#guys we take advantage of the fact that she comes from an amazing fandom

[marching-weirdo]

"zukos character arc is best-

"no aangs flirting skills are-"

"You forgot sokkas hair-"

YALL FORGOT KORRA

SHE WENT FROM THIS

TO THIS

AND STILL GIRLBOSSED HER WYA THROUGH EVERYTHING WHILE ALSO FINDING LOVE AND GAINING BACK THAT MUSCLE!

she also showed a lot of people, like me, that mental health recovery isn't linear. like, girl, that show has problems BUT DAMN IT IF IT ISNT BETTER THAN MoST THINGS YOU SEE

[selfshipping-central]

HI POOKIE ITS ME RAYN

could i request pjo/hoo/toa and hazbin hotel?

idc about gender or platonic or romantic

i have bleached hair with black roots, 5'2 with chocolate skin and glasses

im a swimmer and an artist, i enjoy drawing, piano, and generally arts

im an achiever and people expect a lot from me so i tend to be a perfectionist

i like indie songs with either a super sad meaning or just nonsense in acoustics or rock

people say im sweet, open, empathetic, and 'too kind' that it'll probably hurt me soon

im more of a listener than a talker, but if you let me talk, i will

im a hopeless romantic and would rather love than lose

i easily take interest and lose interest in random things i see on the internet

im easy to persuade, easily curious, and is an overthinker about the smallest of things or just doesnt care entirely

i take pain and make a funny joke about it because of my autism and adhd

people say i'm innocent and cute because i set up a different personality around different people

i think thats enough? thank you pookie :>

Fandom: Percy Jackson and the Olympians

Will Solace!! (Romantic)

Our bisexual KING!!

Expect the guy to come over and offer to bleach/dye your hair. He finds the way that you express yourself as an art form and one of the highest kinds too!!

Praises you so much because of it <33

“Woah babe!! You look amazing!! As usual! You wanna go on a walk with me?”

As a fellow person of colour who once struggled with insecurities regarding my skin colour let me assure you, he would shower you in praise, touch anything. Anything to make you feel as beautiful the way he feels about you. (╯▽╰ )

“Who cares what the others think? I think you’re amazing. And that’s all that matters right?”

As a child of Apollo, Will is defiantly an arts lover, like you!!

He would try to go swimming with you, would bring Percy and Annabeth with him as company and you have a blast!!

“Babe!! Babe!! Count how long I can hold my breath underwater!! I’m gonna beat Percy- No I know he’s a son of Poseidon but still!!”

Please draw him

He will cry

And treasure the piece forever

“You drew this? For me? I’m going to frame it.”

Oh my goddd the amount of painting dates you do – you’ll be sitting on opposite ends of his bed and just quietly paint each other. Both paintings are then traded, gushed over and then hung in each respected cabin.

You’re gonna play piano?

Will is gonna sing <3

While he doesn’t mind if you’re a perfectionist, he will open his mouth and say something if he’s worried about you, or feels like you’re doing too much.

Doesn’t really mind your music taste, would listen to pretty much anything save for a few genres but he would enjoy singing along or jamming out with you.

Loves your sweetness but he worried someone might take advantage of it and hurt you.

So he is a little protective.

Prefers the fact that you listen cause it lets him go on and on and on about anything and everything.

Also a big romantic and a firm believer that it’s better to love and lose then not love at all.

“Date night tonight?”

Fandom: Hazbin Hotel

Charlie Morningstar!! (Romantic)

Oh my god can we get it for sweet, supportive girlfriend?

She is so in love it’s not even funny at this point

Thinks your hair is so pretty oh my god she'll try dying her own her to match you!!

"Oh my god oh my god you'll do my hair too!? Really!! Eeeek!! Oh wait but don't to black- no I uh don't wanna talk about it-"

As someone with super high expectations on herself she can totally relate to the whole perfectionist thing.

She loves your love for arts, thinks its so fun when you sing with her, or play piano when she sings!!

"Is it music time? It is!! Ok baby get the mic!!"

Like Charlie, you two can be a little too sweet for your own good, but, both of you realise the flaws of the other and provides the best amount of comfort they can <33

She'll talk your ear off if you let her, about her day, about the hotel about anything really.

"Oh oh!! And then I went to this cute café downtown oh and I should bring you soon but it was so busy and you were busy and what I'm trying to say is I'm sorryyy..."

She think's you're utterly adorable and just the sweetest thing. Let the girl smoother you in love <33 

Good golly am I sleepy (_　_)。゜zｚＺ

Hope you like it pookie :'>

[chidoroki]

TPN - “Dreams Come True”

What better way to cheer up the TPN fandom after the second season’s final episode than with the special exhibition chapter finally being fully translated. I caught glimpses of a few pages here and there over the past couple months but seeing all the children live happily together in the human world in their own little village that they made close to Emma and Alex warms my heart. Of course I would’ve loved if we got to see more of the GP Resistance (because the anime denied us of them) but following the GF kids around the world as they experience their dreams is fair enough. We started the series alongside them so might as well finish strong with them too. I really loved seeing everyone grow up but no matter how old they get or how much time passes, I’ll probably never get used to seeing Emma without her iconic “63194.” It’s a bittersweet feeling for me, but her smiles bring me so much joy and I’m beyond happy that she accepted everyone into her life as they accepted her without her memories.

I haven’t a clue on how much time passed since everyone found Emma in ch181 to now, but seeing her call out everyone’s names is a little detail that I love so much considering she had no idea who anyone was at first. Trying to remember 60+ names doesn’t seem like an easy task to me. No doubt I was just as shocked as our girl upon learning these mere children bought a goddamn plane! We learn in a couple pages that it’s because of Norman’s company that they can afford it, but still, he’s like 15 or 16 now? He’s still a child! And I’m impressed! Not only at him, but that Oliver and Violet became pilots as well! It’s especially cute when you remember that Lucas gave Oliver a little toy plane during their time at Goldy Pond.

Speaking of GP, is it just me or does Emma’s current outfit resemble her GP one just a little bit? Sure we have no idea what color scheme this one has but come on, the short jacket, the dark shirt and jeans.. just imagine it! Jemima, Yvette, Alicia and Mark remade Gillian’s original GP outfit sometime before the Grace Field Raid arc (ch137 extra page) so I don’t doubt they could’ve done the same for Emma. Of course that’s just me being completely hopeful and missing the Goldy Pond arc to death but yeah! I’m also so happy to see Chris up and moving again! Seeing him wake up briefly in ch181 was nice but this is so much better. I imagine he and Emma have a lot to catch up on in terms of stories, with him being unconscious since ch105 and Emma not remembering anything.

But here we go, the original 15 escapees plus Norman, Phil, Sherry, I believe I saw Carol somewhere and a couple other random kiddos ready to see the entire world. They get to accomplish so much.. and in a single day too I believe? At least that’s what Phil and Alicia say a bit later about everyone’s wishes, but aahh what a lucky bunch. Hell, I’ll say we’re lucky readers too to be able to see such a great story. Can’t thank Shirai and Demizu enough y’all. I wish we got to see more of Alex though. He’s such a kind soul but I’m sure he’ll be just fine staying behind with everyone else.

This entire page where we learn about Norman as a CEO is gold. I still can’t believe this child successfully built up an entire multipurpose company not only to help their search for Emma but also because he didn’t want to live off the Ratri clan. I wish I knew about this last week when writing out Norman’s birthday post because hell yeah this deserves some praise! AND he managed to graduate school as well during all that! Well, by skipping grades which totally makes sense. I mean, if he managed to pass all the Grace Field and Lambda tests effortlessly I’m sure normal human world school was a piece of cake for him. Holy shit dude, keep on impressing me why don’t ya. Not only him but Nigel and Sonya too! I’m not surprised that Vincent helped out but I’m glad those two got a tiny moment to shine as well! Ray is another obvious choice when it comes to helping Norman, as they’re best friends and he’s always been good with machines.. but boy, I can’t take you seriously when you’re just sitting there unamused and eating chips! Hahah I love him so much! And the fact he replies to Norman’s idea with just a simple “kay” is an eternal mood.

Okay boys aside, can we talk about our fabulous girls now? Because oh my god, they’re so darn beautiful! They’re more fashionable than I’ll ever be and it’s so cute how they drag Emma along to take advantage of the 3-for-1 deal. But our girl pulls off that sporty look so well! (r.i.p. goldy pond outfit ver2.0). I’m not at all surprised that Nat wanted to go see the opera. That's perfect for him and I’d like to think the anime did something similar with that one shot we see of him in the human world. We don’t see him in a theater like this but to me it looks like he’s on the streets of Broadway? At least that’s the vibe I get from it. I’m sure there was something music related on one of those signs.

I can’t get over how adorable all the children look and how happy they are fulfilling their wishes, even if some of them aren’t as extravagant as others. Like eating a fluffy pancake and a ton of ice cream? We can do that whenever we want. But for these kids, it means everything and they absolutely deserve to experience such simple joys like that after all the harsh nonsense they’ve been through. I also love how Ray continues to be such a great older brother by still looking out for them too. The fact he remains completely unfazed by the haunted house is perfect. This boy has been haunted by his own nightmares and demons his entire life, there’s no way a couple of lousy jump scares are gonna spook him. Though I do find it funny that Alicia and Rossi still manage to get scared while Yvette is having the time of her life. I can’t help but laugh at Thoma’s “Shirai face” as well.

I find it interesting that out of all the different kinds of exhibits they could’ve shown us while Rossi visits a museum, they give us dinosaurs.. like that seems so silly to me. Y’all have seen several demons in your young lives already and yet dinosaurs manage to amaze you too? God these kids are precious. And then our boy Phil finally gets to see and ride a train! Just look how happy he is! The poor kid can’t even sit still he’s so darn excited and I can’t help but smile with him! Thankfully the anime showed us this too.

We eventually get to Ray’s wish and guys.. oh my fucking god. Tell me that this is not the absolute best and prettiest smile we get to see from him!! It honestly leaves me speechless okay? Ray never imagined he would ever get to see the outside world, let alone live past the age of 12, and yet here he is, seeing such a beautiful sight such as this, right in front of him instead of from inside a book. You can’t believe how happy and proud of him I am right now. Did you see how ecstatic I was when the anime kept Isabella alive? Multiply that feeling by ten and there ya go. That’s my level of happiness upon seeing my favorite boy smile like THAT! AAHHH!! That panel is gonna live rent free in my head until the end of time. I can’t get over how damn perfect it is. His smile is so pure and how he looks like he’s in complete awe is beautiful. He’s about to burst into tears and I swear I might do the same because I’m making myself emotional over this fantastic boy. Someone hold me.

No seriously, hold me because we’re about to get into some angst as we move onto to Emma’s wish. We all know that ever since 2039 her one dream was to ride a giraffe once they got outside, so here we are, about ten years later and the animals in question are within reach. Our girl should be totally excited, right? Ha, not quite.

That wish was something the old Emma wanted, but since demon god had to be such a bastard, this Emma doesn’t know what to think, let alone what to even feel. She hasn’t experienced the same hardships as her family. She hasn’t gone through hell and back while holding onto that one wish that would make all the suffering worth it. The amount of joy everyone else felt upon living out their dreams, she wonders if she would be able to feel it too.

They brought her here to make her happy, but is this truly want she wants as well? This is old Emma’s wish after all. What about her and what she wants? Could this wish make her just as happy as her old self? She knows her family is only trying to help, but seeing her doubt herself does a number on my heart. Even without her memories, she’s still the same Emma deep down, as she doesn’t want to disappoint her family. She spends so much time worrying about living up to her family’s expectations, to try and be that Emma they all love so dearly.

Little does she know that she acts the exact same as usual, almost as if nothing has changed when she finally expresses how much she wants to ride a giraffe. And that’s great considering when they first arrived at the giraffes, no on had even mentioned riding them. She came across that feeling all on her own and everyone else can’t help but laugh and feel relieved. Her mind may have forgotten but her heart remembers everything. There is no “old Emma” and “new Emma” to her family, just “Emma” and words can’t express how wholesome that is because they love her regardless. All that matters to them is Emma’s happiness because if anyone deserves to feel and experience that, it’s her.

I just made myself tear up, damn it. I started this series with season one okay? I heard about this precious girl’s dream within the first minute of the first episode and here I am, a little bit over two years later, finally reading about it coming true and seeing that bright as hell smile on her face. Do you know how amazing it is to come full circle like that? My heart feels so full right now. I’m beyond proud of her and love her to death. Say what you want but I believe this to be the true manga ending in my eyes.

(damn this series for always getting me emotional)

[boundless11]

I’m quite new to this fandom.  I love all the characters on CK and I’ve enjoyed watching their growth over the seasons. What I can’t understand is the amount of unnecessary hate Sam gets.  What’s worse is, other characters (who I won’t mention) have made mistakes, yet nobody complains about them. I like Sam as a character and sometimes we forget that this show has teens, who make mistakes. Sam is no different. If she was perfect, she would be boring.  But the fact she has flaws makes her more realistic and interesting.  I came across this Youtube channel called Watch Party, which had negative videos regarding Sam, while taking it all out of context.  She’s had so many positive developments over the three seasons and I feel they’re really underrated.

‘Everyone’s got a sob story.  Doesn’t give you the right to be a bully.’  This is where some fans have had a problem with her.  Didn’t she confront Kyler about him bullying Miguel and the boys? Have they forgotten that she was also bullied in season one?  Kyler tried to take advantage of her during their date, but she fought back.  He then spread those nasty rumours about her, she got dumped by her friends and she was the victim of cyberbullying.  Over the course of the seasons, she has learnt to become a better person. She could’ve easily been against Yasmin and Demetri’s relationship.  Afterall Yasmin was the cause of the cyberbullying in season one and now Sam and Demetri are good friends, you’d think she’d have a problem with it. But she didn’t; she was surprised when she caught them making out, but nevertheless, she was happy for them at the end.  

Sam doesn’t take responsibility for her actions, she is the cause of all the drama:  Another argument from fans.  Well if there was no drama, it wouldn’t be interesting. She’s not the only character to cause drama.  She does take responsibility for her actions countless times over the course of the show and due to this, she does then go onto have better relations with Miguel, Moon and Yasmin by season three-she’s even approaches their table during lunch after Hawk destroys Demetri’s model.  When Miguel asks her whether they could start over, she agrees. During her date with Miguel, when she’s bragging about the season tickets for the Lakers, she stops herself realising Miguel isn’t as privileged as her, but invites him to a game with her.  She even felt guilty about keeping her relationship with Miguel a secret from her parents and she admitted this to Robby as they drove to the canyon party and from what I remember, she sped down as she was eager to get to Miguel and make it up to him.  She is constantly apologising:

·      To Aisha regarding their strained relationship

·      During 80s night, she apologised to Tory telling her she just wanted to order food

·      During that same night, she did brush Miguel off after he wanted to make amends and later, she thought it was him and began her apology, but it turned out to be Robby.  

·      She was about to come clean to Robby about the kiss but the bell rang.

·      She apologised to Miguel at the hospital because she felt guilty that he’d seriously been hurt because of her actions.

She knew the school fight had started because of the kiss at the party and acknowledged it, therefore taking responsibility for it. Some of us forget that Miguel also kissed her back.

Sam is flirtatious especially with Robby while she was with Miguel: she was being friendly.  That’s who she is. She even thanked Miguel for sticking up for her and for allowing her to join his group for the pig dissection.

Sam is a caring individual:

·       ‘What’s with the doom and gloom?’ Sam knew Miguel was upset over something and was supportive telling him: ‘I’m sure you did amazing again.’ She tried to distract him by telling him about the student in her class who hadn’t showered.  During their date, she let him ‘correct’ her stance before flipping him on the ground. She wanted to impress him and you could see it from her face when she finished the move.  

·      She even defended Cobra Kai to her dad insisting that just because the kids who were a part of it, it didn’t mean they were horrible kids.

·      Robby would still be on the streets; Sam realised Robby’s living arrangements weren’t great, so she told her dad.  

·      When Miguel fell following the school fight, she along side Hawk were one of the first ones to reach him.  She later admitted that she didn’t care about Tory and she just wanted Miguel to be okay.  

·      She was supportive of Miguel at the hospital telling him he was the one who could beat the odds knowing how worried he was about his surgery.  Wasn’t she the one who came up with the idea to raise funds for his surgery through the car wash?  She didn’t want Carmen to be in debt.

·      She did keep in contact with Robby while he was in Juvie, but eventually stopped when he didn’t respond.

Sam is fiercely loyal/open minded:

·      She’s defended Demetri from CK and Miguel from Robby

·      She didn’t want the Myagi Do name to be tarnished, so along with Miguel, tried to get the All Valley reinstated and succeeded.

·      She stopped her dad from annihilating Kreese in the season 3 finale; she knew about guilt and it’s effects on a person and she didn’t want that for her dad.

·      She listened to Robby about Myagi Do needing more offence and tried to beg her dad to teach them some more offence.  

·      She also accepted Mitch (after he’d tried to attack Demetri) and the others from CK.

·      She also came up with the idea of uniting Myagi Do and Eagle Fang because she realised CK was the bigger threat.  Fans loved this team up of Johnny and Daniel but forget that Sam was behind it.

·      Didn’t she also tell Miguel that Eagle Fang was welcome to train at Myagi Do, knowing that they were training in a park?

And yes she’s made mistakes:

·      She should’ve told her parents about the accident but how many of us as teens kept stuff from our parents?

·      She told Miguel to change dojos, but that was only so her dad could approve of the relationship, because she really liked Miguel.

·      She ignored Miguel’s attempts for reconciliation; maybe she needed some space and wanted to focus on karate to help clear her mind. She didn’t like what Miguel was becoming –a bully-because she had already dated a bully before-Kyler. She wasn’t going to make the same mistake again.

·      She did accuse Tory at the Beach Club, but it didn’t help when Tory had stolen a bottle and was bragging how she could steal everyone’s silverware?  And Tory was the one who tripped Sam at the rink. Sam just retaliated.

·      She did lead the Myagi Do into an attack, which didn’t go as planned. But that was only after she got sick of the way they were being treated by CK and Blatt.

What’s funny is she told Miguel she wouldn’t come to the tournament, but she ended up going. In a way, I feel her presence there allowed Miguel to do well because he wanted to impress her and the more she tried to hide it, the more driven he became. He used that anger, which was directed at Robby to win the tournament.

Feel free to add your thoughts guys!

[jiminthestreets-bonesinthesheets]

I Loved Him... Once - CH 2

Title: I Loved Him… Once

Author: jiminthestreets-bonesinthesheets

Fandom: Criminal Minds

Pairing: Heid (Aaron Hotchner x Spencer Reid)

Rating: This ones General but eventually as the series goes it will be Explicit

Tags: canon typical violence and gore, eventual smut as the series goes, angst, fluff, pining., its gunna be a slow burn guys.

