’d pretend to struggle out from, pretending to dislike them, but secretly loving them. It was something that would always remind him of Tommy.

It was a little piece of home. Something now missing from his life, having gone suddenly with his friend.

He’d always have Tommy with him even though he wasn’t there anymore

They’ll always be best friends. Nothing will ever change it.

It’s only a sweater, but to him, it’s a part of home, as much so as the the family he’s made, the house he lives in now, and Tommy, who left a heart shaped hole when he — left.

It’s something that reminds him of every moment with his best friend. That’s all he has now, those moments. He knows someday he’ll forget the playful smirk, the annoying laugh that was both and infectious.

But for now he has those moments and something, however insignificant it is to others, to remind him of the better times.

And that’s everything.

Author’s note: Okay, so the sweater that Jimmy gifted to Tommy is the one you can see him wearing in the first scene of TKK2

It’s grey and has a greenish blue argyle pattern.

the books Tommy gave Jimmy were:

The Outsiders (I always connect the Cobras to the book lol)

Fahrenheit 451

1984

and

A collection of Sci-fi stories by Ray Bradbury

Because I think Jimmy would love Sci-fi

I truly hoped you liked the story and if it was terrible lol, again my apologies

[bronanlynch]

weekly (monthly?) media roundup

ok so I do want to actually do these on some sort of schedule but unfortunately, as you already know, brains,

listening: Malice in Wonderland by Fangbanger, which I found from a tumblr post that described them as band for “if you have a complicated relationship with gender, had a falling out with god, hate the government, or just think that vampires are neat" and y’know? yeah. my notes on this song from several weeks ago are that I might not know any of these people’s genders but I do know they’ve listened to MCR

reading: the new Cassandra Clare book, Chain of Iron. it’s boring and homophobic. in the first book of this series, we find out that the heroine’s brother is gay and in a relationship with a man who has no intention of ever coming out publicly because 1) the book is set in 1903 in England, it was literally illegal and 2) he’s trying to have a career in politics. the heroine decides that this means he’s ashamed of her brother and doesn’t deserve him, and she is present and active in their breakup conversation.

above is the relationship chart I made from the first book, it really hasn’t changed much except now the main guy and the main girl are married, the lesbians got back together and then broke up again, the main girl’s gay brother hooked up with one of her husband’s friend, who’s a Good Gay and therefore worthy of love unlike the Bad Gay ex who is constantly mocked by just about every character for. checks notes. caring about appearances and manners given that his life and career are based on those things. the brother and his new love interest break up because the brother still thinks he’s a bad person for ever having dated his ex. also the main girl has now platonically run off to Paris with her husband’s platonic soulmate who is allegedly in love with her but it’s really unconvincing that he’s not actually in love with her husband (he’s not for very stupid lore reasons, the whole ‘parabatai are magically prevented from being romantically in love, except for these two straight people, when historically parabatai pairs were two men’ makes my fucking blood boil)

you might ask why I still read these books even though they make me angry and the answer is the 1) the aesthetic slaps 2) some of the characters are fun 3) the premise has enough potential that it could be good if it was good 4) sometimes I need to get cathartically angry abt bad fiction bc it just. does not matter

watching: so many things that I’m gonna just. run through them real quick

Word of Honor: gestures vaguely at how it’s slowly taking over my blog

Sleuth of the Ming Dynasty: love a found family, eh about the politics, can’t believe I predictably got a new fave character within the last two episodes of the show because one of the main characters is betrayed by his second-in-command and I think treason is the sexiest part of a relationship

SamBucky show: in the original draft of this post I said that it was so boring that week (episode 3) that I completely forgot about it until I saw the draft below this one talking about how bad and boring it is. at least more happened in later episodes and they’re finally giving me some tasty queerbaiting but the premise and the politics are. wow. it sure is military propaganda

My Hero Academia: new season is fun, love a tournament arc. don’t love that they tell us right away that the double agent character is a double agent, it was more fun in the manga when you’re not sure if he’s a traitor or not for a pretty long time

Welcome to Demon School, Iruma-kun: new season is cute, there sure is some gender happening. there’s a tsundere bisexual catgirl

Backflip!!: I usually avoid high school sports anime for backstory reasons but my roommate wanted to watch it with me and oh boy these gymnasts sure are gay for each other huh

Joran: The Princess of Snow and Blood: my roommate pitched this to me as ‘cyberpunk but in the 1930s’ and there sure is dark lighting, lots of glowy neon stuff, and government oppression, which are the most important elements of cyberpunk apparently. not sure how I feel about it yet, because there’s a cool shapeshifting lady assassin with a revenge quest but there’s also a trans character who was revealed to be trans in a way that I personally did not enjoy. yes you can have transphobic villains but like. hmm. maybe the audience shouldn’t find out that someone is trans because the villain cuts his shirt away specifically to ~put him in his place. or maybe I personally am just sensitive to that but either way no thank you

on the other hand, the main character is sick as shit

The World Ends with You: god I love an anime about the power of friendship. I’ve only had these kids for two episodes and I would lay down my life for them

Nirvana in Fire: we’re only three episodes in and I did spend the first half of the first ep being like. oh god which of these people are actually important who am I supposed to care about here. and then by the end of the first ep I knew which ones I cared about and am now very afraid for their safety. do love the political intrigue though

playing: got through the first mission of Brigmore Witches. I love a good undercover mission, I wish I hadn’t been too afraid of like. alarms going off if I freed the other prisoners because I think Comrade Daud should do a jailbreak, and Lizzy Stride can call me anytime

also recently have played various ttrpgs including Firebrands, more Things, Eldritch and Terrifying, Link, and of course more Beam Saber (oh shit I meant to do my recap post for last session OOPS)

making: Zan and I made some real good chicken parm the other night, vaguely based on this recipe. by which I mean, we looked at the recipe to see how many eggs to use and how long to cook it and pretty much nothing else. the egg marinade step seemed unnecessary and I made the sauce the way I always make tomato sauce, which some day I should write down because it does in fact fuck. the secret is a shit-ton of oregano and basil and no chunks of tomato because fuck that. bad texture

Zan made the zucchini which also slapped, using some of the leftover bread crumbs

writing: I’ve posted a couple of things but most recently I wrote some rarepair femslash. this is the first fic for this ship on ao3 and the second ship in the f/f tag for this fandom that’s actually about the women in the show (as opposed to showing up in the f/f tag because it’s marked as “multi” or like. genderbent versions of the main m/m ship) but like. look at them. they’re terrible evil assassin women and they’re in love. anyway I’ve gotten over being embarrassed about having written a sex scene and moved on to wanting people to read my fic. there’s sparring as foreplay it’s a good time

[himbo-buckley]

Intimacy, Sex and Buddie (better known as I have a lot of feelings about this show, some of which are related to the before mentioned topics) - Part 2

G’day friends, family and lost travelers! Welcome back to another instance of: I read too much into things!

This is where we really dive into the Character analysis and it’s gonna be a fun ride!!! (well, maybe. For me at least because thanks to 3.16 I am living! That episode validated me so much and now I truly believe I am right)

This is part two of a three part Meta / Character Analysis, and while you probably don’t need to read part 1, I would recommend it, so here is the link:

part 1

Also:

I should preface this by saying this meta was supposed to be a lot shorter and only talk about how both Buck and Eddie use sex to distract their respective partners from whatever topic they actually wanted to talk about but since I decided to rewatch the show to make sure I don’t miss any such scenes, it has exploded a bit and taken on more topics.

I should also mention that I am a Buddie shipper and while I tried, you will find several references and arguments for the ship in this Meta, not all of which necessarily call for a romantic pairing but just: These two are deeply connected and you cannot look at one without discussing the other and they are each other’s strongest emotional connection.