Summary: A series following the team as they solve crimes and take down the bad guys.

     In Part one of this series, we follow the team as they take down a serial killer that has taken a piece of one of their own. And through it all, Spencer and Hotch come to a few conclusions and realizations of their own.

AO3 Link

Masterlist

*** My works are not to be posted on any sites without my permission! But comments and reblogs are love! <3 Please and thanks!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Chapter two

     "Mommy, Mommy! Are you watching me?!"

     "I see you, Honey! That's very good!"

     "Watch again!"

     JJ smiled as she sat in the folding lawn chair, the legs slowly sinking down into the soft sand, a smile gracing her face as she watched her son swimming in the lake. A hand came from her side to rest over hers on the arm of her chair, entwining their fingers together, and she turned to smile over at her husband. 

     "I can't believe we've actually had five full vacation days without an emergency call in."

     "Me neither," Will smiled back as he brought her hand up to his mouth to kiss it, "it's nice to have some family time, no work, no cases, just you, me, and Henry."

     She hummed her agreement, then added, "We'll have to send your Aunt some flowers when we get back, thank her for letting us use the trailer this week."

     "Yeah, she'll like that."

     They sat in comfortable silence, watching Henry splash around, blissfully happy to just be together and free of the burdens of their heavy jobs. 

     The sun was starting to set, the air around them beginning to chill, so JJ turned over and pressed a quick kiss to Will's lips before standing and calling out, "Henry, come on out now!"

     "Ok!" 

     He ran out of the water towards his mom who was waiting to wrap him up tight in his favourite Captain America towel. She lifted him and held him close, pecking his cold wet cheek with a smack making him giggle. "What do you say we change into our pjs while Daddy starts a fire, and then we make smores!"

     "Yeah!" The boy shouted, throwing his arms in the air. 

     JJ laughed as he just missed smacking her in the face, and Will joined them after packing up the chairs and Henry's water Toys. He walked with his hand on the small of JJ's back as they headed back to the trailer, Henry extremely excited about smores. 

~~~~~~~~~~~

     Day six of Spencer's lecture series and he had finally made it to the lecture he was most anticipating. ‘Synthetic Metals: A Novel Role For Organic Polymers’ presented by Dr. Alan G. MacDiarmid, and he honestly hadn't known himself to ever be more excited then he was right now. 

     He arrived at the venue early, was the first person in line to enter the auditorium, and found himself a seat front and center. It wasn't long before the doctor was standing at the podium, instantly diving deep into the bones of the lecture, and Spencer couldn't believe he was finally here. Dr. MacDiarmid was enthralling. He captivated the attention of everyone in the auditorium, including spencer. And even though the topic of the lecture was something Spencer had been very interested in learning more about, and nothing against the amazing Dr. Macdiarmid, but about halfway through the lecture Spencer found his mind beginning to wander to other things.

     It was about the thirty minute mark of the lecture, and the doctor was talking about what he and his team had been working on over the past few years regarding the emerging potential technological applications of synthetic metals, beginning with the topic of spun polyaniline fibers and their applications to the future of nanotechnologies, when Spencer really found his concentration moving on to other things. Suddenly he was brought back to his brief conversation with Aaron in the bullpen before he left. His eidetic memory replaying the entire scene perfectly, right down to every twitch and shift in Aaron’s face, and every slight change in his demeanor while they spoke. Even the falter in his words before wishing him a good night before leaving the bureau. It wasn't like his steadfast boss to hesitate like that, his words and movements were always so sure, so he couldn't help it if he wondered if there was maybe something more behind the awkward exchange between him and Aaron.

     And in relation to those thoughts, he was also reminded of his conversations with Emily and Derek earlier that night. Were they right? Was he too uptight? Should he take their advice and have some fun for once, relax? Let his brain shut off and as Derek had so gracefully put it, take advantage of their time off to enjoy ‘a little sand, a little sun, and a whole lotta’ fun’? Maybe it would be good for him to spend a day doing something that didn't involve endlessly shoving knowledge down his throat, just doing nothing. And on that note he wondered if maybe… maybe Aaron would like to spend a day doing nothing with him…

     Suddenly, in an instant Spencer was on his feet, standing stock still in the middle of the auditorium. Dr. MacDiarmid stopped mid-sentence, staring at Spencer with concern along with the rest of the guests in their seats. When he didn't move or make a sound for a good few minutes, the doctor slowly moved from behind the podium to approach Spencer with caution asking, “Sir, are you alright? Do you need anything?”

     Spencer turned towards the doctor but didn't look at him. His eyes remained fixed on the floor in front of him, almost as if they were searching for the answer to his unasked question. His brows furrowed as his brain continued rapidly searching through every memory of him and Aaron, every encounter, every conversation, every look between them, and suddenly… he was pretty sure he had found his answer. A moment of pure enlightenment.

     “Son…” The doctor took a few more steps closer, placing a gentle hand on Spencer's shoulder, “Son, are you alright?”

     “I…” He finally looked up from the ground, his thoughtful expression turning to one of elation, of contentment, a smile slowly creeping across his face as he answered, “I have to go.”

     “I… Son?” The doctor called after him, but Spencer was already gone. He slung his book bag over his shoulder as he took the stairs out of the auditorium three at a time and burst out the doors. 

~~~~~~~~~~~

     Aaron was just about at the end of his patience. He had spent the first two days of his vacation on the phone with Haley fighting to get time with Jack while he was off, and now on day two he was at the point of practically begging. 

     “Haley, please. I have fourteen days off but who knows how many days I'll actually get before I have to go back for a case,” he sighed into the phone, running a heavy hand down his face as he plopped down on the couch, “all I’m asking for is a few days with my son. You have him full time while I'm working, the least you could do is give me a few days.”

     “He's supposed to be spending the weekend with my parents, Aaron,” she sniped back at him, not a care to the fact that Aaron hadn't seen Jack in over a month.

     “He sees your parents all the time, he saw them two weeks ago. You can reschedule the visit with your parents for any time, but I never know how much time I have before getting called away. I would appreciate a few days here and there when I ask for it, without having to go through this every time.”

     Silence fell over their call for a moment before he heard Haley sigh and knew he had won his case. “Fine,” she huffed, clearly annoyed, “I'll drop him off in an hour, call me in a few days when you want me to come get him.”

     “Thank-you, I'll be ready for him.”

     Without a good-bye or even another word, she hung up the phone. 

~~~~~~~~~~~

     Not two hours later there was a light knock at his door and Aaron jumped off the couch, running to open it.

     “Daddy!” 

     “Hey, buddy!” 

     Jack ran through the door and jumped into Aaron’s arms, sinking his entire body into hugging his dad as tightly as he could. And Aaron gave as good as he got, squishing his son with a smile. 

     Haley walked in behind Jack, watching them, then making eye contact with Aaron over Jack's shoulder. “Call me when he's ready to come home.”

     Aaron nodded, then gave Jack a pat on the back before lowering him to the floor and saying, “Go say bye to Mommy, Jack.”

     He ran over to capture Haley in much the same way as he had hugged Aaron, whispered a goodbye and placed a kiss on her cheek. “Good-bye, my sweet boy, have fun with your Daddy, call me every night before bed, okay.”

     “Okay, Mommy.”

     “Alright,” she said, placing one last kiss to the top of his head before standing and heading for the door, “I'll see you in a few days.”

     She closed the door behind her and Jack immediately ran back over to hug Aaron, who willingly lifted him in his arms again. “I missed you, Daddy.”

     “I missed you too, buddy, I always miss you when you're not here.”

     “I know.”

     Hotch chuckled, then walked Jack over to the kitchen table and placed him in a chair before sitting across from him. He pushed the plate of snacks he’d put together before Jack got there, grabbing one of the small sandwiches for himself, before asking, “So, Jack, what do you want to do while you're here?”

     He made a show of thinking about it while he picked at the sandwich he had taken from the plate, then answered, “Can we go to the park?”

     “Of course, whatever you want.”

     Jack nodded, taking a bite then said, “I was supposed to go to grandma and grandpas house this weekend.”

     “I know, I'm sorry you couldn't visit them, buddy. I just don't know how much time off work I’ll have, or when I will be able to see you next.”

     “It's okay, I'm glad I didn't have to go.”

     Hotch couldn't help but smile a bit, “Why's that?”

     Jack shrugged, “They never take me to the park. They just tell me to play in the backyard, but that's no fun, there's no slides in the backyard.”

     He laughed, Jack was never one to hide his feelings and he loved that about his son. “Well, I promise I will take you to the park everyday while you're here with me, and you can go down the slide as much as you want.” Jack smiled at that, clearly pleased. “Is there anything else you want to do?”

     He made his adorable little thinking face again, but this time came up with nothing. Obviously trips to the park was the only expectation Jack had for this visit with his dad. So Aaron made a suggestion, “How about we go to the movies tonight? And we can get take out for dinner.”

     “Can it be McDonalds?!” 

     He was so excited he nearly jumped over the table, his mom never let him have McDonalds. “Sure, why don't you go get a sweater and we’ll head out now.”

     “Yay!” 

     It took Jack all of two minutes to run to his room, grab a sweater from the closet, and was ready and waiting at the door before Aaron had even grabbed his shoes.

~~~~~~~~~~~

     Four days, he had gotten four full days off with Jack without any interruption and it was great. Jack was all smiles, loving every minute of being with Aaron and he was much the same, enjoying every second he could get with his son. They did go to the movies their first night together, and got McDonalds for dinner as promised. Aaron knew Haley never let Jack have things like fast food, pop, or candy, so he always made sure Jack got his fill when he stayed with him. 

     Over their time together, Aaron had also taken him to the local science center, where Jack was all too happy to learn about space in the astronomy section. They also visited the aquarium, Jack's favourites were the sharks and Aaron had to admit they were pretty awesome, the art gallery, and not to mention daily visits to the local park by Aaron’s apartment. Which is where they found themselves now on their fourth day together, walking across the soccer field to get to the large playground. 

     Jack wiggled excitedly in Aaron’s arms as he walked them over, scanning the playground and desperately trying to get free when he saw his friend on the swings. “Daddy, Markus is here!”

     Aaron put him on the ground and Jack was speeding off in an instant. “Stay where I can see you!”

     He didn't answer before making it over to sit on the swing beside Markus, but Aaron wasn't worried, Jack knew well enough to stay exactly where his dad could keep a close eye on him. And seeing as how Jack was having a good time playing with his friends, Aaron found himself a bench close by and sat to watch. He waved to a few of the other parents sitting and doing the same as him, but was perfectly happy to just sit by himself and enjoy the peace and quiet while Jack played happily.

~~~~~~~~~~~

     It was getting late, they still had dinner to make and the promise of a movie in their pj’s on the couch. He wondered if Spencer might like to join them. Wondered if maybe he should take Rossi's advice and call him, see if dinner and a movie with him and Jack was something Spencer might like to do with them. And after a few minutes of thinking about it, imagining the three of them on the couch together, tucked under the blankets with Spencer in a pair of borrowed pjs from Aaron, he decided he was going to call. When he got back home with Jack, before they ate he would do it, he would take the leap and make the call to Spencer.

     The other parents were starting to round up their kids as well, and Aaron was just about to call Jack over to start heading home, when his phone rang in his pocket. 

     He pulled it out with the all too familiar pang in his heart that came everytime he was in this position. On vacation, with Jack, and his phone rang. And everytime he has this moment where he thinks to himself maybe it's fine, maybe it's not work, but everytime he is always thoroughly disappointed. This time is no exception.

     He sighed, looking at the caller ID on his screen before answering, “Hotchner.”

     “Aaron, I need you and your team to come in.”

     “Erin, we’re supposed to be on a two week mandatory holiday,” he tried his best not to convey his anger through the phone, but he was sure he did not succeed. His team deserved this, needed this, and now he was going to have to break the bad news and ruin everything they had planned. 

     “I am aware of that, Agent Hotchner,” her no nonsense tone coming through, “but the other teams are all out in the field, and the California Police Department needs help now. You're all I've got, I have no other choice.”

     “Can’t one of the other teams finish up their current case, or split up their team to at least start working the case in California?”

     “I need you in the field, Aaron,” she was putting her foot down now and Aaron knew that was it, there was no fight here, “when can you get everyone back?”

     He waited a beat to answer, allowing himself a second to absorb the guilt he was feeling, then answered, “We have a few members of the team out of the country right now, I can probably get everyone back and in the office tomorrow afternoon if I start making calls and arranging flights now, evening at the latest, and we will leave for California right away.”

     “Great, I will see you all tomorrow.”

     And with that she hung up, not even giving Aaron the chance to say anything more that might refute her orders. And god, he wished he could. He wished with everything he had that he could tell her no, that he could let his team have the vacations they deserved. The time to relax, to spend with friends, with family, doing what they wanted for their full allotted two weeks. But he knew deep down he couldn't, and he also knew that despite how angry he knew his team would be, they would never blame him for their vacations being cut short. They would always drop everything they were doing, no matter how much it hurt them to do so, because there were always people out there who needed their help, and they would always be there to help them. That's one of the reasons they were the best team the Bureau had, and one of the reasons he was endlessly proud of them.

     With one last hard sigh he ran a hand down his face and called Jack over. He scooped him up and started making his way back to the car, strapping Jack in with the promise of still watching a movie of Jack's choice together after dinner. 

     After they ate and Aaron explained to Jack that he would have to go back to his moms the next morning, he settled Jack on the couch with popcorn and some blankets to scroll through their movie selection. 

     “Alright, you find a good movie for us to watch, and I'll be right back. Daddy just has to make some calls for work tomorrow.”

     “Okay, I'll find a good one.”

     Aaron nodded, but turned back to Jack with a last minute thought on his mind. “I'm sorry we have to cut the visit short, Jack, but I have to go in to work tomorrow, people need my help, you understand that right?”

     Jack nodded, eyes fixed on the tv while he answered, “It's okay, Daddy, I know you have to catch the bad guy. I can come back when you're done work and we can watch more movies.”

     Aaron smiled, so proud of his kid. “You sure can, buddy. Now you pick something good and I'll be right back.”

     He ducked into the kitchen holding his phone in his hand and just staring down at it for a moment. He took a second to compose himself back into boss mode, then dialed the number that had already been pulled up, wishing with all his might that this was not the call he was having to make to Spencer right now.

~~~~~~~~~~~

     Spencer burst through the door to his apartment like a man on fire. He tossed his shoulder bag aside, pulled out his phone, and looked at the time. It was a little after five, Aaron was probably at home right now, maybe eating dinner or watching tv, and more then likely with jack. So, it was now or never. One brief moment of bravery was all he needed, he could do this. He faced criminal masterminds every day, he could gather up the courage to send one text to Aaron asking him to have dinner… maybe.

     He quickly typed up a message, kind of a mess of his thoughts all forced out in one big push. But thankfully he read it before sending it, ‘Hi, I was just wondering how your vacation is going? I hope it's going well. I'm assuming you have some time with Jack these two weeks, maybe you'd both like to join me for a walk in the park, or even dinner and a movie night? I was thinking we could have some fun together since I believe we are the only two remaining in town.” 

     His thumb hovered over the send button, but he stopped himself, erased it and tried again. ‘Hello, Aaron. I hope your vacation is going well. Mine has been adequate so far. But before our departure from the BAU, Emily and Derek informed me that I could use some fun in my life. I hadn't been aware that I was lacking in the area, but perhaps you would like to join me for some fun before we return to work?’

     Again he erased it before he could bring himself to send the message, and he tried three more times after that, each one a failed attempt at asking Aaron out. And that's what he realized he was doing here, he was asking his boss on a date. It wasn't exactly something that Spencer had ever done before, always being the awkward, quiet guy who was far too shy to ever make the first move, but he found himself this time saying why not? Why not take the first leap? But every message he typed out sounded wrong, or awkward, or too formal, or not formal enough. 

     He stopped himself then, taking a deep calming breath before closing the text window and pulling up Aaron's phone number. Maybe it would be better to just call him, that way he couldn't overthink this as much as he was right now. He'd be forced to just jump right in.

     “Yeah, let's just call him. That's… that's the best option, right.” 

     He nodded to himself, psyched himself up a little bit, and was about to press the call button when his phone started ringing in his hands. The caller ID coming up as none other than Aaron Hotchner, the very man he was just about to call. His heart gave a little flutter at the idea that Aaron was calling him, maybe even for the same reason he was going to be calling him for. Maybe Aaron wanted this as much as he did, and he just hadn't seen it. The thought sent a jolt of electricity through him as he answered.

     “Hotch, hey, I was just about to call you-”

     “I'm sorry, Reid,” he stopped him short, “but whatever it was you had planned this week, is there any way you can cancel or rearrange? We need everyone back in the office no later than tomorrow evening.”

     “I…” He sighed, trying not to let his disappointment flow through the call. So he cleared his throat and tried to answer professionally. “Yeah, yeah, sure I can be there.”

     “Good, can you meet us at the office tomorrow evening, everyone should be back by then?”

     “Absolutely.”

     “Thanks, Reid, and I'm sorry to have to cut your vacation short.”