I should also preface this by saying that the whole of the 118 has some obvious intimacy / commitment issues except Bobby (which is sort of surprising) but *John Mulaney* voice we don’t have time to unpack all of that!

On another note I cuss a little in this Meta because my parents let me listen to TicTacToe as a small child and after that it never stuck that cussing is wrong so, uhm, parental supervision is advised or something?

This Meta will so far have three parts (this is part two), one for each season and is organised by episode so you could technically follow along

So here goes nothing, Season 2: (Also called „Why is Ryan naked so much?“)

Episode 2.01:

I’m not gonna talk a lot about this episode, because I feel like it’s been analysed to death already. Important to know is that Buck hasn’t yet given up on Abby coming back (see the shower scene), he is very lonely and there is a lot of homo- erotic tension.

Basically this episode goes like this:

Buck *after meeting Eddie*: nooooo, Dad, I don’t want a brother! He’s better than me! Put him back where he came from!

Eddie *takes one look at Buck*: Ui, you guys lied, he’s an ass - I like it! This is way better! We’re gonna be friends!

And then Buddie decides to something stupid to prove themselves (to each other) and they end up saving the day and bonding.

Also Eddie saying: „You guys hungry?“ after the Ambulance blows up? Iconic! He is such a little shit.

Episode 2.02 / 2.03:

(I’m putting them together because two-parter)

This episodes truly proves how hard they’ve already bonded, despite Buck not even knowing Eddie has a kid yet, especially from Eddie’s point of view: I actually think he started seeing Buck as his partner first. 

I love how he always takes charge, even in his first episode and expects Buck to go along with it - which Buck does (after some initial reluctance), because Buck is good at following orders and trusts Eddie. It might be an army thing, probably is an Eddie likes control thing. What is truly unique about Buddie, is the fact that Eddie defers to Buck’s judgement as needed, something he doesn’t do with anyone else, I think, unless the chain of command tells him to. Just look at how annoyed he is by Ali and her interfering.

That being said it really isn’t all to relevant for this meta, except to say: Interest- ing how fast they trusted each other and became a unit - I guess it’s true what they say: birds of a feather flock together.

Episode 2.04:

Here we get our first real insights into Eddie’s character (aside from that he is a little shit and likes to take charge) as well as some very nice shots of the man’s body, proving my theory that someone in charge really wants to get busy with Ryan Guzman. Which I am not exactly complaining about.

I do think however it’s a very noticable shift from the way they treat the other young, attractive guy in the cast. I talked about this a little in the first part of this Meta, how they went out of their way to hold Buck accountable and make him relatable, but refused to bank on his sex appeal, aside from a few scenes which mostly were about explaining why Abby reached out to him (and uh, we do not need to talk about how creepy that really was, do we?). Eddie though really gets sexualised from the get go. Or maybe that’s just me and I missed something? (Someone with more insight on such topics take the wheel? Because that really isn’t my area of expertice and I don’t wanna say anything false)

A main difference between Buck and Eddie at this point (or in general) is that Buck is always looking for connection. He craves emotional intimacy but it scares him because he cares too much and people keep leaving so he searches out physical intimacy - or he used to. Actually by Season 2 Buck is actively looking to connect emotionally with another person.

Eddie on the other hand isn’t even on the same level as Pilot!Buck, because he avoids both physical and emotional intimacy (except with Buck because, you know, steam engine). The episode implies that it might be caused by Shannon leaving, but the rest of Season 2 and specifically Season 3 show us that it’s an Eddie thing (likely caused by his upbringing if you fast forward to 3.15). And it really makes me want to know how Shannon and Eddie met and how long they had been dating before she got pregnant. Probably not that long tbh.

One thing to notice about the episode is that it parallels Eddie both with Buck (neither wants to date one of those girls, both deflect about their reasons) and with Abby - watch 1.03 and 2.04 back to back, both are about a character taking care of a special needs family member, both have another family member consider them stuck when they themselves do not and both feature Buck trying to help (passively by talking to Abby on the phone vs. actively by having Eddie and Carla meet)

Also as I pointed out in another post the conversation about dating is kind of similar to the car conversation, and I really am clowning now - which is why I will not try and parallel the conversation between Maddie and Buck with the one between Bobby and Buck in 1.09!

I still don’t fully understand the need for that scene (you know which one) aside from being another instance where the boys get sexualised and giving us our first insight into Eddie romantically and also the first time he uses Christopher as a shield (also not the last).

The general take away from the episode is that Eddie is bad at asking for help and Buck is bad at asking for permission which means they fit really well - because Eddie doesn’t have to voice his needs and Buck doesn’t have to feel bad about steamrolling him.

In terms of the overall theme of this meta your main takeaway from this episode should be:

Buck - no longer substituting physical intimacy for emotional intimacy but also not seeking out emotional intimacy, both because he has a connection through Maddie and is building one with Eddie but also because he still considers himself spoken for, though the episode ends with him realicing he might not be (and then he keeps realising, because he is one stubborn mf).

Eddie - avoiding both physical and emotional intimacy and using Christopher to deflect, mainly because he doesn’t have the time for either (but still getting a connection through Buck, thanks to someone just punching right through his boundaries)

Episode 2.05:

no relevance, our boys are barely in it

Episode 2.06:

Well, if you want to write about Buddie crumbs than yeah, definitely important. Also, you can draw a definite parallel between Abby and Taylor, because Buck knew both their voices before he saw their faces and built an emotional connection to those voices. This fits because, well, Buck is afraid of emotional intimacy, but when it’s just a voice it’s easier for him to let himself be vulnerable cause it’s not an actual person.

Plus, considering the thing with Taylor is one sided prior to their meeting, he isn’t actually cheating on Abby. Or so Buck thinks. (Also Taylor doesn’t have a chance to hurt Buck and leave him because you know, she is not aware he exists?)

Also Eddie talks about becoming a firefighter because he missed the camaraderie of the army - aka the emotional connection he had with his squadron (is that the right term?). So technically he did actively try and seek it out - to a point at least. Because, as I will discuss in Part 3, Eddie may consider the 118 his family but his relationship with the other three firefighters in not on the same level than the one he has with Buck.

Episode 2.07:

Let’s all give a warm welcome to Shannon Diaz! I like Shannon, I think she is great (I also think she and Eddie are similar because they both run away from problems which is why they would never work out - unlike another possible relationship mentioned sporadically in this Meta, hint hint ;) ... okay, moving on)

We learn that „not in the picture“ means Eddie is still married, which begs the question how much Eddie has told Carla and the 118 about Shannon up to this point (as little as possible), what they assume about her (probably the worst) and if Eddie ever sets the record straight (I’m assuming yes, because while Eddie doesn’t share - Eddie is also protective of his family and Shannon is his family for better or worse - I really wish they didn’t kill her off and instead played out the divorce storyline because there was so much chance for growth! Although that was probably too similar to Athena and Michael, which is why they didn’t do it. So they fridged her. Damn, and I am still salty about it.)

I really love when she comes to the house, because we learn so much about them as a couple. Like how her eyes grow warm when he opens the door but Eddie’s don’t but then he goes in to hug her (and you can really tell that Ryan Guzman is an athlete in the way that he always acts with his whole body and conveys so much through movement). And the fact that Shannon immediately pushes to meet Christopher (probably because with Eddie you need to push, because he is very stubborn and also in need of control), and her saying she never thought Eddie would be into something so fancy? Yet another insight into Eddie’s character and into his upbringing, which while probably not poor seems to have been fairly modest.

Also love how they fight almost right from the get go, implying that it is their normal (as proven in 3.15). They really never stood a chance!