     “No problem, I will see you tomorrow.” They both hung up and it took all of Spencer's strength not to slam his phone down on the counter. “It's not like I had any fun plans anyways.”

~~~~~~~~~~~

A/N: Next chapter we will be getting into more of the case and more Spencer and Hotch moments XD

Let me know what y’all think <3

[chayacat]

Devil’s Sweet Star (14)

Fandom: Dead by Daylight

Ghostface x Female Reader  

Rated M for Violence, Language and Smut  

***

Rage... A sudden outburst of this emotion can turn a man into a real beast. A lot of things can make you get angry. Most often, it’s when someone is attacking your loved ones. And when you end up finding those responsible... let's say doctors have a hard time repairing some of the body members.

But when rage takes a narcissistic and sadistic assassin like Danny... Well, it's like you're treating of beast... A beast. He had spent the whole night looking for the one who stabbed you, thinking and imagining how he would take care of his "guest". He wasn't angry because that man wanted to steal the show by killing you, no... He was DRUNK with rage because that filthy bastard wanted to KILL you. If there's someone who has to scare you... if there is someone who has to hurt you... if there is someone who has to kill you... That's him. him and him ONLY.

He had fallen asleep in his office, passing his rage on the photo of McKellan who was unrecognizable, the knife planted on McKellan's forehead. He was lying on the couch with his glasses resting on the little table next to him, a plaid serving as a blanket. He moaned slightly and moved a little in all directions. Like when a child has a nightmare. And he had one. He remembered the long corridors, the nurses and doctors who passed through the rooms, the patients who were lying in their beds, others in wheelchairs and.... That door. This room: number 012. That's where she was... that's where she...

“Danny...”  

He awoke startling, drops of sweat beading on his forehead, panting as if he had run a marathon. The simple fact of having seen the façade of the hospital in which you are... brought him back bad memories. He thought he would never go back, he never wanted to go back... and yet... He got up, left his office to go into the bathroom, and put some water on his face. He needed to wake up. As he wiped his face with a towel, his phone rang. Mattew or Melina, probably.

“Hello?” Danny said, his voice sounded tired.  

“Hi Jed...it’s me Mattew... I know it's a silly question after what happened yesterday but...how are you? You seem tired. I don't mind you, do I?” said Mattew embarrassed.

“You never bother me, you know that. I... let's say I had better nights... I'm worried about (Y/N) . Even though I know she's safe there. How about you?”

“I didn't sleep better than you if it makes you feel better... Neither did Melina. The boss called me... you don't need to come to work if you don't have the strength. You can work quietly at home until you feel able to come back.” replied Mattew.  

“That's nice of him... I'll be back on Monday morning... I think I'll take advantage of this weekend to... to clear my mind. And go and see her. Until she got out of the hospital.” said Danny, rubbing his eyes.

“Do you feel able to go on your own? Do you want us to come with you? Because yesterday you were completely... paralyzed at the thought of getting inside.

If only you knew the reason, poor man...that's way too personal for Danny to talk about. But if he ever has to talk about it... there is one person, whom he "judges" worthy of being aware of.... It's you. Of course, he'll have to change two or three little things.

“Jed?” ask Mattew on the other line.  

“Sorry, I was somewhere else. I promised her I would go and see her. Then I'd go. Don't worry about me. I think I'll be fine on my own. I’m sorry but, I have things to do before I go to see her. Say hello to everyone for me. And don't forget to tell the boss.” respond Danny.

“Sure! Rest well Jeddy! See you Monday then!”

Danny hung up before returning to his office, putting on his glasses and removing the knife from his hunting board. He observed the photo, at least what was left of it, a bad look, but a crazy smile on his face. Oh, when he finally gets his hands on him... He's going to torture him like never before. A slow, painful, unbearable agony, before slaughtering him, tearing his skin, making him so unrecognizable that no one will be able to approach his corpse without immediately throwing up on him. He will no longer have the skin on his bones... it will only be a putrefaction heap.

Mike was a work of art... But McKellan will become a masterpiece. A bloody, twisted, disturbing masterpiece. The most beautiful trace of his existence, the most beautiful signature of Ghostface. And when it's over... He will ensure that no one comes near you. As I said, Danny does not share what belongs to him. And he intends to make it clear.

It's amazing that we found the headless body of the dealer but not the body of Mike as well as the photos... and his basement of fantasies. Danny had worked on it more than on the other and he felt a bit vexed. But sooner or later...someone will find him. And with the bloody arrows Danny left on the walls, he's not going to get lost. It's so nice of him that he surprises himself.  

Well... it's time for him to get ready, he said he'd come to see you, and he will. But first he had to go to the police station, witnessing what happened, the police asked him to come to hear his testimony as well as the description of your attacker. If only they knew who they were going to welcome, just thinking they were getting a poor witness... It's no longer taunting the police at this level, it's this openly mocking them.

And then he's going to do something he hasn't done in years... buy a bouquet of flowers. For you. Even if the beauty of the flowers will never surpass yours. His sweet little angel. What kind of friend would "Jed" be to you if he came with nothing? Of course, you wouldn't mind, but for Danny who has studied other people's stupid behaviours, bringing flowers is always well seen. And "Jed" is supposed to behave like that.

He tied his hair, put his glasses back in place, took his bag and left his apartment to go to his van. It’s not the desire that he lacked to go sneak into your apartment but, the police of this small town are not very friendly when the person they summon doesn’t respect the schedules. And for the moment he must not draw suspicions on him. Brush the police in the direction of the hair during the day, provoke them and humiliate them at night. So far, that's what he's always done. And that always worked.  

The police station... hmph. For Danny, getting in is like letting the wolf into the sheepfold, or a demon going to heaven. How ironic... But funny. He pushed the door and went to the reception to show his summons. The policeman showed him the way and knocked on the door of the man who was handling the case: Inspector Daniel Wilhelm. What a surprise... Wilhem was also in charge of the Ghostface murders... It's a small world. Or he did it on purpose.

“Inspector Wilhem...” said Danny with a smirk.

“Jed Olsen... Of all the witnesses who could have been there... You must have been in the heap. Are you going to follow me until I die?”

“I can turn the question over to you... But you didn't summon me to talk about coincidences and fate, did you?”  

“No. Take a seat. Coffee?” said Wilhelm turning his back on Danny to serve himself a cup of coffee.

“No thanks.”  

Wilhelm relocated to his office, taking out all the necessary to record the testimony and called a graphic designer for the description of the suspect. Danny told everything that had happened this morning, down to the smallest detail. Wilhelm asked questions as he went to see if there was a special connection between you and your attacker. Then came the portrait of the aggressor that Danny described without any problem, this idiot had his face completely uncovered... Amateur. The whole thing lasted many hours and once the graphic designer left and the deposition signed, Danny put his stuff in his bag.

“You said you suspect a certain... McKellan to be the instigator of this... attempted murder. Do you have any proof of that? Because such an accusation can cost you dearly if you're wrong, Olsen.” said Wilhelm looking at the file and then Danny.

“Well, he threatened her for a simple order that she could not carry out; And I know that this man is not the type to stop at the legal means to get satisfaction.” said Danny without looking away from the inspector.

“Always sticking your nose all over Olsen.... You're worse than a weasel. It will also cost you dearly one day …"  

“If it's to allow people to discover the truth down to the smallest detail, even the most disturbing, I don't give a shit about dying, Wilhelm...”

“Tsk...By the way Mike Harris' name must be familiar to you, right? It seems to me that he was working with you... Do you know if he had any connection to drug trafficking?”  

“I don't get myself into the lives of my colleagues... but recently I learned that he had big addiction problems, which would explain why he went after me and my colleagues... Why this question?”

“We found the headless body of a guy last night... autopsy revealed a high level of cocaine... and apparently after doing some research, we discover that he was a dealer and Mike was one of his regular clients. But if you don't know... I'm not going to hold you any longer. You can leave Olsen.”

Danny got up and left the police station after shaking Wilhelm's hand. Once outside, he insulted Wilhelm in a low voice before getting in the car and going to buy flowers. Then he drove to Zanesville Hospital. He went to the reception where he asked for your room number. He remained frozen for a few seconds when the young woman in the reception told him that you were in room 012...They say history repeats itself but... that's too much.

What are the chances that two people from his entourage, two women, will end up in the hospital, in the same room? knowing that this happens years after she... Danny clutched the bouquet in his hands and inhaled deeply before knocking on the door of your room. He waited for you to allow him to enter, to open the door and face you, his eternal angelic smile on his lip.

“Jed! I’m glad to see you!”  you said happily, as if nothing had happened.

“Hey...” he starts before giving the bouquet of flowers. “I'm not an expert in flowers... and I don't know your tastes but... I thought you'd like iris flowers.”

“Hawn you’re so sweet...you don’t have to Jed...Thank you. Don’t stay there, take a sit!” you said, taking gently the bouquet from his hands. “So, how are you? I must have worried a lot of people... I'm sorry.”  

“For what? To have been stabbed? Even if you didn't do anything or say nothing?  you don't have to apologize. And... I should ask you the question: How are you? What did the doctors say?”  

“I was lucky... the doctors took me just in time. The blade didn’t hit any vital points fortunately. Normally tomorrow or the day after tomorrow I could go out. But I'll have to be careful and not make too much effort. I owe you my life... Once again.”

“Good...You don’t have to thank me; you would have done the same for me. Mattew and Melina told me to say hello to you. they didn't sleep better than me.”

You talk for hours. Laughing about everything and nothing. That laugh... Danny could hear it for hours. And see you with that smile... that angel's smile. it reminded him of those same moments he spent with her. History repeats itself... but compared to her... You're alive and you're going out. But all good things have an end. And the time for Danny to leave came. He got up and prepared to leave when he felt your hand holding his arm.

“You... Will you be back tomorrow? I'd love to talk with you again.” you ask like a little child.  

“...Of course. Rest well.” he said, heading to the door before he stops and turn to you. “By the way who was this man...Parkson?”  

“Oh...He...He’s my banker! I told him I would call him when I was settled and ...as it had been a while, he preferred to travel in person to see me. I know it's not common but... He's a little weird. But I can trust him. Just like I trust you.” you respond with a smile.

Danny nodded and, waving his hand, he left the room and then the hospital. He still had a lot... A lot to do. He was not going to go after your attacker, knowing that Inspector Wilhelm had his robot portrait... But a little visit to McKellan's house couldn't hurt. And he's going to leave him a little passing gift. Nothing very extravagant... a little bloody on the edges... But something simple. or maybe go back to the traditional method of phone calls?

In any case, don’t face a man until you know all the details about him. A little surveillance in the middle of the night, that's Danny's favorite activity. He got into his van and went home to pick up his other bag. The one that contained his outfit and his mask. No Ghostface for you tonight... Too bad. But don't worry, you'll have plenty of time to make up for lost time when you're in your apartment.  

He picked up his mail, went back to his apartment, put his belongings in his office and then picked up his other bag to leave. He went back on the road to McKellan's house, he had carefully searched for his place of residence, which frankly is not very hard to find. Look for Roseville's most eye-catching home and you'll know this is where McKellan lives. Quite isolated from everything and everyone which did not surprise Danny, when you saw the oversized ego of this rich rotten up to the marrow.

He parked in the little corner of the forest that hid his van to perfection, put on his outfit and mask before getting out of the vehicle. He observed the building that stood in the distance, the mad look and a bad smile on his face. Tonight, is not your time McKellan... You're lucky...

But soon...The devil will come and get his prize...

Your screams and your death.

***

(And it’s done! My head hurts as if a monkey had taken me for a bongo. But everything's fine! I'll be able to rest on my weekend! hoping you'll like this chapter! See ya!)

[fandom-necromancer]

Coffee, crushes and Complications Prequel

This was prompted by an amazing anon! just a warning, this short got dark real quick. So please, heed the warnings and stay safe! It has a happy ending, but I have said in the other parts Gavin hit rock bottom, so I had to make him hit rock bottom. He does recover in the end and gets back on track that has him being happy as we know from part 1 and 2. It’s just a hard contrast, therefore I wanted to warn you. I hope you still enjoy heavy angst!

Fandom: Detroit become human | Characters: Gavin Reed, Tina Chen (Warnings: depression, description of depressive behaviours, Character thinks about suicide, implied suicide attempt (that doesn’t happen, not even the attempt!), suicidal thoughts) If you want to skip the suicide related part skip from “It was two weeks...” to “Tina! Tina, don’t say anything!”

[Part1]   [Part2]   [Part3]   [Part4]

‚Hey, Boss, what’s up?‘ Gavin marched into Fowlers office with a grin and a spring in his step. He had all his cases solved in record time and had finally endured the cry-babies of machines that had come in lately with stories of assault and attempted murder. What had they expected simply stopping to work to looked like? But he had done nothing wrong, at least nothing Fowler could prove, and that was the most important thing. ‘You are fired, Gavin.’ Gavin blinked. He must have misheard something. ‘The phck?’ ‘You are fired, Detective Reed. Hand in your badge and pistol and pack your things.’ ‘What? Why?’ ‘Why?!’ Fowler stood up and leaned over the table. ‘You really even dare to ask that?’ ‘Errr…. Yes?’ ‘Well, then sit down and get comfortable, because I have a whole fucking list!’, the Captain shouted. ‘And I finally can say what I wanted to tell you for so long, because I will finally get rid of you now!’ Gavin did sit down, but not because he wanted to. His knees had suddenly failed him.

‘First of all: You are a real asshole.’ ‘Yes, I know but-‘ ‘I don’t mean it in a funny way!’, Fowler interrupted. ‘You are a true asshole. A bad person. You treat your co-workers as if they personally attacked you. You are unable to work in a team without sabotaging the whole mission for your benefit. You actively try to make others look worse than you are so you seem like the best one. You are so obsessed with getting promoted you fail to do your work, you are constantly breaking protocol and don’t think I didn’t realise! I did. I just never said anything because, shit, sometimes that was an advantage. But this was the final misstep, Reed! I can’t tolerate your shit any longer!’ Gavin swallowed, then threatened: ‘And what should that be exactly?’ He let his anger speak for himself, but deep inside his guts had twisted into a tight ball.

Fowler leaned back. ‘Your anti-android behaviour. Fucking hell, I thought you would learn with time. I thought you would catch up to the others. But no, you continue calling androids names, calling them “it” instead of he, she or they and treating them like malfunctioning machines. These people come to us for help and you laugh them in the face!’ Gavin huffed amused, then outright laughed in Fowler’s face. ‘Captain, that’s a good joke. You don’t actually believe… They are not human. They will never be. Phck, I wouldn’t even consider them persons. They are some fancy part of machinery, so complexly programmed that maybe they even believe themselves to be persons. But they are not! They are objects, robots. And some fancy revolution and new laws can’t change that simple fact!’ ‘And that’s why I have to fire you. I can’t have you interrogating someone knowing you will personally dismantle them if they don’t talk! They are machines. But they are persons too. And you have to respect that. Fuck, Gavin, what did you think?’ ‘I thought and still think they are not alive. It doesn’t matter what you do to them, it’s just simulated. They don’t feel a thing.’ ‘Are you really sure about that?’, Fowler asked, weirdly calm considering he had been furious just before. ‘Even after Connor?’ ‘Connor is a big reason for me being absolutely certain’, Gavin said.

‘Then hand in your badge and service weapon.’ Gavin stared at the outstretched palm. ‘Oh, come on, Jeffrey, you can’t do this to me. I’m your best man!’ ‘I can, I will and I must. And you haven’t been my best officer for a long time. Hank is back – thanks to that apparently lifeless android Connor – and the RK800 is the best Detective you can wish for. Now, I won’t repeat myself.’ Gavin was sitting there completely numb. He didn’t even have energy left in him to complain and that was saying something. He pulled his pistol out of the holster and handed it over, before unclipping his badge. He looked down on the polished metal with his name on it and thought back to the day he had been handed it. How proud he had been. How much of his pride still was engraved in this piece of metal. He had worked hard for this and by now… Shit, this little piece of leather and metal basically was his whole identity. He pushed his thumb over the letters. G. Reed.

‘The badge, Reed.’ He blinked, took a deep breath, held it and pressed the badge into Fowler’s hand. Then he stood up and pressed out: ‘That’s all?’ ‘That’s all.’ Gavin contemplated saying something. Something witty maybe, or something mean, something that would hurt and gave him that little satisfaction of revenge, even if it didn’t mean much. But he couldn’t think of anything, his head was filled with cotton and everything tingled with numbness. So, he just nodded and left, trying to keep up his composure. It was hard without the added weight on his hip that had made his step a bit broader than it normally was. He stared at the ground not to have to look into their faces. Would they laugh? Would they care? Or worse: would they pity him? Whatever they might feel towards him leaving, he couldn’t face it and so he just took what little possessions he had decorated his table with and left. ‘Hey, Gavin, what’s-‘ That was Tina, but Gavin had already passed the security gates and as soon as he was outside the building he ran to his car, dropping his things on the passenger seat and starting the engine to speed off. He was just moments away from a total breakdown, the fact that others might see him and that he couldn’t drive in that state the only thing keeping his composure up. He parked the car messily in front of his apartment, took his things and stumbled up the stairs in a hurry. He barely managed to unlock the door, dropping his keys once and failing to pick them up first try as his eyes had blurred over.

Then finally he was inside, had closed the door and dropped his things on his sideboard, before leaning on it heavily finally allowing his feelings to spill over. He knelt in front of the small wooden furniture, his hands holding onto the edge to keep him steady somewhere. How could this happen? He was untouchable. He was good at his job. He was damn good at his job. He wasn’t good at anything else. He had only ever been a Detective and… Oh god, he didn’t have a job anymore. He wouldn’t be able to pay his rent. He could make it a few months, but he would have to find something else soon and oh god, what if he had to give his cat away and phck he didn’t have a job anymore and… Did the whole world hate him?

He half kneeled, half sat there, crying, his stomach cramping and heaving and trying to keep his meal down through it all. His shoulders shook and he didn’t trust his hands or his legs for that matter. Standing up was out of question. He crawled over to the wall to prep himself up against it and the sideboard, that was about all he did that day, crying until no more tears would come, his nose was hurting and the muscles of his abdomen aching from overuse. He was thirsty, but at the same time it didn’t matter. He was cold but hell, what did that mean? He needed a shower to get out of his partially wet clothes and maybe feel human again. But he knew he wouldn’t even make it to the living room. So why bother? He didn’t move and tried not to think.

He woke up still in the same position and sat up with his back cracking. Something warm shifted against his legs and stretched. He looked down on his cat, who looked up to him as if asking why her human was so upset. ‘I phcked up, Bready. I’m sorry.’ He scratched her behind the ears. ‘And I haven’t given you anything yet, have I? Sorry. You must be starving. Come on, daddy will get you something.’ With that he finally managed to stand up, but still had to lean against the wall, waiting for his circulation to catch up. He carried himself into the kitchen, gave Bready her food and threw himself a frozen pizza into the oven not wanting any poor delivery guy to see him like this.

He rubbed his forehead that by now hurt like a thousand needles from his dehydration headache. So, he opened the fridge and his eyes fell on his liquor collection. Should he… But it would only make things worse. Could things go worse? To be honest, he just wanted to sleep. He should save the alcohol for tomorrow when he would need it. He ate his pizza, drank his water, forced himself to take a shower and dropped into bed. Maybe this was all just a bad dream.

-

It wasn’t. He was awoken by his alarm, had sat up and halfway left the bed as he remembered that right, no work to go to. Rubbing his face and scrunching it up as he rested his face in his hand, he thought about what to do. In the end he did stand up to give Bready her food and retreat back to bed. She soon joined him, a welcome weight against his legs. As he woke up hours later, she was still there, and Gavin watched her for a while. Damn, why couldn’t he have been born a fat, carefree housecat? He fetched his phone, tried to switch it on and sighed as it wouldn’t. He struggled to get the charger out without disturbing Bready. When he finally could switch on his phone, he immediately was bombarded with messages and missed calls from Tina. He read over them but deleted the notifications from the calls and left her on read. He didn’t feel like talking. He didn’t feel like anything at all. In the end he flicked through the same apps on his phone, fell asleep and circled them through again once he woke up. He stood up to get his cat some food, then went straight to bed. He didn’t want to eat, so he didn’t.

The next day he managed to eat breakfast, but only because he had switched off his alarm and his cat woke him up with screaming. He threw some water in his face, then returned to bed. Tina had called again. Had messaged too. Gavin put his phone on his nightstand face down.

In the evening he couldn’t lie in bed anymore, never feeling comfortable and always sore. He faced his fridge again and took the next-best bottle. When he fell asleep on the couch hours later it was empty.

The hangover was hard, but Gavin liked the sobering pain. He didn’t like throwing up in the toilet first thing in the morning though. He skipped breakfast and lunch lying in bed. As Tina had called for the millionth time, he finally got the energy to answer the call, shout: ‘Phck off, don’t wanna talk!’ into the mic and drop it back down. Dinner was some instant noodles. With lots of alcohol.

When the weekend came, his reserves had been depleted. He was left to water and stale coke. Maybe that was something good? Gavin didn’t think in these categories anymore. Then the doorbell rang. And it rang again. And again. Gavin would have appreciated it staying this way of it ringing and him not answering, but then the call came from outside: ‘Gavin, you absolute fuck, I know you are home and you know I will kick down this door, now open up before you have to pay for a new door and lock without a job!’ Way to go Tina. Gavin just sighed, but obeyed, opening the door. He had planned to tell her to go, but she somehow already had made it past his sluggish reflexes. ‘Holy fuck it reeks!’ The first thing she did was opening the windows, letting in fresh air. ‘How the fuck did you live like this?’, she asked pointing at the dirty plates on the floor. ‘And fucking hell, you look like death!’ Gavin just shrugged. ‘Feel like death too.’ She took him by the back of his shirt and pushed him towards the bathroom. ‘You will take a shower and if I have to watch you do it!’ Gavin tried to protest, but somehow he was already standing under the stream fully clothed. His hoodie began to weigh him down, but he didn’t care. ‘Gavin, I won’t mother you. You will get out of your clothes on your own. Call me if you need anything, I will cook you something.’ Gavin shook his head violently. ‘Tina!’ She turned around to look him in the eyes sternly. ‘You should go. I need more time.’ ‘You got plenty of time. I won’t let you destroy yourself like this! You got fired. That’s all. No one died. No one is ill. You will find a new job and better days will come.’ ‘Someone died’, Gavin disagreed. ‘I did. I died when I handed in that badge, Tina.’ ‘Oh fuck off you melodramatic asshole. I am speaking to you right now. So you fucking are alive and need to wash yourself. And you need food, so I will cook. And then we will talk.’

She had left, but Gavin still winced as if she had struck him with a knife. Talk. Oh, please, anything but that.