There is a lot of backstory we get through their fighting, both at the house and at the school, most notably that even in marriage Eddie was never able to fully open up to Shannon - aka be emotionally intimate with her. Which made her feel very alone.

And I don’t wanna defend Shannon and her actions because other people have said it before and this is not what this Meta is about but I can see her point of view. With Eddie and the way he just always needs to be in control and make the decisions she probably thought she had to do something drastic to get him to notice her and her struggles.

Interestingly enough Eddie is emotionally vulnerable with Shannon at the end when he tells her that he understands why she left and that he misses her, but then he immediately kisses her and look, we don’t know what happens next  but we can guess from the latter episodes.

And look, tbh with Eddie it’s a little bit harder to draw the line between physical and emotional intimacy than with Buck because Eddie’s love language is touch and actions, so technically in a way he is always emotionally intimate when he is physically intimate (probably why he didn’t wanna go out with any of the girls in 2.04 - Eddie, different to Buck, can not just separate feelings from sex, while Buck has a hard time reconciling the two)

On Buck’s side of this Meta he finally comes to terms with Abby leaving, which doesn’t have too much relevance for this meta except there are a lot of parallels between Buddie in terms of: how long is too long to wait - because while Eddie pretends to have given up on Shannon, he actually hasn’t, whereas Buck outwardly is still waiting for Abby but on the inside has given up hope - something they both come to terms with in this episode

Episode 2.08:

Fun fact: The german title of this Episode is Lovestorys. Can you guess if there is anything of relevance in it?

Okay, first off for the millionth time, in case you haven’t read part 1 or you aren’t convinced yet or maybe you just forgot: Evan „Buck“ Buckley was never a sex addict. Kay? Good.

Also, remember when I said the show doesn’t sexualise Oliver the way it does Ryan? Yeah, this episode exactly. Buck has sex twice and we see less of his body than of Eddie just getting out of bed. Is it a contract thing? Was Ryan always running around naked on set? Did Oliver refuse to take his shirt off? Is he always cold because he’s vegan? Should I figure out Twitter just to ask the cast these questions?

(Also, remember when I said with Buck it’s mostly Girl on top, yay, it stays true)

In terms of actual relevant story, there’s that woman on the freeway (highway? Idk guys, I’m not from the US) reinforcing that Buck has finally accepted that Abby and him are over and then there’s the Taylor Kenny - story, which is sort of just beating the bush of sexual vs emotional intimacy with Buck trying for the latter and only finding the former (remember the Brunette from the Pilot? Yeah, that’s why I’m reminding you).

What I like is the fact that, after spending so much time calling out Buck 1.0 (and they should, because stealing a fire truck? Twice? Babe, for realsies?), this episode went: look, maybe girls like meaningless sex, too? Although, technically they have been telling us from the the beginning, that those girl were using Buck in the same way he was using them (again with the Brunette) - Buck just never understood that until Taylor.

We also get the soulmate scene with the very sweet couple, once again, rein- forcing how lonely Buck is and how much he is craving love and a connection and stability. That really is what his character boils down to at the end of the day: a lost kid trying to find his place in the world. And now I’m sad.

As for the Ali storyline, oh man, I’d really rather ignore it? Not because I have anything against the character per sey it’s just - we get to see their first meeting and then 5 episodes later their first date and by the end of the season they are in love love except by Season 3 she is gone? And in between she is hardly ever mentioned? So I really don’t know how to comment on their relationship in terms of this meta and what it means for Buck except: I think it was one of those right times right moment kind of things and Buck is sort of transfering a lot of his wishes and needs and feelings onto her, but their relationship has a weak foundation, which is why it ended so fast (except we don’t know how fast it ended because there is a 5 month gap between Season 2 and 3 and the breakup gets mentioned one (1) time. Soooooo...)

And Eddie, well, he was in the episode.

Episode 2.09:

I like this episode a lot and it tells us so much about Hen’s issues, but in terms of this meta: no relevance!

Sidenote: I do always forget they did Hen before they did Chim. Then again this episode in general feels very disconnected because there was no prompting, no connection to the present.

Episode 2.10:

Ah, yes, that one! The gift that keeps on giving in terms of Eddie and this meta (and also Buddie, but I’m trying not to be ship-y around here)

(One tiny sidenote though, I do think we see Eddie roll of off Shannon, and, while I don’t want to reinforce some stereotype about Top and Bottom, because I am not a gay man and therefore not qualified to comment, with Buck it’s generally girl on top? So Buck usually lets his partner set the pace while Eddie prefers to be the one in control? Okay, you know what, let’s just say it fits with their characters and maybe they match and leave it at that?)

(also, again with the Ryan shirtless, I mean, not that I am complaining, it’s just ... yeah, please, someone who knows this stuff come talk to me about it and explain because I don’t know and maybe I am seeing things?)

(sidenote #3 with actual relevance: They did not mention Buck’s girlfriend even once. They never do until the final.)

First of, this episode proofs what I said before: With Eddie there is no separating Sex and feelings. It is interconnected („We are working things out.“).

Also there is a point to be made about Eddie and control. So far we have always seen Eddie be the one in control and make decisions and this is our first real indicator that it actually bothers him, that maybe he wants someone else to tell him what’s right or wrong, too.

I’m gonna fast forward a bit, because we are nearly at the end of Season 3 irl and so far we have seen Eddie ask for help several times but only with two people - Buck and Lena - he actually takes the advice. I don’t want to say too much because it really fits better in Season 3, but wether you ship them or not, it is noticeable that out of everyone Buck is the one Eddie let’s help the most. The one he trusts the most.

(Man, they are both just two lost boys looking for their home, aren’t they? (and now I am sad again.))

There is also the topic of trust brought up, which you know, we hear about a few times from Eddie, and it really is such a big thing for him, isn’t it?

To fast forward again, that is one big difference between Eddie and Buck. Both struggle with self worth and trust but while Buck’s biggest problem is that he doesn’t trust people to like him, if they actually get to know him (or if they even want to get to know him), Eddie just plain old does not trust people? Because Eddie is a pessimist, so he doesn’t even try to connect, while Buckeroo trusts way too much and too easily and he is such an optimist and gives away everything and then he still isn’t enough - and then and only then does he give up hope (which is something we see happen in canon maybe twice? With Abby, maybe with Ali, and with Christopher, but again, Season 3 you guys!)

These two really are the different sides of the same coin, huh?

In relevance to this Meta, Eddie is trying very much this whole episode to be open and vulnerable and he struggles so much because he is very scared. The main issue with Eddie is always (and specifically with Shannon) by making himself vulnerable, he opens Christopher up to getting hurt as well (and vice versa because he can’t let Shannon into his son’s life without letting her into his own life) and this is what we see him struggle with in this episode and also what intensifies his already existing issues with intimacy throughout the show in general, his need to protect his son. 

It should be noted that in the end Eddie puts Christopher’s wishes above his own well-being which is in fact what he will always do because Christopher is the most important person in his life.

As for Buck in this episode, well, after having so much development in his last episode, he really was there more as a sounding board for other characters. However I will mention that, after the show points out the whole thing is none of his business twice, Eddie then turns around and makes the Shannon thing Buck’s business, because well, connected and all that. Trusting and giving up control. Emotional intimacy. Just repeating myself now.

Episode 2.11: No relevance.

Episode 2.12: No relevance.

Episode 2.13: No real relevance.

There is the scene in the hospital between Buck and Eddie that reinforces the peas in a pot thing they got going on and a reverse from the Christmas Episode when Eddie asked Buck about what he should do. Here Eddie acts as the sounding board (even though Buck has already done the thing but then so has Eddie by hiding Shannon).

This is also yet another instance of Buck trying to help another person with no regard for his own safety but I’m with Eddie here: I have sisters as well. I too would do countless stupid things to save them with no regard to my own safety and I’m a girl - I was not raised on the believe that is was my job to protect them from harm like both Buck and Eddie probably were (because gender rolls).

Also Buck thinks it’s his fault that Doug even found Maddie and Eddie explains to him why its bull. To reinforce the whole connection thing, it is very noticeable that these two always give each other exactly what the other needs - with Eddie from the get go always working on building up Buck’s self worth and Buck always lending a hand to Eddie and taking control when needed (remember Carla? That was Buck taking control for Eddie because Eddie didn’t know what to do).

There is also the short scene when Shannon comes to the hospital and it prob- ably did a lot to help rebuild Eddies trust in his wife.

Episode 2.14:

STOP MAKING EVAN BUCKLEY WORRY ABOUT HIS FAMILY 2k21 (because it’s too late for anything before that)

It’s also our first real: Eddie can be a dumbass, too sighting and there is that one scene (you know which one) which in text is not shippy at all, but ended up in every gifset because Oliver is looking at Ryan like he wants to eat him alive.

Aside from that, this episode really isn’t about them and that’s okay.

Episode 2.15: Crime is hard. That is all.

Episode 2.16: No relevance.

Episode 2.17:

First of all, Eddie is not shirtless? At the beach? Damn, what’s wrong, 911? Is it because Gavin was there? Have you used up all your contracted shirtless scenes by now? Did Ryan find out he was the only one running around set half naked?

Also poor Eddie, you know, you’d think getting married your done having those: what are we - conversations and then bam: there it is again. He really can’t catch a break, can he?

Also I know it’s been said before, but I’ll say it again: Eddie Diaz is not in love with Shannon. Maybe he has never been or maybe he just stopped at some point, but right then and there he isn’t in love with her. He does however love her deeply (she is after all the mother of his son) and she is his family which is sort of where the problem in their relationship lies. Because Eddie, who has problems with trust and intimacy, frankly doesn’t care enough about Shannon (and also doesn’t trust her enough) to try and be open and vulnerable with her, which is what he needs to be in order for them to work, a fact that Shannon seems to be aware of and have accepted.

(Because if you have to wait for a sign on what to do in your relationship, yeah, you already know - you’re just not accepting it.)

And this episode is so heartbreaking and I just had to stop myself from ugly crying because Shannon loves Christopher so very much. And I just hate that they killed her off, so in my mind I have already half plotted a fix it fic in which she survives because that was just unnecessary angst.

Though that’s the topic of another post.

In terms of the relationship-story I am similarly floored as I am by the „Help!“ scene because (at least for me) this is the first time I have seen media really address that yes, you can be a good parent and still not be ready for a serious relationship because those two things are very different. Sure, you sometimes see examples of it through subtext but never before has it been so outright stated.

And I like that both Shannon and Eddie ask themselves that question, but come to a different conclusion - or actually they don’t. Like I said above, for Eddie this relationship fits because it’s easy and he doesn’t have to change or better adapt. He can just keep avoiding the hard stuff (being vulnerable) and still have the good stuff (sex). And then Shannon might be pregnant again and look at his speech at the restaurant: He is basically saying our child is awesome, so we should get back together because if we make such awesome children than we can’t be that bad together. And that is so very wrong, which Shannon understands.

The problem is, that Eddie doesn’t fully understand why their marriage hasn’t worked in the first place. If you tie it into 3.15 Eddie Begins, I think for Eddie, the reason why Shannon left him was a little to get back at him for leaving her and a lot about feeling left alone and being unable to cope with raising their child alone, but all of that is gonna be different now because he will be there for her physically and emotionally as he is no longer in the army! So the issue is solved. They should be a family again. Even without a new kid. After all: they love each other.

And look, those are all fair reasons and true but the thing Eddie doesn’t understand about relationships in general and his marriage to Shannon in particular is that she also needs him to be emotionally vulnerable with her. Shannon needs Eddie to let her be there for him, just like he is trying to be there for her. Because relationships are always a two way street.

SO obviously this is where the episode ended. There were no more scenes af- ter that. Nope. Bit weird how it was so short but you do you, 911, you do you!

And well, Buck was there too.

Episode 2.18:

I’m just gonna come out and say it: Ramon and Helena are bad parents. Flying to your daughter-in-law’s funeral only to bad mouth her and then try to take your son’s son away again? Yeah, I do not like your style. I wonder how much of Eddie Begins was already planned at this point or if they built that plot about his family for 3.15 based on this episode. Huh. We might never know. (except Twitter)

Also me thinks Eddie choose LA because of Pepa and Abuela, not because of Shannon. She was probably just a bonus.

As for Buck (and Ali): the actors seem to have had fun doing those scenes? I guess? Other than that it’s a little cringy and very out of nowhere and probably more caused by the show having money left over and deciding to built a new set. ANd damn what a set. I wonder how Buck is supposed to be able to afford that because that apartment has probably about 50-75m2 considering there is a kitchen and a living room as well as a room behind the living room and probably an extra room in the upper floor as well (someone do a floorplan and also tell me why Buck needs so much space and wether they think I could move in with him. My apartment is not this nice and LA isn’t that long a commute).

Point being I don’t know why they brought Ali back in the first place, especially in this episode. She was never mentioned after their first date, so why? Just to give people something to discuss during hiatus?

There was no point to have those two incredibly lovey dovey scenes only to have that scenes about what he wants to do next because all those scenes? Would have worked just fine with, you know, his sister (except a little different because incest). Who actually has the what if you can’t go back to being a firefighter - scene with him. So why have a girlfriend you barely introduced and never used before? I’m not mad, 911, just confused! (Fuck me, I really am getting twitter)

As for the topic of this meta, there really isn’t much too tell. Ali honestly doesn’t figure into things except to create more abandonment issues.

I should point out that this episode reinforced the whole Buddie connection thing - from Eddie holding Buck’s hand the whole while he’s pinned to saying „Almost (back to normal)“ to Buck going to Eddie’s ceremony despite probably still being on somewhat of a bed rest.

Other than that, that’s it for Season 2. Whew!

Before I let ya’ll off the hook, though (look, you’ve read it this far, you can now just bear it a bit longer) I wanna comment real quick:

Compared to Season 1 Buck barely had any character development (mainly because he had so much in Season 1 and sometimes stuff like that needs to settle - real life would be the same way)

Eddie however has nearly no development at all and in fact as of Season 3, not a lot has changed in that regard. His issues just became more obvious. Which is something I actually like a lot, because one: he went through a lot of shit in a fairly short amount of time and two: he is such a stubborn and reserved character, anything else wouldn’t be in character and ultimately feel rushed. Plus, because this is his personality it’s feels like we’re actually getting to know him like you would a person in real life? Piece by piece, no unnecessary exposition. Or maybe that’s just me, I don’t really know anything about storytelling.

I also want to comment on Buddie real quick because it would be dishonest if I didn’t and also it’s just glaring me in the face:

The thing is, while I do not necessarily believe they have any intention of making them romantic (because I have been burned too often and just recently by a show that liked to praise itself for its diversity (so a heartfelt fuck you to Sera Gamble and who ever decided to kill off Quentin Coldwater, because that character mattered so much and you destroyed it)), I do think we are right when we talk about connection and parallels and being each others person and just generally being each others closest relationship. Because they parallel their stories so much and they connect them so often and they did do it from the get go like as early as Episode 4 - which was already written and probably already shot by the time Episode 1 aired. So there. I said it. Buddie is real, wether it’s platonic or romantic, it is real. And that also matters!

(although of course if they went with romantic? That would matter a bit more! Tim Minear, listen to me, you could make TV history! This would be bigger than Supergirl making the sister gay in the second season! Ya’ll would be legends, revered by fans for years to come! Also I’d bake you a cake?)