‘Any plans what to do now?’ ‘Any idea what kind of job you would like?’ ‘How about going out to a movie tomorrow?’ ‘Gavin, fucking talk to me!’ Gavin swallowed hard. ‘You should leave, really. Thanks for the food and for kicking my ass, but I’m not ready yet. This job was all I ever wanted and all I ever had.’ ‘Bullshit.’ ‘No! No bullshit! For once I’m completely serious Tina! What do you think I have except for it? Everyone phcking hates me, I can’t do anything else and I don’t have anyone to help me! All I have is this flat and my useless phcking cat! I. Have. Nothing! And I’m sorry if a few nice words from pity-party Tina won’t suddenly make me function again!’ ‘Pity-party?’ ‘That’s what this is, isn’t it?’, Gavin shouted. ‘You secretly enjoy it, don’t you? Oh, look someone that has phcked up! Let’s pretend we actually like the guy and don’t just profit from him! Then we can say: see? See how he got better? That was me!’ ‘Gavin!’ ‘What?’, Gavin spat back. ‘Tell me that’s not what you are trying to do! Tell me you mean it, it will be a real nice joke, I can tell you that!’

Tina stood up and in exactly that moment, Gavin had realised he had made a mistake. Another mistake. He had wanted to be angry, about who and what didn’t matter. But well, it did. ‘You know what, Gavin Reed? I’ve been your friend for a long time. Do you really think I listen to an asshole like you, to talks like this and fake being your friend? What weird twist of logic is that? I wanted to help! I really wanted to. But if this is how you respond to that, I clearly wasted my time! Goodbye.’

And Gavin’s days turned back to lying in bed with his cat and stupid phone games, getting up only when he needed to pee, when Bready needed food or when he couldn’t postpone eating any longer himself. One day he actually went out to get some canned food that was easy to prepare, food for Bready and alcohol. Lots of alcohol.

It was two weeks after he had been fired, that he sat in the corner of the living room, a bottle next to him and the shards of a broken glass in his hand, that he carefully pulled out. He didn’t even feel the pain. Not really. Should he… It was tempting. He had no one, he had no job, no goals… Was it even worth it? He had looked far too long at the blood pooling in his hand and the largest shard in his other. It was just a movement after all. But then Bready’s head suddenly appeared and Gavin cursed. ‘No, bad! Shoo! This is dangerous! Damn cat!’ He let the shard fall to the ground and picked up his cat with his uninjured hand, carrying her over to the kitchen and keeping her busy with some treats. Once he was sure she was occupied, he returned to his corner outfitted with a dustpan to pick up the shards so Bready couldn’t step in them.

Only when he saw the bloody shards, he flinched back. He had seen these pictures far too often. Had filed them away as evidence. Had asked himself how people could do something like this, often leaving family and friends behind. And now… Phck no! Phck no, not him! He wouldn’t… He had always been a fighter, hadn’t he? Then why had he given up just moments ago? No, he wouldn’t… He would. He would finally get his ass up and act! What had Tina done last weekend? What had she done…

Open the windows. He retraced her steps after he had gotten rid of the shards and bandaged his hand. He opened the windows, looked to the ground and fetched the dirty plates. He put them in the dishwasher. He cuddled his phcking lifesaver of a cat extra-long and took a shower – this time without his clothes. Then he took his phone from the shelf he had put it on to ignore it and sat down on the couch. He dialled the number on autopilot and waited until he got an answer. It didn’t take long.

‘Tina! Tina, don’t say anything! I don’t know if I can build up this courage again if you say something. Just listen, please. I was an idiot. I was a total asshole to you, and I understand you completely if you don’t want to talk to me or ever see me again. But I really need your help and I want to make up to the terrible things I said to you. I may not have much left, but I have my fantastic cat, I am still alive, and I hope I still have you. I need someone to kick my ass and I know you are best in that. I need you right now. I want to look for a new job, I want to start again, and I don’t want to lose you as my friend.’ He pressed his eyes closed and waited for an answer. ‘Tina?’ ‘What? You told me to shut up and listen! I’m already on my way over to your place with job offers from a few newspapers, you giant asshole. Should I get takeout? Are you hungry?’ ‘You are not mad?’ ‘Oh, believe me, I am mad. But I am also proud of you, Gavin. And if you think you can get rid of me, you don’t know me!’ Gavin audibly exhaled. ‘Oh, Tina, I don’t know what I would do without you.’ ‘Yeah, sometimes I wonder, too. I’ll hang up now, okay? Gotta go place our order. Just wait for me, okay? We’ll fix this shithole of a situation you are in in no time, believe me!’

Gavin smiled, the first time in two weeks. The call had already ended, but he still whispered: ‘Yes. I believe you.’

[>next part]

[horde-princess]

An Analysis of 4 Key Relationships in Season 2

Now that we’ve had some time to digest season 2, I wanna take an in-depth look at some of the new relationships and group dynamics that have popped up in the show. Specifically, seeing Catra interact with Bow and Glimmer was something I’ve been excited about for a really long time, and then of course there’s Scorpia, and wow do i have THOUGHTS alright here we go

Catra and Bow

i know, weird right. there’s a reason i’m writing about these two first and it’s because i have a lot of feelings lajksdfd just hear me out okay

Idk about you guys, but when I was watching Catra attack Bow in 2x02 it just felt so weird, like in a bad way. Catra’s anger towards him for stealing Adora away is obviously valid, but Bow is just so pure and righteous and good, you know? He doesn’t have a bitter bone in his body (unlike Glimmer, who can give as good as she gets). Bow doesn’t know how to respond to Catra’s anger... and I think the reason that it was so hard for me to watch is because Catra and Bow actually have the potential to be good friends.

Think about it like this. Catra and Glimmer are a lot alike--they’re fierce and intense and they each have someone who helps bring them back down to earth: their respective best friends, Adora and Bow! And we see how much Adora and Glimmer have grown to love one another, right? It’s because their different personalities complement each other so well.... So I think that, given the chance, Catra and Bow could have a similar dynamic :)

There was a sweet moment in 2x02 that offered a glimpse of this, when Bow was trying to show Catra some kindness. He’s such an earnest, straight forward character, he sees right through Catra’s bullshit and knows exactly what to say to get through to her (i mean look at her expression here, the way her ears are flattened--so different from her absurd behavior in the rest of the episode).

Lock these two in a room for an hour? Yeah, they’d come out best friends 😭💖 I hope we get more of them in future episodes!! 

Catra and Glimmer

Oh man...... Whew. YIKES. Where to even begin with this alsjdfsdjld. Catra and Glimmer’s rivalry is just. everything. 

To Glimmer, Catra is the girl who is trying to destroy her home, murder her and her loves ones... the girl who’s breaking the heart of someone she loves (Adora).

To Catra, Glimmer is the girl who stole Adora away from her. She tore her life apart. She represents what it means to be born into a position of privilege and (literal) power, which Catra resents with a burning passion.

Seeing these two go head to head, sparring physically and verbally, it’s so freaking delicious. Catra has the advantage over her in almost every way: she’s a better fighter, she lies and manipulates, she’s willing to do evil things to win battles that Glimmer, as a typical hero, refuses to do. But despite all that, Glimmer still wins every time... Because she has Adora.

It’s interesting, though. Even though Adora is on Glimmer’s team, Catra knows that she is the one who holds Adora’s attention, if not also her affections--and she knows this fact drives Glimmer crazy. I mean come on, Adora means everything to Glimmer! She loves her as a friend but more than that, She-Ra gives her hope that they can save the world. Yet Adora loves this feral half-cat demon over her?? what???? lmao. So I think part of what’s fueling Glimmer’s hatred, her desire to just beat the absolute shit out of Catra, is that she feels like she’s contending for Adora’s love.

There were four glitra moments this season that I wanna highlight.

First, when Catra tries to get in her head and make her doubt her relationship with Adora. I found this interesting because you almost see a glimpse of sincerity in Catra--as if she’s trying to warn Glimmer against repeating the mistake she herself made. Glimmer’s reaction to the words are just as telling. She gets angry, but I don’t think it’s because she believes Catra. I think she’s angry because Catra is slandering Adora’s character. Unlike Catra right now, Glimmer sees Adora for who she truly is. She knows that Adora isn’t the kind of person who abandons her friends in pursuit of power. So yeah this was a cool moment that illustrated Glimmer and Catra’s contrasting perspectives.

Second, I LOVED this line, when Catra makes fun of Glimmer and Adora’s relationship (but it just comes off as jealous lmaoo). The reason I love it is because it’s so true!!! Glimmer and Adora are perfect for each other. What this line proves is that she is absolutely threatened by Glimmer in a romantic context. She recognizes that Glimmer might actually be more compatible for Adora than she is, and that Glimmer is her foil (which I’ll explain more in a minute).

Next is the scene where Glimmer actually threatens to kill Catra in cold blood. If you’re like me and you missed that when you first watched it, yeah, that’s what happened--Catra gives Kyle the order to “take Entrapta out” and then Glimmer slams her against the tree and says “two can play at that game.” She gets this close to blasting her face off but Bow is able to talk her down from it. And the whole time, Catra is just fucking smirking at her, calling her bluff because she knows Glimmer won’t compromise her morals (parallel to catradora in 2x05 anyone??). But yeah this was crazy. Catra just wanted to see how far she could push her and it turns out... pretty damn far. 

One of my favorite lines in the whole season was Glimmer telling Catra “I’m not as naive as you think.” Catra thought she had her outsmarted, forced to deplete her magic, but in the end Catra had underestimated her as an adversary.

The more I think about it, the more I realize Glitra’s rivalry is a hundred times more intense than Catradora’s. Remember in the DnD ep when femme fatale Catra points at Glimmer and calls her her greatest enemy? That was veeery interesting... Their relationship really has a life of it’s own now, like, separate from Adora. They hate everything about what each other stand for. They’re both so strong and hot-headed, with opposite moral compasses--like two rockets on a collision course. But I also love that they have this sort of begrudging respect for one another. Look at what Glimmer says here in 2x03, the ghost episode:

How random, right, that Glimmer would be thinking about some offhand comment from Catra from the previous episode? AND! In context, it just sounded to me like Catra was saying Glimmer was terrible at taking people hostage lol. Glimmer extrapolates and applies her comment to her courage, her capability as a hero. That’s like.... whoa. It shows that Glimmer actually cares about Catra’s opinion of her.

So yeah Glitra’s dynamic is more amazing than i could’ve ever dreamed.. not to mention their weird flirtation and oh no looks like we’re out of time for this section kjdfljsdkaskjd

Adora and Scorpia

Ok seeing these two dorks together in 2x05 was so amazing 😂😂 As cute as it was though it was one of the most heartbreaking parts of the season. I can’t remember a time that Scorpia ever demonstrated such bitterness towards someone.

Not exaggerating when I say that last line brought me to tears like wtf.... 😭

I’ve mentioned this before but Scorpia genuinely loves Catra so much and she just can’t stand seeing her heart breaking over Adora when Scorpia feels like she could treat Catra better. She’d give her the whole world if she could (which is quite literally what she’s trying to achieve!)

Adora, on the other hand, she doesn’t really know who Scorpia is. To her, Scorpia is just someone who is enabling Catra’s descent into darkness, so there is a hostility there already. If I had to name one thing that I’m excited about for upcoming episodes, it would be Adora inevitably growing jealous of Catra and Scorpia’s relationship. We haven’t seen it yet but mark my words we WILL AND ITS GONNA FUCKING DESTROY US okay i could yell about adora and scorpia for hours but let’s just move on and get to my fave part of this meta laksjdfs

Catra vs. Glimmer, and Adora vs. Scorpia

So Catra and Glimmer rivalry’s is obviously really fun, same with Adora and Scorpia. But the real magic comes in when we look at the dynamic of this whole 4-person group. I didn’t take Scortra seriously in season 1 (blasphemy... i know) so it took me until season 2 to catch onto this pattern, but now that I have it makes so much sense and gives the show a new perspective for me. 

Glimmer and Scorpia’s relationship hasn’t really been explored in the show but there is one thing we know they have in common: they both love two girls who are obsessed with someone else. And they both act as foils for our two protagonists. 

Glimmer is Catra’s foil. The similarities between these two are obvious. They’re both passionate and angry and driven and traumatized. But Glimmer’s strong moral code contrasts sharply with Catra’s lack of one (and really that difference is just a result of their disparate upbringings). 

Glimmer is right in front of Adora. And she’s everything that Adora only wishes Catra could be... yet Glimmer will never be able to compete with Catra in the contest for Adora’s affection. Adora is stuck between loving someone that she can’t be with, or being with someone she can’t truly love... at least, not in the same soul-altering way that she loves Catra.

Scorpia is Adora’s foil. Scorpia and Adora are also alike in some ways, but there’s a key difference. The fandom has discussed before how, yeah, Scorpia is part of the Horde, but she doesn’t appear to have any kind of moral stake in the war that’s going on. What Scorpia really cares about, what she’ll fight to the death for is... her friendships. She’s loyal to a fault, and she would do absolutely anything for Catra. Catra is her number one priority. 

GUYS! This is the exact opposite of Adora!! Adora may love Catra, but she will always choose the greater good over her. She won’t betray her convictions for love. That’s just who she is. Thus, Scorpia is everything that Catra wishes Adora would have been for her. Someone who would have stayed by her side no matter what. Someone who wouldn’t have cared whether or not the Horde was evil, as long as she could be with Catra. But again--though I do think Scortra’s budding romance will continue to develop--in the end Scorpia simply cannot compete with Adora for Catra’s affection. She acknowledged it herself. 

I wanna mention one more thing here.. So Scorpia and Glimmer are playing similar roles for their respective love interests. From my point of view (feel free to disagree this is just the way I’m interpreting things) I don’t believe that those relationships are gonna be endgame. To me this show always has been and always will be about Catra and Adora. And while I can’t wait to see them reconcile with each other, Noelle has suddenly got me falling in love with these other characters, too, and I'm so afraid??? ESPECIALLY for Scorpia. While Glimmer at least has Bow and the Princess Alliance, Scorpia has absolutely no one. Catra is Scorpia’s whole world. What will she do when that falls apart? (god please i’m begging, just let scorpia find happiness 😭)

Catra and Scorpia

Honestly I don’t even think I can write this part without having a meltdown but its the last one so im gonna push through alksjdfls. I already talked a bit about how Scorpia is exactly the kind of person that Catra needs at this point in her life, and I think it’s best summed up in this quote from Noelle:

“We see Scorpia expressing this admiration for Catra, expressing desire to get close to Catra... Catra is just not at this point super open to Scorpia’s affection. So I think it’s kind of tragic at this point. And I think for Catra, although she’ll never admit it, what she really wants is love and acceptance. Suddenly she is getting that, no strings attached, from Scorpia, and she is not ready.”

-wiping away tears- okay so yeah, Scorpia is over here offering Catra unconditional love and Catra’s just.... she’s so traumatized and has such deep-seated abandonment issues that she just doesn’t know what to do with it. She doesn’t feel she deserves it. Also, up until 2x05, Catra didn’t respect Scorpia much at all and definitely did not see her in a romantic light. But I have a theory on why that changed. 

For much of her life, I think the Horde taught Catra to associate love with blind loyalty and submission. Now, she is starting to question this belief. She thought Adora loved her, but Adora ended up being disloyal. She thought she could earn Shadow Weaver’s love by submitting to her, but Shadow Weaver continues to prove her wrong. So what is love, exactly? What is an expression of love? Catra’s not sure anymore.

When Scorpia defies Catra’s orders in 2x05--she destroys the First Ones disc, lets Adora escape, fucks up Catra’s plan--Catra is completely thrown. In the animation alone, you can see they’re trying to convey that Catra is seeing Scorpia in a way she never has before.

It’s precisely because Scorpia defied her and chose not to blindly submit to her, that Catra is still alive. It’s the first time that Scorpia went against Catra’s wishes in a big way. And I think this moment shook Catra to her core because it made her question what love is truly about. Like maybe Scorpia understands something that she doesn’t.

We see this again in episode 2x07, where she’s stressed out about Shadow Weaver and yelling at Scorpia to just obey her orders but Scorpia isn’t having it. And in that we see a special trust developing between them. Even when Catra’s being a dick to her, denying that they’re friends, saying things like “get used to not getting what you want in life...” Scorpia stays by her side and refuses to be discouraged. and I think that really is something that’s going to leave a huge impact on Catra. Scorpia is no longer just a tool for Catra to manipulate--she has come to seriously rely on her without realizing it.

Still, Catra doesn’t seem quite capable of understanding what a beautiful friend she has in Scorpia. and I’m afraid (predicting) that she might take it too far one day, and figure out the hard way exactly how much she had to lose. But that tragedy may also turn out to be her saving grace ✨

congrats if u read this whole thing lmao id love to hear your thoughts/criticism on it!! i was gonna discuss catradora too but actually i think that should be a separate meta so..... yeet .

[repo-net]

 And we’re back with another one of these posts. Today, I’ll be talking about one of my favorite trios in the series, Kotoko-Monaca-Nagisa. Legit, these three’s dynamic is super well-written and all of them deserve the love they get from the fandom.

Today’s Nagisa topic of the day: His trio with Kotoko and Monaca, and his relationships with them.

We’ll start with the core of this trio’s dynamic: Two loved Monaca, Monaca loved neither. One fights back against Monaca, one succumbs to her manipulation.

Really, a lot of this dynamic is centered around Monaca, and how the other two’s relationship with her just clashes well with each other and it makes for an amazing trio of angst overall.

We’ll start by talking about Nagisa’s relationship with Kotoko. Kotoko is imo probably the second least developed relationship with Nagisa, only really ahead of Masaru.

They don’t share much screentime together, and when they do, most of the time they’re just Nagisa talking all mature and stuff about their paradise and his plans while Kotoko in the background just goes “KYAAAAAAA” while he does it. Or he’s being an absolute mess around Monaca and she’s teasing him about it, take your pick.

Their one significant moment together was at the end of Chapter 3 and beginning of Chapter 4 where Nagisa bails Kotoko out of any more trouble, and requests Komaru and Toko to leave the town. One of my favorite Nagisa lines is one where he directs to Kotoko: “You don’t want Monaca to hate you, do you?”

Kotoko is very worried about what Monaca would feel if she found out Nagisa helped two of their “demons” escape the game. He’s aware of it, but in his eyes, it’s necessary because the two have really been putting a stop to their plans of a paradise, and he believes that if he just explains his viewpoint to Monaca, she’ll understand.

But even with everything he said, he still ends up telling Kotoko to now follow him because even he knows it’s not guaranteed Monaca won’t hate him, even if he tried to explain it. And the way his VA just voiced it where he just sounds so... God, I don’t know what the word is but it’s a damn good word, that’s for sure.

Despite a lot of the teasing Kotoko does and says she thinks he’s way too stuckup, Kotoko does have some admiration for Nagisa because he is a good leader, and Nagisa cares about Kotoko too, as he wanted to shield her from Monaca’s wrath. Him telling her to not follow him was able to give Kotoko a redemption arc to take down Monaca along with Komaru & Toko.

#NagisaMakesOtherCharactersBetterJustByExisting2020

Unfortunately, that would be the last we ever see Kotoko and Nagisa interact, and becasue of this their relationship I feel is a little on the underdeveloped side.

My reasoning on why I think Jataro has a more fleshed out relationship with Nagisa despite his much, much lower amount of screentime is because the two get a lot of subtle stuff inside (the paintings where the only WoH he drawed himself with is Nagisa, him clinging onto Nagisa during the post-UDG image of the kids) and outside the game (the relationship charts between the two in the official art books) just gives the two much more material. With Kotoko however, she didn’t really get any of these other than teasing Nagisa about his crush, complaining that he’s a bossy smartass, and again, end of Chapter 3 + start of Chapter 4. All the two really get are one-off jokes, moreso at Nagisa’s expense, but I’ll talk about some of the things I like about the two once I get past Monaca.

Speaking of satan herself, one of the parts of my Nagisa writeup is literally just dedicated to him and Monaca’s relationship, so I’m gonna pull some stuff from there to make my job easier. I could legit talk about these two for atleast an hour or so, tbh

The painful story of the boy who was loved by none and loved one, and a girl who was loved by everyone and loved none. Well, Junko exists so I guess Monaca does have someone she loves, but you get what I’m saying.

Monaca and Nagisa’s relationship goes as far back as elementary school because of how much backstory it’s given by the game and even outside it too. 

The amount of times she’s subtly manipulating him by giving him compliments, saying she expects a lot from him, all of them don’t look so cute when you replay the game and just hurt when you see how he’s so wrapped around her when you, the player, know that she’s just using him for her personal gain, and hell, she even fucking expected him to die for her when Nagisa fought Komaru and Toko, she knew that he was gonna fall to the duo and fully expected him to die in the process. Good lord, Nagisa. You really gotta find a new crush, this ain’t so totally adorbs.

Nagisa has so many cases of being a... can I say it? Simp for Monaca. Like damn bro, breaking into a factory and trying to get rid of a bunch of schoolgirls just because she promised you favors? Lmao simp

Okay, back to the more serious side of things, Nagisa showcases a lot of tendencies to do anything to please Monaca, even before the infamous you-know-what scene. “Monaca is our princess, I will never allow that!”

I’m pretty sure I’m not the only one who was on board the Nagisa x Monaca ship before the horrible era of Chapter 4, like it seemed to be one of the more wholesome things to come out of UDG, before they made their relationship into one of the darkest and most twisted ones in the entire series.

Nagisa truly did love Monaca, and he felt like nobody cared for him the same way he thought Monaca cared for him. And Monaca knew this, and using this to her advantage, she probably had the easiest time manipulating him.

If you wanna hear a more extended version of an analysis of Monaca and Nagisa, then I recommend you read the fic known as: Paradise by DarkShockBro on AO3. It’s an extended view of the infamous kiss scene between the two, and it’s one of my favorite Nagisa centered fics as a whole. Seriously, give it a read, it’s chilling, and makes Monaca look like a slightly better person. Slightly.

A lot of the appeal for me that comes from the Kotoko-Monaca-Nagisa trio stems from the fact that Monaca used both of their love her against them, with one of them succumbing to her manipulation and falling into despair, and the other rising up and fights to put an end to Monaca’s twisted game. That’s not to say Nagisa didn’t mature from it and grow past it,because DR3 does exist, I’m just talking about what we got from UDG. And what we got from UDG was great and could not have asked for more between the trio.

Really, the only even slightly negative thing I can say about this is that Nagisa and Kotoko didn’t get developed as a pair of friends more.

I enjoy fics that have a focus on Kotoko/Nagisa because I think the two definitely could’ve been fleshed out more in terms of just the two as a whole together, considering that they both got a lot of screentime in UDG yet to be so together so little is just a tad bit asking for more, and honestly because there’s a lot of similarities the two have that make both their presences enjoyable when in the same room. I might end up just making a fluffy story that takes place post-UDG between the two of them because I feel like these two have a lot of untapped potential together.

Anyways, that’s really all I have to say for now. Let me know what you guys think, this is probably the last one of these topic talks for a while because these take pretty long to write, lol

Thanks for reading!

[angelsunflowers-fanfics]

Richard Simmons x Blue!Female!reader (High school au)

FANDOM: Red vs Blue

REQUEST: My dialogue is number 6. It is a Simmons x Artistic! Blue Army! Kind! Dirty-mouthed! Reader. This is my idea for a city AU for red vs blue, and Simmons is a white boi with maroon everything (Glasses, hoodie, and converse) and he also wear his hair in a short pony-tail. He also wears a maroon baseball cap and carries a maroon phone. He was in love with (Y/N) since High School, and he doesn't really know about her artistic side. Please find the time for this. I have a crush on the maroon soldier.

“We’re sitting in a good court and I can see you staring at me so what’s your fucking deal--wait are you drawing me?”

Linktree