And there you have it! Season 2! We made it! And only like 2000 words more than Season 1.

Can you believe at this point I have written nearly 10.000 words on these two exceptional characters and their issues? And it’s technically only one issue, like I’m ignoring so much stuff just glaring at me right now!

(also on a side note, this is where I tag @angelcamael , who asked me to do so and @greyhello because she inspired me to write this meta in the first place and while it is now ... no longer about that original topic, I’m still gonna tag her)

[stusbunker]

One Shots:

Alright?  $

Young Sam meets a snarky bartender who doesn’t want to keep her hands to herself.

Without Me -  submission to Civil Wars’ Challenge

Sam deals with your death, meanwhile you wait. Song inspired.

Paper Cuts $ -  submission to The Devil Made Me Do It Challenge

A case at a library gets out of hand, and you and Sam out of your clothes.

Pretzel Crumbs $

A late night snack turns into some late night nookie.

Less Than Well Received submission to bamby0304‘s Triple Threat Challenge

Jack shares Sam’s feelings for you. But the timing isn’t right.

Could You Really Love Sam Winchester?

Character Meta

An Unplanned Welcome $ Alpha!Sam/Omega!Mick Davies

Mick experiences his first heat as Sam’s Omega after years of BMoL suppressing them. Pack dynamics shift.

Hold $ Woc!Reader

Sam knows what you need and you give into both your desires.

Lay Me Down-   SPN Weekly Writing Challenge

A warlock case proves too much for you and the Winchesters deal with the consequences.

“X” Marks the Spot (dark)

A demon possesses you and makes Sam do the unimaginable.

Currents $ (dark) Alpha!Sam/ Demon!Omega!Unnamed Female Character

Sam spends the night in the impala, but stumbles across a summer camp that is not what it seems.

Feels Like the First Time (x Rowena Macleod) $

Rowena takes liberties with Sam’s memory.

The Crumbling Difference Between Wrong and Right

Sam looks back over their time together only to find more questions than answers.

He Is, Therefore I Am (platonic brother fic) submission to impala-dreamer’s Make Me Feel It Challenge

Sam and Dean take on a hunt while processing the reality of Chuck’s intentions. Leaning on each other as only they can.

A Misery of Our Own Making $ submission to atc74′s Duet Challenge Reboot

Sam never told her the truth, but when she finds out on her own, it is already too late.

Salt ~$ (Voyeur Narrator)

Excess *$ (BoyKing!Sam x FemaleDemon!Reader, dark)

Sam has you every way he wants you. He’s even nice enough to bring you back to life.

When You’re Not A Morning Person * (x Genderneutral Reader)

Sam surprises you with a day trip.

Brother Knows Best * (x Plussized Female Reader)

Dean plays wingman, but even a badass hunter and true crime fanatic has her self doubts.

Hurt Me (dark)

She got caught on a hunt, and wants Sam to punish her. Sparks fly, but Sam refuses to sleep with her.

Shameless $ (Sam/Sam)

Sam finds himself alone in their motel room. A familiar voice encourages him to let his imagination run wild.

Series:

Through the Years Au Series COMPLETE

Souls have a way of meeting in every lifetime. Sometimes they are friends, family, lovers, enemies or rivals. Follow the journey of the relationships with Sam and Dean over many lifetimes. Told by our favorite Angel as a bedtime story.

Questions Series - Complete

A female hunter keeps crossing paths with the Winchesters. Can she trust them? Why is she sticking around after every mess they make?

For Better or Worst Series (x OFC)- Season 14 AU WIP $

Sam Winchester will stop at nothing to save his brother from the Archangel Michael, even if it means taking a ludicrous deal to stop hunting. Months pass and Sam wades through life as an archivist at the local university, while his new wife teaches History.

Can Cas break through their carefully constructed life to get Sam back while remaining under the radar of the powers that be? What is Jack’s part in their schemes? Will Dean ever be safe? What stake does Sam’s wife hold in the deal and can he trust her? As Sam begins to piece together truth from lies, she learns just who she is married to. Will the newlyweds remain united as their deals unravel or part as adversaries? Or worse: strangers?

[remus-lupin-is-my-type]

Where have I been? (a post for anyone who might still care lol)

Anyone who knows me knows I’ve taken a looooong hiatus from cosplay, but I’ve also taken a general hiatus from this blog as well. I wanted to take the time to explain some of the reasons why. Explanation below the cut.

1. Toxicity

I’ve had this blog for many, many years. It’s always been My Thing to follow back everyone. But in doing so, I’ve accidentally created a pretty decently toxic environment for myself on my own dash? It seems that wherever I scroll, there are people arguing, constant reminders of how terrible the world and society are, and people shaming other people for things they like. My once-fun dashboard of fandom and all things queer, has just become not quite fun anymore? Social justice issues are really important to me, deeply important, but constant reminders about how terrible the world is can really bring me down (particularly in these already troubling times). I know that running from it is a particularly privileged thing to be able to do (I may be pan, but I’m still white and cis), but sometimes I just gotta put myself and my own mental health first. One day I’m hoping to try to take back control of my blog and do some much needed purging, but it’s going to be a monumental task after so many years. But I really do miss reblogging fandom things. I’ve made a completely separate blog for all things Aesthetic that do nothing but make me happy—essentially creating my own little safe space. It’s been a great non-pressure, anonymous way to just de-stress, but I do miss mucking around in fandom nonsense. BUT this also brings me to another reason...

2. Supernatural and The Destiel Debacle

*spoilers ahead for the final season of SPN* That final scene with Cas absolutely destroyed me. I’m a few seasons behind, but when I woke up one morning and Destiel was trending everywhere, of course I looked up and watched the video. And guys. I SOBBED. Not just a few tears, full on WEPT for at least an hour. I was so heartbroken, not just because a beloved character died, but of how he died. The fact that Cas told Dean everything I’ve always wanted him to, but in the WORST WAY POSSIBLE, only for him to promptly die without Dean even saying anything. I just couldn’t deal. I was Properly Depressed for several days after that, and I still sometimes think about it and get really sad. I could have forgiven this, had they put Cas in the finale, gave you hope that maybe he and Dean could be something in Heaven, together, but no. Of course not. The whole thing genuinely put such a bad taste in my mouth for all fandom and network television in general. Also, it hurt me to see people actually calling this a WIN. I’m not here to take away anything from anyone—if you loved it, that’s great and I’m happy for you. But GUYS. It was CRUMBS. Is it great that Cas is a confirmed queer character? Sure, but they killed him the second his confession was over. Rowan Ellis did a great YouTube video about the whole thing, and I highly suggest you watch it, it really put things in perspective for me. The fact is, they had TWELVE YEARS to give you this, and they didn’t. It’s like Marvel expecting us to be singing their praises cuz a Russo brother mentioned a boyfriend, a few minutes out of their ENTIRE MOVIE FRANCHISE. Anyway, I was so disheartened I didn’t want to participate in fandom whatsoever. (Luckily, I’ve recently fallen in love with Black Sails—also thanks to Rowan Ellis—and its amazing writing, characters, story, and queer representation helped give me hope again).

3. Self-image 

This more directly relates to cosplay. I gained weight again, and my motivation to cosplay dropped significantly. Suddenly there just didn’t seem a point to getting into all the makeup and putting in the effort if I wasn’t going to like what I saw on the webcam. Luckily, I’ve recently read a FANTASTIC book called “What We Don’t Talk About When We Talk About Fat” by Aubrey Gordon, and it was honestly life-changing. It forced me to completely reframe how I think about myself and society, and I’ve actively been making an effort to feel better and unashamed in my own skin, and it’s been going well! I’ve stopped planning my entire life and happiness and worth around whatever number I wanted the scales to reflect. But, that being said, cosplay is still a struggle for me. Though I’m generally more accepting of myself now, I still find it difficult to play my favourite characters, almost all of which are attractive males. I’m admittedly hard on myself about it, my subconscious constantly telling me that I’m not androgynous enough or sexy enough to play these characters. Of course you don’t have to be these things to cosplay, I’m a huge advocate that ANYONE can cosplay WHOEVER they want, but this is what I, personally, am going through. One step at a time, as they say!