~~~~~

The mall was lit up with dim lights as the afternoon slowly drifted into the evening, many people were still lounging around the shops and food court, taking advantage of the long hours. Richard Simmons and Dexter Grif, a couple of the reds, were talking in the food court. Well, it was more of Simmons talking and Grif eating and listening.

Simmons thought about that Blue all too often, The blues and the reds were rival schools. Grif didn’t see why he had such a fascination with someone that he was only gotten to actually see a few times. Simmons didn’t care much about the rivalry between the schools, he actually liked it. That way he could see (y/n) more often, but now he was out of high school.

“--I just wish I could find a way to talk to her again, It’s been so long. Do you think she would even remember me?” Simmons asked.

Grif rolled his eyes, not knowing why he was here and not literally anywhere else.

“Maybe, you two were both major nerds so It’s a possibility. Well, you still are. I still can’t believe that you never got over your mondo crush on her by now, dude. Her being a blue and all, there were plenty of girls that asked you out, why didn’t you ever say yes?” Grif asked.

Simmons sat back in his seat lightly, taking off his Maroon colored glasses to clean the lenses before he spoke, “(y/n)’s different, she’s not like those girls in school. They just wanted to plagiarize my work or use me to get their significant other jealous. (y/n) talked to me first, I still got really nervous around her, but… She actually enjoyed talking to me.” 

Grif shrugged his shoulders lightly before closing his notebook full of extensive notes, he didn’t need Simmons to know how smart he could actually be just yet.

“Alright, you know what Sarge would say,” Grif said. 

Sarge was the red team’s coach, he was close to the former team. Simmons scoffed at Grif’s mention of Sarge, whom would desperately discourage him from having a huge crush on a ‘dirty Blue’, His words, most definitely not Simmons.

“I don’t care what he’ll say. I didn’t get to see her much though. I almost thought that she would transfer, that would’ve been nice,” Simmons said, reminecing. 

Grif narrowed his eyes lightly, he never saw Simmons talking with (y/n). Not once in all of the 4 years in highschool. Where on Earth did he find the time for that?

“When did you even talk to her? You never had the time to hang out with me, but you supposedly hung out with a Blue?” 

Simmons rolled his eyes, picking up his phone to pretend that he was scrolling through his social media.

“You know, the football games. You and Donut would play, I watched. But one day, I got really bored and just started to wander around and I eventually bumped into (y/n). She asked me for the time and we just started talking,” Simmons answered. 

Grif sat back lightly, that did make sense. High school Simmons and Simmons in the present both got very flustered around girls, especially those he actually liked. Grif had hung around the nerd since the beginning, he could see that plain as day.

[FLASHBACK]

“Hey! Pretty-nerd in Maroon!” 

Simmons glanced around in a fluster, he was definitely not used to receiving any compliments of any variety. He quickly turned around to face a pretty girl in a blue letterman jacket. He already felt his heart beating rapidly from the mere sight of a pretty girl talking to him out of interest.

“U-um, yes?” Simmons nervously answered.

(y/n), the blue, slowly approached Simmons to hear him better and for him to hear her better.

“Sorry to bother you, but do you have the time?” She asked.

With shaky hands, Simmons dug a hand into the pocket of his Maroon jacket to grab his phone to check the time; 8:02 PM. before neatly placing his phone back where it was.

“I-it’s 8.” 

(y/n) gave Simmons a sweet smile before explaining her actions.

“Thanks, sorry I don’t usually call out guys like that but… You seem different. What are you doing at a football game? You don’t seem like the type,” (y/n) explained her outburst. 

Simmons glances over (y/n)’s head for a moment to catch a glimpse of Grif on the field, he didn’t look like he was enjoying the game before catching her eyes again. 

“I’m (y/n), by the way,” She introduced herself. 

Simmons smiled lightly and almost wanted to press a hand against his heart from how hard it was rapidly beating against his chest.

“I-i’m Simmons, but you can call me Richard. I come in to watch my friend, Grif, and Donut,” He said. 

(y/n) cocked her head to the side for a moment.

“Donut?” 

Simmons smiled brighter and lightly led (y/n) to the edge of the bleachers to overlook the game.

“Yeah, you see that guy in the pink?” (y/n) laughed lightly and gave a small nod of her head. “That’s him, he calls it lightish-red.”

“Oh my, Fuck. That’s amazing,” (y/n) giggled. 

Simmons surveyed the blue team, wondering if there was someone that (y/n) was here for.

“What about you? Are you here for your boyfriend or…?” The pleading in Simmons' voice was evident, but over the loud sounds of cheering from the crowd, it wasn’t noticed by (y/n).

“No boyfriend. Um, I’m here for Michael Caboose; that guy charging at everyone head first,” (y/n) gestured to the football field. Simmons glanced to the field again to instantly spot Caboose diving headfirst for the football, it would be hard to miss someone like that. “And Lavernius Tucker, he’s--” 

Simmons couldn’t help himself as he blurted out his immediate thoughts toward that certain blue, “Wait, Tucker? You hang around him? Every time I see him, he’s always flirting with fucking someone or you… Sorry, I just--” 

(y/n) waved her hands in front of her to stop Simmons rambling, the sweet smile still plastered onto her face.

“No, I get it. He has that kind of impression on people. But he can actually be really sweet and a great person once you get past that outer shell… And for the flirting… I don’t know why he does that… But he’s Tucker.”

Simmons’ eyes trailed back down to the jacket that (y/n) was wearing. He was talking to a Blue. A blue! His friends were going to give him so much shit for this, but… somehow he didn’t care. The jacket hanging loosely from her shoulders didn’t look like hers, he couldn’t help but imagine what she would look like in his jacket--

“So, Richard… you’re pretty and definitely different from the blue guys… Would you mind if I gave you my number?” (y/n) asked.

Simmons’ eyes widened before trying to dig through his pockets to grab his phone but ultimately became a fumbling mess.

“Y-yeah, I don’t m-mind.” 

(y/n) bit on her bottom lip to stifle a laugh before lightly grabbing his arm and a pen from her bag.

“Just hold still for a moment.” (y/n) carefully scribbled her phone number under her name on his inner wrist before hesitantly letting go of his arm, letting it hang loosely by his side. “I better go find my way down to the field, the game’s over. I’ll see you later, Richard.”

[FLASHBACK OVER]

“Okay, I believe you. There’s no way you would have been able to talk to her first, you’d get flustered and start stuttering,” Grif said. 

Simmons’ face flared up in embarrassment and only slight annoyance.

“I would not!” His voice cracked slightly. 

He didn’t really yell because of that fact, his voice always reverted back to his pubescent days when he got flustered-angry. Grif stifled his laugh behind his hands, Simmons already proved his point.

“Your voice just cracked. Man, I barely have to try and I’m right.” 

While Simmons tried to calm down his breathing and control the color in his face, Grif looked off to the side as the sound of a pencil furiously rushing across paper gets his attention. Someone was turned toward Simmons, their head tucked behind a sketchbook. Someone was drawing Simmons. 

“Huh, someone is drawing you, Dude.” 

Simmons rolled his eyes but didn’t move a muscle.

“Whatever, this is another stupid test of your right? I’m gonna turn around and then you’re gonna laugh at me, no way,” Simmons said, stubborn as ever. 

Grif glanced at the artist sketching on her paper for a moment before Grif grabbed one of Simmons' notebooks and threw it near the artist’s table. 

“Grif! What the hell?” Simmons yelled.

Grif only shrugged his shoulders lightly, watching in amusement as Simmons slowly stood up to retrieve his journal from the floor. Simmons’ eyes locked onto those of the person drawing him, Grif was right. He shot up to his full size and marched toward the unnamed person. 

“Okay, you’re staring at me, what the fuck’s your prob--wait… are you drawing me?” The artist finally glanced up from their sketchbook to reveal that it was (y/n). “I-I…” The blue only smiled at Simmons.

“Hi, Richy.” 

Grif laughed to himself before grabbing his bag and standing from the table, he could tell that Simmons would want to talk to her alone.

“Nice, I’m gonna head back to the apartment. I’ll see you in the morning.” 

Simmons watched Grif leave the mall before turning back to (y/n), ready to question her, “I… I didn’t know you could draw.” 

(y/n) sat up straighter and layed the large sketchbook on the table, revealing that she was drawing him. Simmons slowly sat in the seat across from her, his mind scrambling for a coherent question to ask. 

“I’ve been trying to find you for a while, you kind of disappeared after high school,” Simmons mentioned. 

(y/n) slowly shrugged her shoulders, picking up the sketchbook to finish the drawing.

“Yeah, There were some family emergencies and then my mother wanted me to go into the air force… I’m sorry. I know you came here a lot when we were teenagers so I thought… Maybe you would be here and you are,” (y/n) explained. 

Simmons sat back to look at how grown-up (y/n) looked. He needed to keep the conversation going, he wanted to talk to her until dawn just like all those years ago. It had been so long, what if she was different? Or dating someone? Or married?

“Why did you draw me? Out of everything that’s inspiring, you drew me…” 

(y/n) gestured toward his outfit and items that were laid on the floor near the table next to them.

“You are very color-coordinated, and you’re pretty… and I like you. I’m a bit rusty on sketching, but I wanted to get back into it and I thought you would be the perfect model,” She explained. 

Simmons wrung his hands together in front of him nervously, she said that she liked him. He should say something back, right? Say that he had felt the same since he first met her.

“I, um… I like you too. Since we met sophomore year at that football game. I never knew how to tell you. (y/n), do you… Wanna--” 

(y/n) quickly cut him off by leaning over the table to press a chaste kiss to his forehead.

“Yes.” 

Simmons stare at (y/n) wide-eyed, not expecting her to act on such a bold move. 

“You didn’t even hear what I was going to say yet.” 

(y/n) smiled brightly, grabbing one of Simmons' hands and slowly packing up her things in a light blue bag, before standing up, bringing Simmons with her.

“If I’m with you, then I’m positive I’ll enjoy whatever you have planned. Come on, we have a lot to catch up on.”

[thedeaditeslayer]

The Cool Side of My Pillow Interview: A Trip Inside the Mind of Bruce Campbell.

When you mention the name Bruce Campbell, the first thing that readily springs to most people’s minds is the boomstick toting, chainsaw-wielding final guy of the Evil Dead franchise, Ash Williams. However, for some of his fans, he will be forever linked with the Harvard educated, resourceful bounty hunter, Brisco County, Jr. Then, of course, there will be those devotees of Burn Notice that will be quick to let you know that Sam Axe, the ex-Navy Seal with a love of Mojitos and Tommy Bahama shirts is their guy because we all know, “Chuck Finley is forever.” For those of you that have never had the pleasure of watching the inventive spy show, Chuck was Sam’s alias that he would use as a cover on certain operations. The mere fact that Bruce Campbell is a part of three vastly different fandoms says quite a bit about his ability as an actor as well as his likeability quotient.

A headliner on the convention circuit for years, the minute he is announced as a guest, tickets go flying out the door and venues sell out. Campbell understands what the people want and he is more than willing to give it to them which is why most promoters clamor to book him. His Q & A sessions are legendary and audiences love the way he sarcastically banters with them. In addition to being an accomplished actor, director and producer, Bruce is also a New York Times bestselling author with four books under his belt. If Chins Could Kill: Confessions of a B-Movie Actor, Hail to the Chin: Further Confessions of a B-Movie Actor, Make Love the Bruce Campbell Way and his soon to be released, The Cool Side of My Pillow.