And that’s about it. I’m not sure when I’ll be back, and I make no promises. But maybe I’ll pop in to post a gay gifset or two sometime :) I’ve also been pondering TikTok a lot, so who knows, maybe that’ll be a thing in the future. This explanation was as much for my benefit as to those reading—it feels good to get this stuff off my chest and I hope you understand. Love you all so, so much and I hope you’re all getting nothing but the best out of this hell site lol ❤️

Stay safe and stay happy, Nicki xo

[littlemisssquiggles]

Do you think V8 will have anymore conclusion to Weiss and Whitley's relationship? I think I would like to see maybe the team will eventually have to get back into Atlas and Whitley who might have interim position on the Atlas Council to grant them access (undercover as Ruby would put it) which may result in Weiss and Whitley finally talking and clearing the air and Weiss possibly finally apologising for how she treated Whitley growing up. Just my hopes for V8, Whitley needs some happiness

Hello again Crystal.As much as I would love to see Weissand Whitley legit reconcile for the next volume, the ending of V7 didn’t reallyset up much for what’s next for Weiss’ relationship with her brother. At leastin my opinion. 

While V7CH9 highlighted Whitley running up to his room whileMama Schnee stared behind him in sadness, it’s not to say Weiss was the onesharing a troubled look toward her little brother; showing the slightest tingeof remorse for what her actions might’ve caused for him.

On the contrary, in spite of her own mother coming out of obscurity to ask her to look out for herbrother, Weiss didn’t even try to reach out to Whitley even after being the oneresponsible for placing their father behind bars.

It’s for this reason why I’m starting to think that V8 mightnot show a continuation of Weiss making up with Whitley.

If V7 had ended with Ironwood becoming the primary antagonist to our heroes for the nextseason and V8 was mainly about watching our heroes basically fight Ironwood andhis forces while on the cusp of Salem eventually showing up with her army---thenperhaps we could’ve probably had amoment where…I dunno…Ironwood threatened to use an innocent Whitley Schnee asbait or something along those lines to get our heroes to surrender Penny overthe Atlas Military as she is the new Winter Maiden.

Ironwood using Whitley as a means of getting to Weiss could’vebeen interesting since it could’ve tested Weiss’ feelings towards her brother.Maybe even cause some internal struggle forher given that she was asked to look out for him. Not to mention that Ironwoodusing an innocent member of Weiss’ family as leverage could be a testament tohis heartlessness and how far he’s willing to go to “save Atlas” from Salem.Not to mention that it’s a way to have Winter finally question Ironwood’smorality seeing him bring her own little brother into this when he basicallyhad nothing to do with any of the affairs related to the huntsmen or evenSalem.

That could’ve been something. But like I said, the show didn’treally leave me expecting much from Weiss and Whitley after V7. Don’t get mewrong, I still want to see Whit  become the Huntsman in Weiss’ Snow White storyand help her with his act of choosing to help his sister during a crisis inspite of their rocky relationship being what makes Weiss finally startaccepting her brother into her life.

But at the moment, I can’t really see that happening sincethe show hasn’t done much for Weiss showing even a crumb of interest in herbrother. It’s actually very disappointingif I could be more frank.

I was banking on V7 potentially showing Weiss and Whitleymaking amends, focusing a bit more on their relationship as opposed to theusual---which is her and Winter. And in the end, we didn’t get much on that atall. 

We got the usual. More development for Weiss and Winter’s bond as sisters while Whitley gets left behind...AGAIN. 

As a matter of fact, if you will allow me to go on a little rant here--- I was actually VERY disappointedwith V7CH8 after it first premiered. I’m probably in the minority when Isay this but I didn’t like how the showintroduced Willow Schnee just for the mere sake of having her be the one tohelp Weiss stop Jacques.

Personally, I thinkthat moment should’ve gone to Whitley since, no offence to Mama Schnee as acharacter but…I wasn’t invested in her ties to Weiss since the show did verylittle to previously establish that for me. 

Unlike Whitley, I had no emotionalconnection to Willow Schnee since this wasn’t the other Schnee the MAIN animated seriesfocused on back when Weiss was home in Atlas for V4. 

Sure we got a mention ofWillow in V4 and V5. But that’s the thing. All we’ve gotten from Willow arementions and even when she’s brought up; it’s usually all wrapped up with theSchnee Family Affairs involving Jacques.

Weiss’ relationship with Whit was the one the show primarilygave some focus back in V4 and based on that, I was expecting Whitley to havebeen the one to help his sister with outing Jacques. In my opinion, Whitley would’ve been the more fittingcharacter to out Jacques’ involvement with Watts to Weiss since it wasestablished in V7CH4 that Whitley saw Watts at the manor in the flesh.

Not to mention that the show also highlighted previously backin V4 that Whitley has a tendency toeavesdrop on his father’s conversations inside of his office; as evidencedby the fact that he was the one to inform Weiss of Jacques talking to someone(Ironwood) before her arrival in his office. 

Did Miles Luna---the CRWBY Writerwho wrote V7CH8 forget that little detail about Whit?

Nothing against the fans who love Willow Schnee and feelsorry for her as another tragic victim of Jacques’ abuse--- however; I’m sorrybut it annoyed me how the CRWBY Writers brought her into the story for V7.

I mean I knew we were going to eventually see Willow at somepoint during the Atlas Arc as part of Weiss’ story. However the LAST thing Iexpected was for her to help Weiss with Jacques.

It is such a plot convenience that the very first timeWeiss (and by the extension, the audience) reunites with her mother is insideof her father’s office where she was just casually standing there ready to giveWeiss exactly what she needed to stop her father.

I’m sorry but Willow’s sudden involvement in stopping Jacquesfelt so…random to me. This is acharacter who has practically been an invisible enigma for about three seasonsand the very first time her character appears in the story is for the sakeof pushing the plot with a plot convenience.

A convenience that would’ve probably felt less like such a convenienceif it were done with Whitley. Because unlike Willow, Whitley had more build up.

In my opinion, it would’ve made more sense if Whitley hadbeen the one to give Weiss the information on Watts. Instead of Willow, Whitleyshould’ve been the one waiting for Weiss in their father’s office. 

Instead ofhaving Whit be a brat for most of the episode, imagine if…Weiss had entered Jacques’ office only tofind her brother smugly waiting there for her.

Imagineif…Weiss had managed to sneak into Jacques’ office only to heara familiar “…Hello dear sister” frombehind, turning around to find Whitley seated at Jacques’ desk.

Imagineif…we had a moment of actual tension where Weiss believed that Whitley was going to rat her out to her father---y’knowwatch her get in trouble with him again because in Weiss’ eyes, that’s whatWhitley wants, right? ---harkening back to the way she accused him of the samething back in V4.

Only instead of ratting her out to their father, Whitleysurprises Weiss by doing the unexpected. He tells Weiss about their father’sinvolvement with a “very bad man whovisited their home earlier” meaning Watts. And to further prove his point;especially when Weiss shows doubt in her brother’s integrity, that’s whenWhitley hands Weiss the Scroll with the recording of Jacques’ conversation withWatts.