His latest book is a collection of essays or as he would say, “rants.” This venture is unlike any of the previous mentioned titles and perhaps his most personal effort to date. In a sense, you get to take a trip inside Campbell’s mind. He expresses his feelings and opinions on a variety of topics from current events and social media to his code of ethics. I was fortunate enough to chat with Bruce about The Cool Side of My Pillow, and his future projects. After reading his book, you come away with the knowledge of how genuine and thoughtful he is which is refreshing in this day and age.

Diabolique: What I like so much about The Cool Side of My Pillow is your honesty. Your writing style makes the reader feel as if they are having an intimate conversation with you. You don’t hold anything back. There are certain aspects in the book which made me feel a tad uncomfortable because you shared some information that was deeply personal, in my mind. I don’t know if I would have included some of the things that you did.

BC: Oh, sure. You always have to decide where you stop. Where is the line? For me, it depends on the type of book. It depends on the type of subject matter. Every project is different.

Diabolique: Were some of the subjects you tackled cathartic for you?

BC: I don’t normally do that sort of stuff. I’m happy to share if I feel something is useful. In the chapter, “What Are You On?” I’m not ragging on people who have habits. I have habits that was the point. There are very few people that just go through their daily life without jacking themselves up, knocking themselves down, knocking themselves out, you know? So, its kind of amazing. The human condition fascinates me.

Diabolique: “A Little Effort Goes a Long Way” is one of my favorite segments. A tale of hard work, ingenuity and perseverance. Which is key to succeeding in the entertainment industry. Where does your drive come from? Some people can pinpoint it to relatives, a mentor…

BC: I do attribute some of it to the Detroit metro area. A lot of my buddies worked on the line, they worked in the factories, it was a great summer job that paid really good money. In Detroit, it was weird. There weren’t a lot of discussions about hopes and dreams. But I could see things happen incrementally that encouraged us. My grandfather worked for ALCOA Aluminum for over 40 years. Would he want to do that job? Was it his favorite job? He wouldn’t even know; it was his only job. He had that job for his whole adult life. My dad wanted to be a painter. I call him a “go betweener” because he didn’t do exactly what he wanted to do but he didn’t do what he didn’t want to do. He got into advertising because it was sort of creative but it wasn’t creative enough so he got into community theater which was more creative. That filled a very strong niche for him and so he kind of straddled the line and then I came along. He allowed me to pretty much do whatever the hell I wanted to do in whatever industry I wanted. He was the first investor in Evil Dead. So, I benefited from the transition of ONLY having drive. Meaning, you just go to work, it doesn’t matter what the job is. The next generation is, “Well, the job kinda matters.” My generation is, “The job matters a hundred percent,” because it determines what you’ve decided to do with your life. So, I am grateful for having enough drive but grateful for being injected with enough freedom of thought to then do my own thing. Partly the drive is the Midwest because you put a tie on, put your sport coat on and you go to work. Get your briefcase, shine your shoes and off you go.

Diabolique: Do you think it is important if you want to be in the arts to have a benefactor? Not necessarily monetarily but someone who encourages you like your dad?

BC: Well, my mom did sort of amateur writing so she was sympathetic at least to that side of the arts. She liked that creative side. My dad was way more interested in acting. So, I saw him in plays and stuff. I definitely benefitted because I had a sensibility that was similar to my dad. My two older brothers could give a shit about acting. They never touched it. I think my dad saw, “Hey, the young guy likes acting just like me.” That was probably an advantage.

Diabolique: Another thing about that particular section that is fascinating to note is your resourcefulness. The anecdote that you recount about having to come up with a way to deliver newspapers in a horrendous snowstorm and the lengths that you went to just to do your job is inspiring. I feel like that isn’t something that would be done by the younger generation, these days.

BC: We were pre-slackers and again, this isn’t to sound like a crabby, old guy on a hill shouting down about the great old days, at that time there were no other options. Our boss dropped off these papers at the top of a hill. That was as far as his van could go. He dumped the whole thing on me and my brother. We delivered them together (the resolution involved Bruce donning hockey skates and a toboggan). So, we thought okay. There was no option of saying, “Dude, I can’t do it. They’re just not going to get their papers today.” That would be the current response. You would wait until the roads were plowed, like that night, and then you would get your damn paper the next day and you’d end up getting two papers. It wasn’t an option. There was nothing in my upbringing that said, you can tell your boss, no. Now, if I thought it would have been very dangerous or life threatening, I probably would have said, no but short of that, there was a slightly different mentality in the air. You did what you were fucking told, for the most part which is a little bit different now.

Diabolique: “The Princess Di Factor” was a thought-provoking chapter because you talk about the click-baiting, disinformation and too much information that occurs on social media. Some of your peers have their PR reps handle their feeds but you are very present in yours. Do you think someone who is interested in getting into show business has to obtain “influencer” status?

BC: I think there is certainly pressure to do it. The old actors when they were doing a film could get away with telling the local studio, “By the way, I don’t do social media.” They say, “I’ve never done it. I don’t have a Twitter feed. I’m not starting now.” They can get away with it. But a younger thespian has a website and at least two or three social media platforms. I think its important to get a distinction of what are using them for? Facebook is all mercenary. Whenever I post, its just for a link to get tickets. I just do that to keep the account warm but I won’t add to it. That one is really inflammatory. They are finally starting to take the misinformation down. It should just be illegal. The stats are mind boggling. Something like 65% of the people who refuse to do social distancing and stuff like that get their information from YouTube. Its not news sources. Its like the Wild West. I think it needs to be settled. I would introduce journalistic standards and practices where by if you tell a little white lie, you get yanked and if you get fact checked and the facts say you’re wrong, that gets yanked.

Diabolique: At the beginning of your book, you discuss the toll of COVID-19 isolation and changes to the convention and motion picture industries. After presenting the Ashland Independent Film Festival awards virtually, do you think conventions might go that route in the future? San Diego Comic Con has gone entirely online which is surprising. Galaxy Con is another.

BC: If we don’t straighten this out, yeah. Sports are going to be weird for a while. Large venues are just going to be strange. How are you going to figure out the San Diego Comic Con? How are they going to make people feel comfortable jamming 125,000 people over a four-day period into that convention center which is already elbow to elbow and unhealthy? I don’t know. I’ve talked to promoters about a bunch of different things. I’m doing a Drive-In tour. Also, some theaters have opened up again so I am going to encourage and reward that so I have added five theater dates for later this summer: Austin, Dallas, Houston, Oklahoma City and San Antonio. I’m getting back out on the road. This is not a tour year at all but when I heard that drive-ins were making a comeback, I thought let me be part of that. Some of them are struggling to open and I want to help. I’m tired of being on the sidelines. I want to get back into it. Drive-ins are perfect. You’ve got your distance. I can go up to cars and hassle them and there’s no problem. I can shine my flashlight in the cars, see if people are having sex, there’s a lot of fun stuff we can do. I want to be the first guy they meet when they come into the place to park. I want to be the guy that parks everybody. It’s time. Everyone wants to feel normal again. Eat the meatloaf sandwich. Going to the drive-in is the oldest meatloaf sandwich you could ever eat. Bring the hooch. Hide it under the seat. Bring a cooler, bring your reefer…

Diabolique: In The Cool Side of My Pillow, you mentioned that you were going to attend San Diego Comic Con, New York Comic Con and the 2020 Electronics Expo which were all canceled due to the pandemic. Were you going to promote the Evil Dead game?

BC: That’s what I was going to do. That’s what I was going to those conventions for.

Diabolique: What’s the status on it?

BC: I have been looking at and approving a bunch of new stuff. They are full-fledged, full bore into it. I think they are talking 2021 for an actual release. Its rolling along, looking great. It got delayed because of the nightmare of video games. Platforms change and evolve. You look at somebody else’s games and go, “Shit! We have to change everything now.” We have to stay current. I have to finish doing the voice work.

Diabolique: I know you are aware of all the rumors surrounding potential work in the future. You even mentioned in your book that you had a few offers. Is there a possibility that you might show up in Doctor Strange 2 and Mall Rats 2?

BC: The Kevin Smith thing could happen if it all winds up together but we haven’t had serious conversations about it. For Dr. Strange, everyone is at the mercy of what Marvel is going to do and this backlog of movies they’re going to do now. So, I think it won’t be until 2021. Marvel has to figure this all out. They have to figure out what movies they are going to do next, what movies they are going to delay, what movies they are going to shit can, what movies they are going to advance and speed up…the marketplace is ever fluid.

Diabolique: Do you have a release date in mind for The Cool Side of My Pillow?

BC: I have to say summer. We’re blasting away. We’re finishing graphics and photos and all that. We’re doing some legal crap. I’m starting a publishing company too. Tartan Media is going to release it. It will be my Campbell clan logo. It will be just to put things out. Movies, TV shows, whatever. That’s the new shingle.

Diabolique: Is there anything else on the horizon?

BC: Because the book isn’t going through Simon & Schuster, they’ll kind of have to find it where they find it. I’ll tweet about it. It will hopefully be available later this summer through Audible. I am going to do the audio book myself within the next two weeks because I want the e-book and the audiobook to come out at the same time. That way it gives you a choice. I want this to be a summer read.

Diabolique: Any updates on Bruce vs Frankenstein?

BC:  With Bruce vs Frankenstein, I talked with Mike Richardson, who is my partner on this and we’re going to start with a graphic novel. So, I am going to adapt the screenplay. We’re going to put that out first so people in the industry can get a better sense of it. Mike has been selling a lot of projects to Netflix and he said that’s kind of the way to go with his material and fantasy stuff so he suggested we do that first. We’ll get a great artist, sell it in comic book form, people can totally see it and as a director, its kind of like doing storyboards. It’s a tremendous amount of extra prep that I can do just by going through it because I actually have to think about pages, panels and descriptions. It’s a format that’s not my normal format. Screenplay format, I can fart, I got that down. This is different with the way it looks on the page so it will be a very interesting translation process.

Diabolique: Are you doing any projects outside of Tartan Media?

BC: There’s this movie, 18 ½. It’s directed by Dan Mirvish. He’s with Slamdance. The story is about the missing minutes of the Nixon tapes and what happened to those minutes. Originally, I got hired to play a character in the movie and I couldn’t do it for a number of reasons and then the guy came back and asked if I would play Nixon.

Diabolique: So, the audience will just hear you?

BC: Yes. Apparently, it’s this 18-minute-long fight scene where you will hear Nixon in the background. Ted Raimi comes into play Alexander Haig and Jon Cryer is playing Haldeman. We did all these sessions over Zoom and we each recorded them separately (saying this in Nixon’s voice) having our conversations. They will put it all together and put it in the background.

Diabolique: Anything new to report on Evil Dead?  

BC: The official name is Evil Dead Rise. We’re getting a new draft in. I don’t think anything will happen until 2021. Full bore ahead, we’re very excited about it. A whole, new ballgame. No more cabin in the woods.

[imagines-oneshots-galore]

Talk Later?

A/N: WELCOME BACK. I got another request here, this one is with a Henderson!Reader. Again, I took some liberties with the request. I think it still fits, but it just made more sense in terms of timelines and such. Either way I hope y’all like it!

Pairing: Steve Harrington x Henderson!Reader

Fandom: Stranger Things (specifically Stranger Things 3)

Word Count: 1,813

Summary/ Request:  Can you do a Steve Harrington x Henderson!reader imagine where they meet up at the Starcourt before the battle and worry/asses each other’s injuries (her’s from the Mind Flayer and Steve’s from the Russians) and while they’re meant to be preparing, Steve decides it’s the time to finally confess his feelings?

Warnings: Some violence, sad times, light sexy times. 

Ao3 

Masterlist

(I don’t think that that is what he is saying in the gif, but meh, who cares. 

This was it. 

You, and all your friends, were gonna die. 

Billy was speeding towards you, his camaro’s engine was thrumming with power, and compared to the thunks and groans your car was making, you would be lucky if Jonathon’s car would even start.  

Nancy was firing shot after shot at Billy, but no matter how good of an aim she had, he didn’t seem to be slowing down. Tears clouded your vision, and you could hear the kids screams, but you could only think of your loved ones. 

“I love you Dust Bunny” you said through the walkie as you braced yourself against the back of the car. You were scared to leave your brother behind, but you had no doubt that Steve would love and take care of Dustin in your place. You just prayed that he would live to see the next day, even if you didn’t.

But instead of an impact, your head snapped up as you heard the scream of metal hitting metal and the squealing of tires. 

“Griswold family, do you copy?!” Dustin yelled over the walkie, “Y/N please! Tell me you’re okay!” you could hear the tears in his voice, so you fought through the shock to reply. 

“We’re all good Scoop Troop, a little shaken up, but we’re good” You said as you let out a breath, and looked over to Steve who sat in the driver’s seat of the TodFather. He was your knight in shining armor. Well, more like your knight in a sailor costume. 

However, your relief was short lived as you felt the ground shake, so forcefully you felt it from within the back of the car, and heard the terrifying roar of the Mindflayer as it crawled atop the destroyed Starcourt Mall. 

Thankfully, right then, Jonathon was able to get the car started, and Nancy called for Steve and Robin to jump in. Steve climbed into the back with you, and Robin managed to squeeze in with Lucas and Will. You let out a squeak as Steve grabbed you when Jonathon peeled out of the parking lot, bringing you into his lap and drowning you in a hug. You clung to him like a lifeline, breathing him in. As much as you didn’t want to admit it, you had thought about him too, when you saw Billy cruising towards you. You thanked every god there was that he was okay, well, relatively okay.

“Oh my god Steve! What happened to your face?” You said as you sat back and got a good look at him. You lightly swiped your thumb under his swollen eye, before trailing it to his cheek, a frown crossing your face.  He couldn’t help but close his eyes at your soft touch, leaning into the hand that was now holding his face. He felt like he finally had a second to breath, now that you were safe in his arms. Your hands stroking his face reminded him that he did in fact have to open his eyes, and reply to you. 

“Ah, just some Russians, don’t worry about it. This is like, the third time in the last two years my face has looked like this,” He laughed, shaking his head and wrapping around his arm around your waist a little tighter as Jonathon took a sharp turn. You gasped as his fingers hit a spot on your side, and your hand flew down to cover his. 

“You okay Y/N/N?” Steve asked frantically, moving you off his lap and onto the seat, his own body switching to the floor where he put his hands on your face and arm, looking for any visible injuries. You shuddered as your hand grazed the spot again, and you felt a small amount of liquid slip through your fingers. 

“Oh my god! You’re bleeding!” Steve shrieked, causing Jonathon to swerve and Nancy to send a glare to the back. You had to stop yourself from laughing as he tried to (unsuccessfully) rip off a piece of his shirt, “need to stop the bleeding…” being mumbled under his breath. “Steve, I’m fine, it’s just a graze from some glass,” You said as you took his hands in yours, making him stop trying to rip apart his uniform. Just then, a sound came over the walkie again, one you never thought you’d actually here. 

“Dusty Buns do you copy?”

“I copy Suzie-Poo, it sounds much better now, thanks” You looked back up to Steve and you both came to the realization at the same time. 

“Suzie” 

You couldn’t help but shake your head at the craziness of it all. There you were, sitting in the back of Jonathon’s car, hearing your brother talk to his girlfriend about Planck’s constant, so that Hopper and Joyce could get into the secret Russian base underneath the mall, to shut down a machine that linked your world to an alternate dimension. Oh and not to mention the fact that there was a giant ass monster running after you. 

Speaking of the Mindflayer, he decided to make his presence known once again, by unleashing yet another ear shattering roar into the air.

Before you really thought about it, you threw yourself back into Steve’s lap, hiding your face in his neck, as his arms instinctively wrapped around you. You realized a beat later what you had done,  and immediately tried to move back. 

“S-Sorry…” You said as you pulled away slightly, not getting too far due to the arms that were still wrapped firmly around your waist. 

“S’okay,” Steve whispered, but you could tell his attention was elsewhere. Instead, as you felt your heart start thundering in your chest, you realized that he was staring at your lips. His eyes flicked back up to meet your gaze, and the next thing you knew he had crashed his lips to yours. The kiss was frantic, as if you both couldn’t get enough. Maybe it was because you both knew that it could be the last time you ever got the chance to do it, or maybe it was the thrill of finally acting upon unsaid feelings. Maybe it was a combination of both, but neither of you were complaining. 

Steve’s hands were everywhere, pulling you closer onto his lap and trailing them down your back as you gripped onto his amazing hair. Stars danced behind your eyelids as you finally got to kiss the boy you had been crushing on since middle school. It was horrible timing, but who were you to question fate?

While you and Steve were off in your own bubble of teenage hormones, Robin and Will were sat upfront, both amused and horrified by not only your makeout session, but with Dustin and Suzie singing “The Never Ending Story” over the walkie. 

“What on EARTH is happening right now?! There is a monster chasing us while Steve and Y/N are making out in the back and Dustin is doing karaoke!” Lucas shouted as he looked at the remainder of the group. Robin and WIll shrugged, prepared to let it go in favor of focusing on getting away from the MindFlayer. But then Robin heard Steve groan and she did NOT want to hear what other sounds the two of you could make if she let you continue.  

“Steve! Y/N!” Robin said as she threw a can at Steve’s head. You broke apart immediately, with Steve glaring at Robin as he rubbed the back of his head. 

“We’ll talk later?” You asked through a laugh, even though Robin had ruined a moment, you had to admit that she had good aim. 

“Yeah, yeah sounds good!” Steve said as he cleared his throat, trying to discreetly shift under you without you noticing...

“Oh my god! Steve’s got a boner!” Lucas shouted, laughing maniacally as Steve turned a bright shade of red.

“C’mon man! Not cool!” Steve looked back to you, trying to gauge your reaction, but your gaze was locked onto the back window.

“Hey guys!” You said nervously, getting the attention of the entire car. “It’s turning around”

“What?” Nancy asked from the front. 

“It’s turning around,” 

“Maybe we wore it out?” Lucas suggested.

“I don’t think so, hold on!” 

Jonathon said as whipped the car around, flying back towards Starcourt Mall

~~~~

In the end, the battle had been won, but the victory didn’t come without a price.

Max had left without her step brother, and although he had been a dick to everyone, including you, you knew of what went on behind closed doors. You also knew that he had been possessed, like Will had been, his actions weren’t of his own free will. 

He was a kid that had been taken advantage of, and was a victim like everyone else. In the end he had sacrificed himself to Save El, a girl he had just met, because she showed him two minutes of kindness. 

You believed that Billy Hargrove deserved better than the fate that was handed to him. 

And El, poor El, lost the only parental figure she had. Hopper’s death was felt by all of you, and it was going to take a long time for the party to heal from those wounds. He too, had given his life for the world, and there wasn’t even ash left to remember him by. 

It was a grueling few months that followed. You’d attended both Billy’s and Hopper’s funerals, and helped the Byers, including El, move out of Hawkins. The only thing that got you through those tough times, was your boyfriend Steve. He had held your hand and wrapped his arms around you through the night when you were plagued by nightmares. He meant the world to you, and you thanked the stars every day that he had come into your life. 

“Hey Steve?” You asked as you laid upon his chest, his steady heartbeat thumping under your ear. 

He hummed in reply, his eyes closed and relaxed, fingers softly carding through your hair.

“I just wanted to say that I love you” He opened his eyes then, and you nearly melted when you saw the pure adoration shining in them.

“I love you too Y/N, more than you know,” He said as he leaned down, pulling you closer to his body and kissing you like your life depended on it. The fire still burned as bright as it had that night, if not more so, and before you knew it, Steve had laid himself on top of you, seemingly now shirtless. You felt his mouth start to trail from your lips, to your jaw, to the curve of your…

The door burst open, and to your horror, Dustin strolled in without a care in the world. You tried to throw Steve off as fast as possible, but the damage was done. 

“OH GOD, MY EYES!”

[oh-phineas]

21. 10 Characters You’d Like to See

Lmao I was gonna go in order but honestly WHATEVER people started doing this and I wanted to join and everything is crazy rn and I needed a distraction

STARTING WITH WHO I WANT (but also tbh most of these I would just like to see as well do not interpret this as me staking my claim lol)

1. Corey from Onward. I’ve been thinking about her for a while and even wrote an app but other stuff took precedence because I wanted to get in on Pride U stuff. I just love a character who used to be a big star and now... works in an office. I’d have her be a manager at Interpride maybe in accounting or marketing who occasionally makes appearances on DnD podcasts or gives motivational speeches. Just your average semiretired manticore dragon hunter :) And I love Danielle Brooks for her but maybe I’d make her a little older so I’m not sold

2. ROZ. When the skeleton for Roz posted I was like something about this calls to me and Pet said that she thought it would and like idk this is a similar impulse to wanting Corey I just love the idea of an older lady who’s been through some shit and now she just has an office job. Also I’d give her a wife of like 20 years and they would be cranky but v cute. And I mean come on I can never resist joining another ~society~ I’d love to get in on RAS stuff.

I don’t really have a FC idea at the moment I just love her.

3. Evelyn Deavor. Okay she honestly might be my next for real. I’ve been thinking about her since like May but I’ve had other character ideas take precedence and I feel like playing her would require a lot of plotting/planning and when I first came back I wasn’t sure if I was ready for that. But I feel like I am now. And I just love villains who think they’re doing the right thing and I think especially in light of the election and all the magic drama lately she would fit in so WELL I would love to plan a magical disaster that she created and I feel like she would really stir things up in a fun way. And could partner with other villain characters and really get some stuff moving. We’ll see though because I’m not allowing myself to get another character until Thanksgiving I just don’t think I can handle 5 characters at school.

Bouncing around a few fc ideas tbh

If you couldn’t tell the theme is hot lady w/ pixie cut suggestions are welcome

4. Isabella Garcia-Shapiro. Actually the whole Phineas and Ferb Crew Thank You. Okay now we’re getting into the characters I don’t actually think I would play but who I would just REALLY love to see. Isabella because I love her energy and she was so great in the new movie and she’s so cute but also will Fight You and I love teens who want to take over the world just give me more of that energy pls. I just don’t think I have enough ideas for her as a character but here are a few things I would like to see: take advantage of the canon hyphenation of her last name and make her parents queer! Make Fireside Girls a normal Girl Scout Troop by day and amateur mystery-solving girl squad by night! Make her a witch!

I think Ariela Barer would be really cute for her.

5. NAVEEN. PLEASE. Pls give me Naveen as a waiter at Tiana’s Place who gets on her last nerve. Maybe he turns out to be a really good musician and tries to make “singing waiter night” happen that could be funny. Also I just think his skeleton is hilarious now that we have lost our beloved Fflewddur please bring us another narcissistic prince of a foreign land who plays an instrument.

6. Remy, Our Ratatouille, The Rat Of All My Dreams Give me REMY. I know this is partially because of all the time I spent on RatTok but the fact that we have no Ratatouille characters rn is a crime. And I have ideas to incorporate this with Tiana’s Place stuff and I think it would be really fun. Please please please.

7. Sadness from Inside Out. I actually had like half an app written for her and I think there are some cool things that can be done with that character. I would love to see her as someone who got “gifted” (cursed) with magical empathy (feeling people’s feelings by touching them or being near them or something) and that’s why she’s sad all the time-- she’s overwhelmed by people’s feelings. Idk I just thought it would be a cool idea for a character but I didn’t end up having enough muse. But I’d love to see someone run with that idea.

As for FC suggestion my main one is my beautiful amazing former FC for Merryweather Belissa Escobedo she is so cute and she even has GLASSES in the majority of her gifs. She would be perfect.

8. The Boy and the Mom from Bao or the Man and the Woman from Paperman. THE VOLCANOES FROM LAVA. Disney Shorts in General. I noticed that “Disney Shorts” is a category on the main but there are no characters in it. Let’s change that! Disney shorts have very little character development lol but they can be real tearjerkers sometimes (See: the three I named above). And I think it would just be a cool challenge to figure out how to adapt them as characters.

8. Rapunzel or Rupi/Ruby as I would rename her because seriously what kind of name is Rapunzel. That is the main basis for what sparked my interest in her in addition to thinking that Maitreyi Ramakrishnan from Never Have I Ever would be so great for her. And I think she could have some cool plots with the fairies-- maybe someone could pick up Blue Fairy or Merryweather and she could track them down.

9. DARLA. Bring back my crazy queen please. She was so fun and now that I play a mermaid I would love to give the merfolk some more stuff to be scared of. There are so many possibilities with her!! I just don’t really have the muse but someone else could do an amazing job. 

10. Tow Mater. Come on, guys. Ladies love him. Everyone loves him. The cars fandom wasn’t built around Lightning McQueen, it was built around Tow Fucking Mater. He would be such a cute country boy. He’ll fix your car. Another character I thought about but abandoned. I could see him and Launchpad being buds. Just imagine the possibilities. 

This has been my TED Talk thank you for your time

[midnightmorales]

spider-man, spider-man - p.p.

prompt number: two - "just follow me, i know the area."

fandom: mcu (platonic! seventeen yo!peter parker x adult!reader)

rating: e for everyone

warnings: nothing graphic, but the description of the beginning of an abduction?

word count: 1.2k

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

you walked briskly, the harsh december air whipping at your face as you moved.

you didn't like taking this route home, and it certainly didn't help that it was dark outside.

you kept your house key pressed firmly between the knuckles of your index and middle finger- ready to fend off an ill-intentioned visitors.

you buried your chin into your scarf. what was the temperature anyway?

suddenly, you heard a noise. it sounded almost like a whip. you spun around, stopping in your tracks to survey your surroundings.

it was difficult to see in the dark as it was, but the fact that it was snowing made it so you were virtually blind. just as you had decided that the sound you heard was most likely the wind, and that it would be safe to proceed, a figure stepped into your path and grabbed your hands.

the person tore away your keys (your only defense) and covered your mouth- but not before you could let out a few good screams.

you began to kick and struggle, but it soon became clear that your fight was no use. you tried to start yelling again, but the attackers hand muffled it all. you allowed you body to go limp in the stranger's arms, and prayed that your initial hollering would save you.

as if a direct answer, you heard that whipping sound again. "hey!"

you and your attacker turned your heads to see the one and only, friendly neighborhood spider-man.

he was in that awful squatting position on a roof above you, the eyes of his suit giving off a strange glow.

"come on man, don't you have anything better to do with your weekend?"

if not for the situation, and the fact that your assialant's large hand had been resting over your mouth, you would've let out an audible laugh.

you'd heard of spider-man's quips, but had not yet had the pleasure of being present for one- that is, until now.

you felt the body of the man who had grabbed you tense. he quickly pulled something small from his pocket, and though you couldn't see it, you felt the tip of a blade resting on your neck.

this had escalated quickly.

"stay right there or the girl gets it," the attacker said in a gruff voice.

the eyes on the spider-man suit widened. "hey man, there's no need for that," he remarked as he shot a web from his wrist, pulling away the man's knife.

"no, no, no, ah shit!" the man cried. he jumped after it, letting go of you.

taking advantage of this, you elbowed him in the crotch before bolting down the street.

you took shelter behind a near-by building, and watched as the hero beat up the man who had tried to abduct you.

once the police arrived, you felt it safe to come out from your hiding spot.

"there she is!" spider-man said upon seeing you. he put his arm around you, pulling you up next to him as he spoke with two officers. "you guys take care of him, i'll escort her home,"

one of the officers nodded, and the two of you turned away.

suddenly, you remembered the house key that the attacker had pried from your hands.

"no wait, my key!" you spun around, practically flinging yourself on to the ground. you began to frantically search, but in the dark? it was a lost cause.

"don't worry," spider-man said. there were no streetlights in or near the street you'd been walking, and the red and blue light from the police cars weren'tdoing very much either. you couldn't see him very clearly, but you were able to make out his silhouette bending down.

you felt him pick up your hand, and place your keys in your palm.

"night-vision," he explained, tapping the left eye on his mask with his index finger.

"thank you!" you exclaimed, immediately placing your keys in your pocket.

the two of you walked in silence for a while, before the conversation started up again. "that guy was a real prick," spider-man said, looking back at the handcuffed man sitting with a police officer.

"tell me about it," you laughed, tugging the sleeves of your coat down farther. "thanks, by the way,"

"it's just what i do," he said proudly, straightening his spine and puffing out his chest.

you giggled at this. "what are you, seventeen years old?"

"you'd be surprised," he said.

"no way!" your jaw dropped. "kid, at seventeen i was begging my parents to get me my own car,"

he shrugged, bringing his hand up to rub the back of his neck. "i don't know," he said sheepishly.

"no, dude, for someone your age? what you do is amazing," you nudged him with your elbow. "for anyone, any age for that matter!"

"someone told me once," he said, pausing to collect his words. "that when there are bad things happening, and you have the power to stop them... if you don't, the bad things are happening because of you,"

"sound like a pretty wise person," you said, smiling at the ground.

"yeah," the hero said. you detected a hint of sadness in his voice, but decided not to address it.

"oh shit, i don't even know where we are," you realized, looking up and squinting in the dark.

"it's alright," spider-man said, moving to place a comforting hand on your shoulder. "just follow me, i know the area."

"okay," you told him your address, and allowed him to lead you there from your current location.

soon, you'd arrived at your door. you reached into your pocket to dig out your key.

"alright ma'am, here you are," the young superhero said gesturing to your door. a smile tainted his voice.

you laughed once again. "you know, kid, you're the most mature seventeen year old i've ever met, i think,"

now it was the boy's turn to laugh at what you had said. "i try,"

you used you key to open your door. "goodnight, spidey," you said, giving him one last smile. "see you around kid,"

he gave you a mock-salut. "see you around," he replied, before you closed the door.

[starlightinhumanform]

The Art of Love: Chapter 5

Fandom: She Ra (2018)

Ship: Glimadora 

Summary: Glimmer continues to learn about Adora— and the way she feels about Adora. 

Warnings (for this chapter): Mild Language (please tell me if anything needs to be added)

Genre: High School AU, Angst with a Happy Ending, Rivals/Enemies to Lovers, Eventual Fluff

A/N: This part is pure indulgent fluff (Brought to you by Hozier) but I had so much fun writing it and I hope you guys like it too! Please tell me what you think! All likes and reblogs go straight to my cold, dead soul. Love you all 🖤✨

Ao3    The Art of Love Masterpost    Fic Masterpost    Fic Request Info

3 protons later, when Adora’s face had returned to it’s usual colour and was no longer wet with tears, Glimmer was still no less mystified about what was going on or what her situation with Adora was; were they friends, were they acquaintances- what even are acquaintances??- had she actually hugged Adora? Why would she do that? Well she knew why, but she sure as hell wasn’t going to admit it. One of her brain cells had resumed its habit of calling her a loser. Once again, she felt that it was making a fair point.

Adora seemed oblivious as she continued to work away on the clay Glimmer had assigned her to, her back bent and stray pieces of hair creating a divide once more between her and the rest of the world, between her and Glimmer.

The silence had become awkward again, at least on Glimmer’s side. The oxygen in the room felt stuffy and hard to breathe like the air in a closed car in the summer that heats up and makes the whole car into a moving oven; it felt as if it were being thickened by the tension Glimmer felt. She could readily assume though that she was the only one feeling this awkwardness and, if it were real, she was probably the one creating it.

If only she could think of something to say, something to do, something to break up the space between them, something to place how causal she was supposed to act now, something-

“Hey, what are you painting?” Adora asked. Bright, friendly, opening up the room for conversation, casual but nothing too personal or anything that would just make matters more awkward. Damn how did she get so good at this whole ‘talking’ thing? Is there a class I should take?

Glimmer topped the rambling in her mind for a moment to answer, “I’m trying to make them look like a chunk of Bismuth.”

Glimmer held up one the finished pieces that was nearly dry at this point and hoped Adora wouldn’t make a big deal of it the way she had about all of her other art. Of course, things could never go the way Glimmer wanted them to and Adora’s jaw was dropping before she had the time to finish the thought.

“Glimmer!!”

“...yes?”

“That’s so cool- oh my god- how do you even? Holy shit!!”

Glimmer could feel her face going red; it was like she hated any type criticism but didn’t know how to handle compliments. She knew it was illogical but it didn’t stop her from doing it which is why her brain chose this moment to remind her what a loser she was. Yeah, yeah I know. Now shut up and help me talk to the pretty girl.

Did she just call Adora pretty? On the one hand that could be a very, very bad sign pointing to something that Glimmer was attempting to refuse as even a possibility but on the other hand, it was just the truthful reality. Glimmer had always known that Adora was pretty, far prettier than she ever considered herself- that’s for sure.

Glimmer shook herself out of self contemplation/pity party to see Adora leaning towards her and asking if she could see one closer. Nodding, Glimmer placing the one in her hand into Adora’s cupped and waiting palm. She gave a habitual warning of watching out for wet paint but wasn’t focusing on her own words. Instead, she was thinking about how this was the first time they had touched since the hug. That shouldn’t have mattered as much as it did.

Adora held the little round of clay between two fingers as if it were a fragile, ancient artifact. She looked at it with the same child-like awe that she had directed at the chopsticks earlier. Glimmer was slightly insulted by the fact that her work seemed to hold the same amount of amazing qualities as some mass produced wooden sticks. Mostly though, she was just watching the look of wonder that filled Adora’s face, the girl’s mouth slightly agape and her eyes absolutely locked on the small ball that she wouldn’t stop turning from side to side to see the light reflect off of it. Glimmer scolded herself for it, but couldn’t stop soaking in the admiration in Adora’s expression. Why should she care so much about what Adora’s opinion of her skills? She shouldn’t and that was the final word on that. Yeah but she’s popular and if she respects me, then maybe other people will too. Ha! So she could justify it! 

...And of course she hated how happy that made her.

Adora cleared her throat, apparently realizing how childish she looked; Glimmer tried not to look or feel so disappointed as she actually was, “How did you do that?”

“Hmm?” Glimmer raised her eyebrows hoping to express how little she understood what Adora was talking about.

“I mean the way it shines; it really looks like metal. It’s just,” she huffed like she was giving up on something, “amazing. I know I keep saying that, but it really is true!”

“Oh, uh, it’s just the paint,” Glimmer held up the bottle and waved it in the air, “Metallic paint: really handy when you want to paint something that looks like, um, metal.”

Adora smiled at that, making Glimmer glad that at least her stupidity wasn’t going to waste.

She handed back the ball of clay with slight reverence that made Glimmer squirm for reasons she couldn’t quite place.

Glimmer placed it back down among its completed siblings and Adora scooted back to her place of work. Well I guess this conversation is over.

It was several more minutes before Glimmer got up the courage to say something else. The silence seemed to roar in her ears at times like that, when she felt like she should say something but just didn’t know how. That was part of the reason she asked the question she did, “Hey do you mind if I turn on some music?”

Adora whipped head around to face Glimmer (and maybe to fling her messy bun- which was getting messier by the minute- out of her face), “Yeah, sure!”

Glimmer connected her phone back into her speaker- to where it had been before all of this had started with Adora’s text. Her hands were shaky again as she scrolled through her music to the H’s. What did she expect to get out of this? Adora’s approval, her friendship that she didn’t even know was real or if it would last? A part of her mind whispered You just want to hear her sing again.

And thus Hozier began ringing out in her room again. This time in a man’s voice, followed by music, and layered to create harmonies. It was heart wrenching because of the authenticity; that’s why Glimmer liked it. And somehow, despite the genuine emotion that filled the music, it didn’t seem as real as Adora had managed to be when she was alone in Glimmer’s room, singing merely because she felt the need or want to.

“My lover’s got humor

She’s the giggle at a funeral

Knows everybody’s disapproval-”

Adora flung herself backwards with dramatic happiness, “Oh my god, I LOVE Hozier!”

“Yeah, I know,” Glimmer blurted our without thinking.

She winced at the confused glance she got in response, “I saw, er, heard you singing earlier.”

“Oh.”

The room was silent except for the music still pouring out of Glimmer’s speaker, neither knowing what to do.

“You’re really good,” Glimmer decided to speak from the heart; it was true after all. She recalled the hypnotizing quality of Adora’s voice, the jealousy she had felt. Part of that jealousy had simple roots: her mother was an amazing singer whose voice rang throughout the apartment equally sweet and heartbroken in a way that could bring the most calloused hearts to tears. It was no exaggeration to say that Glimmer, on the other hand, sounded like a pig with a sore throat. Ok maybe that was a little bit of an exaggeration, but the difference in talent of undeniable; Glimmer had always felt that she had probably disappointed her mom. And there was Adora going above and beyond Glimmer’s level in yet another area. It made perfect sense for her to be jealous. But there was that little voice in her head that reminded her of that pull she had felt, that want for the words to be describing her, jealous of whoever they were describing. Chalk it up to Adora’s great signing.

Adora gave a somewhat wary smile, “Thanks.”

Glimmer squinted, “You don’t believe me, do you? I mean it, you’re great.”