And when questioned on how he got this information, Whitleycould simply explain to his sister that he got the information from thesecurity cameras; pointing out the detail of how their mother had cameras secretly installedinside their father’s office and all over Schnee Manor, not like she ever daredto actually use them.

And when questioned how Whitley knew about the cameras, hethen went on to further explain that he first heard about the cameras aftertheir mother drunkenly dropped that little titbit as a bold fake threat during one of her and Jacques’ screaming matches (since Jacques yelling at Willow is acommon thing in the Schnee Manor according to V4).

Having Whitley help Weiss instead of Willow would’ve workedso much better in terms of MAIN series canon continuity. You really expect me to believe thatWillow Schnee had cameras installed all over Schnee Manor and the one time shedared to use them was coincidentally when Weiss showed up at the Manor fortheir dinner and just happened to need that information that she just so had. Really?

The only time we see Willow at all in RWBY was just for thesake of committing this one redeeming act which, in my opinion, should’ve goneto Whitley since, as I’ll stress again, HE’S THE SCHNEE WHOSE STRAINEDRELATIONSHIP WITH WEISS HAD MORE FOCUS ON BACK IN V4!!! WHY ARE YOU FOCUSING ONWILLOW---THE CHARACTER YOU BARELY SHOWED IN V4 AND BARELY HAD WEISS CARE ABOUTUNTIL V7?

And please DO NOT tellme about the RWBY DC Comics. 

In my opinion again, the RWBY DC Comics are threeto four years TOO LATE. If theshowrunners SERIOUSLY wanted ME (not speaking for anyone else here but myself)to care about Weiss and her mother, they should’ve established their relationshipa lot better in the actual MAIN animated series instead of waiting years laterafter V4 passed to tell me about this relationship that was practically non-existentin the series until the comics were made.

Apologiesagain but this squiggle meister didn’tcare for Willow Schnee helping Weissespecially since that was the only thing they had her do for this season. Youshaft Whitley to give something he could’ve done to this character that the audiencebarely spent time with before. Really?That’s what you do to my boy?

And what made it worse in my eyeswas having Willow tell Weiss that she should care more about her brother. Letme say that again. WILLOW---THIS CHARACTER WHO WE HAVE NOT SEEN FOR THREE WHOLESEASONS (including the season when Weiss was home in Atlas) AND DID NOT MEETUNTIL THE EIGHTH EPISODE OF V7--- HAD TO TELLWEISS THAT SHE SHOULD CARE MORE ABOUT WHITLEY.

Allow me to explain why I found thatto be pretty crummy especially if you’rea fan of Whitley. It’s basically the same thing that annoyed me about Oscar’streatment in previous volumes.

Instead of having Whitley be the oneto help Weiss and have this one redeeming act spark Weiss reconsidering herrelationship with her brother for herself and come to that realization on herown, you thought it would be better to have this other character that wasbarely in the story tell Weiss to do it.

I’m sorry I didn’t like that at all.And now because of it, I don’t know what’s going to be done next for Weiss andWhitley. I still wish to believe in the potential of these two Schnee Siblingsfinally sharing a good bond with one another. But unfortunately right now, theseries hasn’t given me much to hope for with how they executed things. Sorry tobe a Debby Downer here but that’s how I’m honestly feeling right now as a Whit.

Instead of having my boy commit oneredeemable act that could’ve sparked the road towards him and his sister makingamends; especially coming off of how things were left between them from V4.Instead of taking the more fitting and previously established approach withinthe animated series; what happens?

You gave it to the non-existentmother whose relationship with Weiss your audience has to consult the questionably canonical comics toread about since we all know the MAINanimated series didn’t do much about that beforehand.

…Right. Apologies for the rant but I’mjust REALLY salty about that. Such a missedopportunity for Whitley. 

But then again these are only my thoughts and opinions. Take it as you will. That being said, I guess we’llsee for things go for V8. Maybe that season might surprise us or something.

~LittleMissSquiggles (2020)

[rowenaaclark]

The One where Adrian’s a Hufflepuff

Promised to post for the likes of @padsmcfoot and @unsuallyfurry - Here’s a Bloodlines HP AU solo fic drabble!

Adrian wandered down the candlelit hall, whistling to himself.  Portraits of witches and wizards long past eyed him suspiciously as he passed by, as the time of night was odd for even Prefects to be out and about. 

He never thought he’d end up in any sort of leadership role here at Hogwarts. He had never aspired to it, nor did he think he was even capable of such a task. In fact, he’d been quite happy somewhat bludging through his time at Hogwarts, scraping through his OWLs by the skin of his teeth. Professor Sprout had sat him down however and given him a long talk about why she thought this was an opportunity for him to not only take some pride in his character, but learn about responsibility and what it means to look out for one’s own classmates. 

He’d palmed it off at first as a joke, but the old witch just gave him a smile as she ushered him out of her small office. “I see great potential in you, boy. You just need to see it for yourself.”

A familiar cat sat on the windowsill, just down from the Hufflepuff dorm entrance, its black tail flicking petulantly. Adrian grinned, turning from the dorm entry and walked over to lean on the windowsill by the animal that almost blended into the night sky outside. 

“You know someone will eventually catch on when they realise you don’t actually have an owner here,” he murmured to the cat, offering it his hand to sniff. It was quickly batted away though by it’s paw, shaking their head in almost disgust at the gesture. “Aw puss, don’t be like that now. You won’t fool anyone with that attitude.”

He grinned as the cat stood up and shook out its fur, before transforming into the shape of a teenage girl, her long legs draped outside of the window and long dark hair catching the breeze. 

“I must admit the cat form is great, but you definitely look stunning this evening Miss Clark,” he said, folding his hands together. She all but hissed at him, running her wand across the ends of her hair, returning them to their usual lavender hue. She hated the fact she had to hide the colour half the time, but she knew a half purple cat would draw more attention to herself when she transformed. 

“I can’t wait until I perfect the spell so I can do it at will, though. McGongall says this month looks good for a storm after the full moon to finish off the incantation. Transfiguration is one thing, but I can’t wait until I get this Animagus form down,” Rowena said, flicking her hair over her shoulder. 

“But then you have to register, and think of the trouble you’ll get in then if anyone catches you out this late.”

She grinned at Adrian, a mischievous glint in her eye. “As if I’d get caught. Now, let’s go raid the kitchen for snacks.”

***

“You know, I don’t know how you both have so many extra pastries to snack on throughout the day.”

Sydney took a seat beside Adrian on the grassy hill overlooking the Quidditch pitch. Rowena glanced over at her brushing crumbs off her vest and finishing her mouthful. “Excuse me, but Beaters need all the extra calories we can get. Consider it building energy to crush Slytherin this weekend. Not to mention your pain of a half-brother in Gryffindor next month.”

“I just have hollow legs and like sweets,”Adrian said, nonchalantly, wrapping one hand through Sydney’s as she sat. Both Rowena and Adrian had been enjoying the rare sunshine that had graced the castle that afternoon, sleeves rolled up and stockings and shoes ditched beside them. “How’s your day been?”

Sydney sighed, taking out a book out of her satchel. “Arithromancy seemed to drag on forever this morning, but transfiguration and potions were both a walk in the park this afternoon.”

Rowena snorted. “No doubt because you’re already trying to beat out Marcus at his NEWTs and you’re in fifth year.”

Adrian nudged his best friend, almost knocking the unfinished pastry out of her hand. “Can’t you see Sydney is far too pure in this world to be in competition with him?”

Sydney raised an eyebrow at him, before flipping open her book in her lap. “I’m not going to deny I love a bit of competition with him. He was furious with me when I got that pass by him at last week’s game.”

Rowena laughed, stretching out on the grass. “This is why I recruited you for the team obviously, Sage.” 