Wow, that took a lot to force out; Glimmer was one of the last to compliment someone on something they were better at than her. It wasn’t that she conceited or anything; after all, she was the first to compare herself as lesser to others- internally, that is. She just feared that admitting other’s advantage over her would lead to other’s finding out just how bad she was. Just another thing Glimmer knew to be illogical, but wouldn’t stop. Hmm, maybe I should talk to a counselor.

Adora’s smile was still shy but far more genuine, “Really?”

Glimmer threw a spare bit of clay lying next to her leg out the other girl, “Yes, dork. Now come on, the songs almost over and we haven’t gotten anything done.”

Adora turned back to her work with a grin on her lips. It was cute, not overplayed and blindingly enthusiastic like Adora’s smiles often struck Glimmer. And, huh, Glimmer had made this one.

They worked quietly for a few minutes- for a whole song, in fact. The silence was far more comfortable now that the air between them wasn’t a wasteland of uncertainty, instead filled with not only sound, but common interest.

It was at the break between two songs that Adora decided to speak once more, “Do you sing?”

“Oh,” Hahaha. Glimmer sure did love how god liked to toy with her emotions and make her squirm. If she ever met whatever stupid being controlled her world, she might punch it, “Uh, no, I don’t really sing.”

“Oh, ok,” Adora seemed somewhat disappointed. Way to go, Glimmer, make everything awkward again.

Glimmer spent the next few minutes on her favorite hobby: worrying. She wondered if maybe she should have said something different, should have lied and said that she could. But what if Adora asked her about it sometime and she was forced to break it to her that she couldn’t sing to save her life? That of course brought up the idea that this relationship, this friendship, this whatever it was, was never going to last. Glimmer considered saying something now to fix the tension she had created but then balanced that with the fact she would probably just make things worse. Talking to people is way too much work and it hardly ever results in anything good.

That’s when Adora started singing again.

Quiet and sweet at first, like she was trying to gain the confidence to get louder or was trying to measure Glimmer’s reaction. It was like liquid sugar weaving through the air and although outside Glimmer showed no response- she hardly batted an eye- inside, her heart was fluttering. God, why isn’t this girl on America’s Got Talent or something like that?

Then the chorus started and Adora’s voice grew into a river, flowing through the room with the joy and strength of someone immersed in love. It was powerful and beautiful and made Glimmer feel like she was sitting next to some ancient deity. She had heard jokes on the internet about Hozier being some sort of immortal or Celtic god but she didn’t understand it until Adora was singing his words. Of course, as a matter of principle, Glimmer refused to acknowledge it in any way.

That is until Adora placed her clay down in front of her, her voice halting as she stood and stayed there unmoving for a few seconds. Glimmer glanced upward to see Adora jerking her head in her direction like Come on, get up!

Glimmer set her brush on her palette and shifted to stand slowly and with hesitation, frozen somewhere between incredulity and fear, “What are you doing?”

Adora took her hand, pulling her the rest of the way up, “We’ve been sitting too long, come on- dance with me!”

Glimmer choked, “Sorry, what?”

Adora had started singing again but paused long enough to answer Glimmer, “Dance with me!”

She grabbed Glimmer’s hands and began twisting herself gently back and forth to the beat of the music, Glimmer’s arms being moved along with Adora’s body. Glimmer prayed Adora couldn’t feel how sweaty how her palms were in the grasp.

She managed a giggle, all incredulous feelings replaced by pure uncertain fear, and tried to speak above Adora’s voice, “I can’t dance!”

Adora laughed and began moving her head goofily from side to side along with her body, “Well that’s good ‘cause neither can I!”

Glimmer let Adora lead her away from the art materials into the clear(er) part of the room and didn’t understand why until Adora began shuffling her feet from side to side, taking Glimmer along with her in a swaying, twisting sort of half-dance.

The chorus had started up again and Adora had her head thrown back, letting the words ring out of her mouth. The overhead light was reflecting off the posters on Glimmer’s walls, tinging Adora’s face with violets and hot pinks. She looked, she looked like, well, she looked like an idiot.

Glimmer laughed and it was real, carrying through her room as loud as Adora’s voice.

Adora looked up, grinning widely. She made eye contact with Glimmer, keeping her head up as she switched to dramatically mouthing the words. She still sang them but now looked comically like she was some rock star from the 80’s:

“I fall in love just a little, ol’ little bit

Everyday with someone new.”

Adora wouldn’t break the gaze she held with Glimmer, the blue of her eyes sparkling. It made Glimmer’s stomach flip strangely; she didn’t know what was happening, she didn’t know where they were going as they swayed through her room- content to be lead by Adora’s voice. Or maybe it was Adora’s smile she was following. She didn’t know; she didn’t care.

Her head was light and she couldn’t exactly feel her legs. She wondered vaguely if this what it was like to be high and if this floating-without-legs feeling was the reason they called it ’high.’ She momentarily stumbled across the idea that maybe she was high but abandoned it quickly to memorize the way Adora’s nose crinkled occasionally as she sang. It wasn’t like this was ever going to happen again so she might as well enjoy it, remember how it felt. Of course Bow and her messed around like this but... Bow just didn’t have eyes that sparkled like sunlight on the ocean, didn’t have a voice that rolled over you like molten gold, didn’t stop suddenly and ask you to dance and make you laugh with stupid footwork, didn’t make you feel like you could fly right out of your body.

Adora let go of one of Glimmer’s hands to twirl her around in an imperfect circle which mostly imperfect due to the fact that Glimmer had tripped half way through. She competed the turn unsteadily, giggling as she fell lightly on Adora who caught the hand she had dropped with just enough strength to keep Glimmer from toppling them both to the ground. Glimmer still dipped forward, stopping quite close to Adora’s face; close enough to notice the specks of light grey and darker blues that floated in her eyes. Glimmer was starting to get very interested in those eyes. God damnit.

When the song ended, Adora lead her back to where they had been sitting before by keeping one keeping one of Glimmer’s hands wrapped loosely in her soft fingers; Glimmer was grateful for the guidance as her feet and legs were still miles away from her head.

“See, told you that would be fun,” Adora smiled at Glimmer after they had sat down.

“You didn’t say that; you said ‘Come on get up’ and then you dragged me with you.”

Adora leaned towards her with a sing-songy tone on her voice, “Yeah, but it was fun, wasn’t it?”

Glimmer gave a grudging smile back, “Yeah, sure. Whatever if it’ll make you shut up.”

Adora grinned before turning back to her work. They worked for the rest of the album more or less in silence, only occasionally checking the other’s progress or asking how their work looked. Adora’s answers were always somewhere along the lines of “amazing” or “great” and it made Glimmer feel slightly guilty for her far more critical answers. Then again, Glimmer was not known as someone to soften the truth; maybe that’s she wasn’t popular- let alone, highly so. During that time period Adora refrained from singing anymore, only humming here and there but never actually letting her voice ring out the way it had. In some ways Glimmer was glad; she couldn’t afford that type of distraction.

The final song ended and Glimmer abandoned her paints for a second to scroll through her phone, “Ok what do you want to listen to next? I’ve got Twenty One Pilots, David Bowie, Black Pink, Mozart, basically anything; what sounds good?

“Oh, uh, whatever you want.” Adora hummed without interest.

Glimmer was hurt as she had hoped her wide selection would impress Adora or at least reveal another shared interest. That was until she dared a glance at Adora whose hunched shoulders had shifted from “I’m concentrated and working hard” to “Oh my god, when did my head get so heavy?” and whose hands were moving much slower now, rolling repetitively without doing much.

“Hey are you ok?” It was only around ten; she couldn’t be tired, could she?

“Oh yeah I’m just sleepy,” Her eyes weren’t quite half-closed yet but they had certainly lost almost all of their customary shine. She tried for a smile but it seemed to take quite some effort, “I guess I’m just not a night person. Also I’ve been up since five.”

Glimmer scowled; they still had a lot work to do and she hadn’t even considered sleep as she was the type of teenage goblin who just didn’t sleep. (Well maybe she did but it didn’t qualify as much more than passing for a couple hours with the light on before waking up and continuing life as she had been before she was rudely interrupted by exhaustion).

“It’s ok, though,” she yawned, “I can keep working.”

Glimmer doubted that but the time creeping forward was starting to make her anxious and she was hoping to be finished before passing out. On the other hand, forcing Adora to keep working in this hardly-awake state was unlikely to speed up the process. And it might make her hate you.

She chewed the bottom of her lip, trying to weigh the options Get this stupid project over with/Make Adora hate you. Hmmm, “How many do have left to make?”

It took Adora a few times to count the number, further pushing Glimmer’s decision, “24.”

Her voice was bright but Glimmer could see right through the fact that it was an attempt to seem more awake. Ha. Not only did Glimmer use this tactic herself everyday, she had spent the majority of her interactions with Adora trying to discern when Adora was being genuine and when she was wearing a mask so she knew the girl was faking, “Go ahead and sleep- you’ve made enough extras that I can work on painting them for a while before needing more.”

Adora’s lips twitched into a frown, “Are you sure?”

“I’ll wake up when I need you,” Maybe that’ll appease her inner workaholic. Glimmer thought about what Adora had said about wanting to prove her what: worth? use? validity? to her adoptive parents. It made her wonder how hard Adora pushed herself, “Go to sleep.”

“You promise you'll wake me up?”

“Yes, now sleep; you look you’re about to fall over,” Shit I sound like my mom. She hoped her voice held that same gentle but stern tone that seemed to work on nearly everybody that her mom used as well. If I’m gonna sound like my mom, it better work as well as it does for her.

Apparently she hadn’t gotten it down yet as Adora still looked unconvinced. Glimmer gave her a soft push and Adora gave in, flopping to the floor.

“M’kay, talk to ya in a few hours.”

“Uh, you don’t need to sleep there,” Glimmer hadn’t expected Adora to actually fall over with the push and she certainly hadn’t expected her to curl up and close her eyes right there on the carpet, “My bed’s right there if you wanna use it.”

Adora gave a small shrug, “Here’s ok.”

“Do you at least want a pillow?? A blanket, something-“

“Glimmer,” She waited for Glimmer to look over, “This is fine and I’m about to pass out so just let me sleep.”

“Ok...” Glimmer still felt like she should do something else but, sure enough, Adora was asleep within a few minutes.

The girl slept as perfectly as she lived- or at least looked like she lived- breathing in soft puffs, her hair falling over her cheeks in wisps. Her face was relaxed and free of the tension of life pressing down on her; without it, years seemed to be swept away.

Glimmer snorted to herself- years swept away; as if the two of us aren’t 16. But there was a quality of truth to it; without the tension of an over-strung smile or creases caused by concentration, she looked- well maybe “younger” wasn’t the right word, maybe “fitting” was better, finally looking like a 16 year old. Glimmer had never noticed how old she looked, how all her maturity and perfection came from the lines in her expression. But here Adora was just a girl; just a tired, overworking girl whose breathing matched Glimmer’s heartbeat.

[especially-in-heaven]

‘She was Marian’

Let’s talk about Robin Hood shall we,

We’re all here for a reason. We love this show and are so loyal we’re still here are 10 years of no new content (and we have to listen with eye rolls about the Harry potter fandom, and the Merlin fandom suffering without content). And all of us are all really pathetic sentimental people who just can’t let go

This show literally changed me. I’m now doing a television production course because of this damn show, because my 7 year old self when it first came onto my television was blown away by how good this show was. It was my first introduction to complex interesting characters, female heroines and storylines that still amaze me. I’ve now made a vow to myself that I won’t stop my career in television until I get to be part of a new version of a Robin Hood production, because I’ve always been a fan of the legend but since this show I’ve not seen any re-make that compares to this wonder (I’m probably going to be here a long time).

But as I was thinking about what I love about this show, all I could think about was Marian’s death (The scene that broke us all) and how Marian’s character had a big impact on me growing up and my perception of what a woman should be.

And whilst she dies to further a male’s story (BBC I hate you), her death was the reason some of us are still here. Would this show have stuck with us for so long without it? How many of us would be writing fanfiction to improve it? Her death was imperfectly perfect for the fans and keeping us in love with this show.

And okay so I KNOW Robin Hood isn’t exactly teaming with female characters but I was a child at the time I watched this and had no knowledge of the patriarchal society.  But the 2 (let’s not count season 3. Season 3 sucks) female characters they do have, they are perfectly done. Marian is the reason I keep coming back to this show, she was my role-model growing up and no matter how many complaints you have about how the show represented female character, it was nothing but positive for me growing up with it. Calling Marian just headstrong and ‘fiesty’ (which is the most basic thing I could ever call a female character) doesn’t even begin to go into her storyline as a trapped life of a woman in the medieval ages. Stuck between doing what she wants and protecting her family and self. As Aarya Stark says in game of thrones, “The world doesn't just let girls decide what they're going to be”.

Marian is not only a strong female character;

She is vulnerable: the moment Guy finds out she’s the nightwatchman, she is scared. She doesn’t move. She doesn’t shout and get to business like when Robin found her out. She sits there, still. When she must walk out and have her hair cut (one of my favourite scene) she takes it but the tears are in her eyes at the humiliation… and yet still she doesn’t talk about it with Robin when he asks about her hair. She is vulnerable when Gisborne threatens to burn her home and does everything she can to stop him taking it from her 

She is scared: Did you see the quiver of the lip when she saw how she wasn’t going to survive the blow to the stomach, or how she turned to Robin with fear in her lives when she’d been stabbed the first time and says ‘never lie to a dead man’. Or how she fights to escape execution, the look of fear she has when she looks out of the window and sees the hanging rope getting ready for her. She’s not ready.

She is brave: ‘I was trying to be brave’ she tells Robin honestly when Robin asks her how she’s okay with this marriage. She’s brave when she walks down the aisle, she’s brave when she walks out to her execution, and she’s brave when she looks the man she love in the eye and reaches down to the sword to pull it out, making sure his eyes are on her… because she knows no one else will do it for her and she bravely knows she can’t avoid the inevitable.

She is manipulated: Gisborne knows that Edward won’t survive if the Sheriff’s plan to kill all his traitors works in 1x13. But he tells Marian anyway that if she stays and marries him, Edward will be protected. Gisborne waits until she’s most vulnerable to kiss her, after she lost her father – I don’t care about how many Guy/Marian fans are out there… or how many times you compare it to beauty and the beast… just stop promoting an abusive relationship.

She is manipulative: As does she has to be to survive in the castle. She uses Gisborne’s feelings against him to get what she wants, to do what she needs to be done. She tries to control Gisborne by offering to marry him, if he kills the Sheriff. Once again, showing her braveness. She doesn’t want to marry him, but knows the bigger mission and loyalty to the king (a man who really did not deserve this loyalty). The show never sexualised her visually (I mean the only complaints that people have about her outfits are how ugly some of them are – can we please forget that awful jumpsuit) but Marian knew how to use her femininity to her advantage and turned the male gaze around to suit her own needs. Whilst this isn’t a very good trait a woman should be showing to kids who are watching the show that they should use the femininity to get what they want… it’s a reflection of Marian’s character and her survival instinct. And I never said she had all good traits.

She is conflicted: She wants to do good by the poor, but knows the Sheriff won’t allow it and must protect her father. She wants to be free, but knows if she leaves Gisborne at the alter her loyalty will be questioned and her father’s life could be in danger. She also wants to love who she wants to love but Robin keeps doing illegal things (godamn it Robin!), but knows her neck will be on the line if she shows it. Her death scene wraps this up perfectly, her story arc and no matter how much we hate that scene, the writing is so perfect here. Whilst Marian knows she loved Robin before this moment, hearing her say it out loud like she did brings the biggest smile to her face. She no longer cares about the consequences of her saying those words… because now she doesn’t have anything to hide, her father is dead and no longer needs protecting, they know about the nightwatchman and she just wants to be herself. She came once before to being free, just before she marries Gisborne… ‘you really want to know the truth?’, she speaks. But alas Gisborne forces her to marry her instead (fuck you Gisborne). The relief of being herself out loud in 2x13 is what brings that smile on her face. She’s free and no longer conflicted for a split second before Gisborne stabs her.

I think actually, Marian being uncomfortable being in the forest was she didn’t quite understand how to be living there. She had been so used to being in the castle and playing a ‘false life’, in ‘Get carter’ when she runs into the village to save the peasants I felt like it was a sudden expel of all the pent up frustration at living in the castle and finally being free to do what she wants. When she tells Little John ‘I can’t breath in here’, it’s because Robin is suddenly placing restrictions on her again. However, I think this all changed when she sees Gisborne again in the castle and he ‘forbids her to go’, and Marian realises in that moment she can actually walk away. That’s when her feelings about being an outlaw in the forest suddenly turn as she realises for once, there is no pretending.

She is loud: No matter how many men tell her to shut up during council meetings she will still give her opinion. And as much as I love you Edward… please don’t give your daughter a ‘be quite’ look when she says what she wants to say. She’s probably the only person in the world who’ll tell Robin he’s being an idiot (or preferably a ‘fool’). She angrily speaks out when Gisborne doesn’t save lambert and doesn’t hold back despite the fact that he’s her betrothed. This was the first time Guy saw first hand how she won’t turn a blind eye to his wrong doings and it’s probably another reason he fell in love with her.

She is quite: She runs to stop the Sheriff hitting Gisborne (In treasure of the nation) but holds herself back at last second, remembering there’s not much she can do if the Sheriff wants to hit Gisborne. Another example is when Much comes to stop her wedding, she holds herself back from speaking the truth. She also tells Robin that ‘he must do nothing’ when he wants to stop the execution of Will and Allan in 1x01… in this scene, we are reminded that she’s a character whose lived under the Sheriff’s rule for a number of years and we know she’s a character that learns from her environment and how to act to keep the small amount of influence she has, because she knows that her influence as a rich noble woman helping the poor is too important to lose. Perhaps calling her quite isn’t the right term, because it’s not that she’s quiet, she’s screaming inside that the world is wrong. It’s her intelligence that holds her back… something that the sometimes very rash Robin doesn’t have (sorry, Robin)

She is a woman. Or as Robin puts it to Isabella… ‘she was Marian’

My point here is, Marian’s characterisation whilst has its negatives of being stuck in a love triangle with 2 men (screw the love triangles. Every female character in the show for some reason gets stuck in one of these. The show would have been 100% better if the love triangle had still been Djaq/Will/Allan but if Allan and Will were getting it on too… but I suppose you can’t have everything.)/ her death serving to cause angst and being a stereotypical ‘fiesty woman’… she’s so much more. The show never screams ‘feminism’ (they need more female characters for that) but they don’t ever turn her into a mary-sue… Marian’s character is quietly powerful through how they show her very human emotions which I think a lot of TV shows are missing these days. Watching her as a child taught me a woman should fight to be herself and that women can be complex without having to apologise for it. and I love her so very much. #pleaseprotecther

And when I get around to one day making my own stories, I’ll always remember how it was Marian taught me how to write a good/ complex/ human female character (from learning from the mistakes the show made, as well as the perfect choices)

I honestly don’t know what this rant was and if it makes any sense. I just really love Marian and wanted to get her characterisation of my chest… That’s it.