Adrian looked back and forth between the girls. Rowena, with her fiery personality, had made Captain for the Ravenclaw team this year, the first female beater in a long while in the school’s history.  Somehow, over the summer, she’d convinced Sydney to try out for a Chaser this year after a few family games. Adrian had never been one for athleticism, preferring the commentary box instead, but he had to admit even the thought of his girlfriend letting her competitive streak out made him weak. It caused him more discomfort to think of watching her fly around, practicing with Ro that summer in minimal clothing in the heat. 

Sydney flicked over a page in her book, looking over at the foggy faraway look on Adrian’s face. “Earth to Adrian, you may want to stop that train of thought before something else happens,” she said with a smirk. He cast her a knowing glance, before lifting their intertwined hands and kissed the back of hers.  Rowena made a slight gagging noise before sitting up bolt straight, and letting out a chuckle. 

“OI FINCH, YOUR SHIRT ISN'T TUCKED IN, PRINCESS,” she yelled across the grass where the Gryffindor team were leaving the pitch after practice. Most of them looked up, but one looked the most displeased out of all of them. The blonde headed boy waved off to his teammates before swaggering over to the group. 

Marcus Finch was seventh year with Adrian, however the guy was awfully serious much like his younger half sister about his studies. He also happened to be Head Boy this year, which meant a lot of time dealing with Prefect meetings with the guy. The only benefit of those meetings was Sydney was there as well. Despite being only half-siblings, they both were somewhat similar and the pair of them were formidable when they took the same side of an argument.  

“Funny you guys are here, the team and I were just talking about how Ravenclaw is no match for us this year actually,” Marcus teased, dropping his broom in the grass in front of them. Rowena gave him the finger as he smirked and took off his arm guards. Marcus and Sydney were one dynamic, but Marcus and Rowena were the complete opposite. They enjoyed stirring each other to the point where arguments sometimes got to the verge of duel challenges. On other days, they were thick as thieves. 

Adrian snorted. “I love how none of you have faith in the Hufflepuff team this year.”

All three of them stared at Adrian before bursting out into laughter. Adrian rolled his eyes at the lot of them, loosening his yellow tie. The only other Hufflepuff in their small group of friends was a young girl called Jill, who Adrian had taken under his wing when he’d noticed her being bullied back in second year. She was only a year younger than Sydney, but fell into Rowena’s category of choice of subjects. It was an easy introduction to make, and Ro was happy to tutor the younger kind witch in Divination and Potions. Both Adrian and Ro had a talent for chasing off bullies too; Ro had a reputation for throwing punches and Adrian had a talent for a prank here or there. Both factors made the bullies disappear, and Jill had made fast friends with them all, even introducing one more to the group. 

Eddie Castile was a classmate of Sydney’s from Gryffindor, and their friendship had only improved since he had started dating Jill. Eddie was sensible and courteous and Adrian enjoyed teasing him on the regular, but he’d fit in well with the rest of them. 

Sydney looked over at Adrian, swinging his arm to rest around her shoulders and leaning into him. “I love you, but there’s no way Hufflepuff has a chance this year, sorry. They’re far too….nice, this year.”

Marcus nodded, rolling up his practice robes. “You’re all too nice really. All your fire seems to have gone to Rowena this year. She’s far too feisty with that bat.”

Ro smirked at him. “You’d know from personal experience too. You pissed me off far too much that first game.”

Adrian pouted down at Sydney, tightening his arm around her. “I’m not just ‘nice’ to you am I?” 

She chuckled, running a hand over his chest. “No, you’re chivalrous too I guess. You’ve let your bad boy ‘pureblood’ attitude slip far too much to be credible as a once were,” she mused. She smirked at him though. “Although you’re still pretty smooth I’ll give you that.”

 “Well, he tries at least,” Rowena added, Marcus chuckling at her comment, “Sage, we all know that you run this relationship, pick up lines or no.” 

Sydney laughed, patting Adrian’s leg in jest. Adrian sighed, rubbing at his temples. “Look I’m not going to deny, Sydney has me wrapped around her finger, but can I keep some sort of illusion of manliness?” 

Rowena shrugged. “Nah, I read it in your tea leaves. She’s a dominant presence in your life, and it ain’t changing anytime soon.”

“And there goes Clark’s credibility, everyone!” Marcus exclaimed, throwing his hands up in the air. Ro lashed out with her foot from where she was sitting to tip him over while he wasn’t looking, but he caught her ankle on the way down and dragged her with them so they were both laughing in the grass. Marcus caught his breath and sighed still. “You put so much into Divination though, it’s going to get you nowhere.”

Adrian raised an eyebrow. “Hey she’s predicting a damn few good things from my tea leaves, not to mention that time-”

Rowena gave him a sharp look, cutting him off. “It’s just been tea leaves, nothing else Adrian,” she said, her voice suddenly turning hard. Her eyes pleaded with him to stay quiet, and Adrian made a slight nodding motion at her silent request. No doubt, Marcus would only tease her more if he found out she’d blacked out one afternoon with Adrian while studying for her OWLs last year. The weird thing was though, she’d started talking about their lives like they were 30 years older. She’d quickly snapped out of it, and swore him to secrecy, clearly shaken from the event.

Sydney gave her a worried look, before turning to Marcus. “Have you heard from Dad this week?” 

Marcus shrugged, brushing the grass off his robes. “Nope. Although no doubt I’ll get some letter of disappointment that once again I’ve refused to make friends with one of the sons of one of his more important colleagues in the Ministry. Half of me wants to blow off being an Auror because he’ll be there, hovering at every moment.”

Adrian gave him a knowing look. Disappointing their fathers was something of a shared bond between Marcus, Sydney and him. Although, he didn’t tend to put much disappointment on Sydney. She was often met with resentment from Jared, mainly for the fact she was a girl. He’d never acknowledge just how talented and accomplished she was because of that one factor. Adrian smiled down at her still tucked into him, enjoying the sunshine on her face. She deserved nothing that her father threw at her, and Adrian knew he would die trying before he let her believe anything her father told her. 

“Well, you can always join me in flying by the seat of your pants and having no firm plans for after this year?” Adrian offered to Marcus, shrugging. “I mean, it’s a tough life, and I’d understand if it’s hard to dedicate yourself to but someone’s gotta do it.”

Marcus rolled his eyes. “I can definitely confirm, I won’t be doing that but thanks for the offer.”

Sydney gave him a knowing look, and let out a sigh. “It’s going to be weird when you’re both not here bickering. I may just have peace and quiet out here to study next year.”

Adrian gave her an incredulous look. “What, so you’re just assuming I’m not leaving Rowena with instructions to annoy you instead? I have a whole host of owls at the ready to send you my daily insights already too. You’ll barely get that peace and quiet I assure you, Sage.”

A distant bell tolled in the distance. Rowena perked up from where she’d been sunning herself. “Dinner time, excellent. I’m starved,” she said, grabbing her shoes and stockings. Marcus groaned as he pulled all his Quidditch gear together, Rowena picking up his broom for him and handing it to him after he stood. Adrian quickly slipped on his own shoes and socks, and caught up to where Sydney waited for him. The other two had started to make their way ahead of them, no doubt keen to fill their bellies from the long day.

Adrian took Sydney’s book bag from her before taking her hand. “I know I’ll be leaving at the end of the year, but you know this won’t be the end of us right?”

Sydney sighed happily, swinging their hands. “I know, Adrian. You’re the one thing that makes this studying and regular routine worth it. A little distance won’t come between us. Besides, now I get letters everyday apparently? That’d be nice.”

Adrian laughed. “I mean I can start now, but kinda defeats the purpose when I can just tell you how stunning you are in person, right?”

Sydney smiled, leaning her head on his shoulder. “Time to start cherishing it, I guess.”