#harry also thinking of bobby as his dad THAT'S RIGHT!!!

[b0bbynash]

[fallenandinlovewithhumanity]

Watched 9-1-1 for the first time (and caught up) Here are some unsolicited and unfiltered opinions about our fave gay firefighter show.

Bobby Nash: Must be protected at all costs. Traumatized dad doing his gosh darn best. So happy he is loved by the 118 and that he seems to be accepting that more now.

Athena Grant: There's a post out here somewhere about how people named after gods/goddess embody that deity. And Athena? Yeah she does exactly that. That woman deserves so much respect for the badass she is.

Howie "Chimney" Han: Silly goofy man who needs a hug and appreciation. His storyline with Kevin and every parallel to Albert made my heart hurt.

Evan "Buck" Buckley: Sweet baby boy, the firefighter Dean Winchester of another universe. I LOVE THIS MAN. Seeing him smile on screen is so infectiously amazing and I want to send a strongly worded letter to all the writers who are clearly trying to make sure I stay in the "fix-it" tag of Ao3. He is by far my comfort character in the show and someone needs to tell that man that he is loved.

Eddie Diaz: If I had to describe my type in two words it would be "Eddie Diaz." Holy fucking shit. (<- written by Buck.) But seriously, I've seen some stuff about how he's not the "best" latino representation because he does not have any specific cultural storylines ( I would love to see celebrations or other cultural things too, maybe for 8B and onward) but I for one feel represented plenty by his complicated relationship with expectations coming from his parents, partners (former or otherwise,) and himself.

Hen Wilson: GIVE THIS WOMAN A BREAK. I love her and it seems like she is always hurting when it comes to her family. Please give my queen a goddamn break. Some domestic bliss would do her kindly.

Maddie Buckley Han: When I say that I would die for her to be safe and happy, I mean it. The Buckley siblings have dealt with so much but Maddie, her storylines not only hit something compelling and dramatic but they are also too fucking real.

Christopher Diaz: I love him. Amazing. A fucking king. No Notes. Please come back to your dad(s).

Carla Price: LOVE THIS LOVELY HUMAN.

The Grant-Nash Fam: Harry and May are interesting characters and I really do love seeing them on screen, I understand why we see less of them though. Michael and David were lovely as well.

The Wilsons: Imma repeat what I said earlier, give them an episode where the biggest thing to happen is juice boxes getting left behind. They need a break. And give Karen more damn screen time that isn't just crying and fighting with Hen.

Josh Russo: the pre-Glee/ post Glee explanation was gold.

Captain Vincent Gerrard: Grumpy old man that needed a cozy job. Loved his "taking you under my wing" moment with Buck.

The Bigger Love Interests (Eddie):

Ana: I really liked her character, but saw how much anxiety was embedded into that relationship. She was never sure of her place and he was never sure he was ready.

Marisol: This felt weirdly rushed and like it happened mostly off screen. The nun thing was... catholic guilt intro I guess??

Shannon: Oof. The drama, the need for closure. I enjoyed having her on screen and I cried when she passed.

The Bigger Love Interests (Buck):

Abby: He was much more invested in the relationship and I think part of it was the circumstances but the way she left him was so damaging to his psyche. Not a fan.

Ali and Natalia: They did not leave a lasting impression on me. Though Natalia being interested in Buck because he died did raise some red flags.

Taylor: Listen... I love her fierce independence so much. But she did Buck so dirty. Trust issues and abandonment issues for Buck coming right back up.

Tommy: Narratively speaking, I tried to understand why he happened but I don't. His confusion at the beginning of the relationship just made me think that he just went along with what Buck thought he wanted. As a character, that man felt a bit one dimensional, and when he showed an ounce of personality it was always an interaction with Buck that made him feel lesser than. I feel blessed that man is off my screen.

The Writing/ The Plot:

At this point I am watching for the two idiots sharing a brain cell. But.. the disasters and plots are out of left field and really interesting. It takes a lot for a procedural type show to not fall into formulaic/ average 911 calls and I feel like at least one writer has a subreddit or something pinned to get ideas. I am far too invested in the 118 to leave now.

What do I ship at this point?

Buck and Eddie.

Athena and Bobby.

Maddie and Chim.

Hen and Karen.

Would I recommend this show?

Abso-fucking-lutely... if you enjoy some pain, I swear all these characters go through so much and the tissue boxes are not enough.

Thanks 9-1-1 for bringing me back to Tumblr.

And if anyone has headcanons, I would love to hear them!

[elvensorceress]

sunday sentences

tagged by @tizniz @wikiangela @messyhairdiaz @eddiebabygirldiaz @confetti-cupcake @bekkachaos @fiona-fififi @spotsandsocks @daffi-990 @diazsdimples tagging @hippolotamus @lover-of-mine @rainbow-nerdss @wildlife4life @frenziedblaze @saybiwithme @monsterrae1 @wh0re-behavi0r @epicbuddieficrecs @watchyourbuck @chaosandwolves @exhuastedpigeon @ronordmann @hoodie-buck @littlerosetrove Unless, Unless, when will we be finisheddddd. BuckleyDiaz family feelings, 3..2..1..

When they pull up to the school, Chris grabs his bag and his crutches like always and pushes open the door to the jeep like always, but for some reason, today, he also turns to Eddie and says, “Love you, Dad,” then looks at Buck and repeats, “Love you, Dad,” then says, “Bye,” and gets himself out of the car and up the walkway into the school. 

As if the whole world hasn’t stopped spinning. 

As if the whole of the universe wasn’t completely rewritten by three tiny words. 

Eddie says something like, “Love you, too,” before Chris was too far out of the car. 

But Buck is back somewhere where the world stopped and his heart stopped and suddenly restarted but nothing is actually moving. He blinks a few times. And maybe breathes? Breathing is important. He should breathe. But nothing else is functioning. 

How— how? Did that just happen? It couldn’t have happened. Buck is hearing things. He’s making it up in his head. It couldn’t have been what he thought it was. That’s just not— they’re —not? Except. They kind of are? Maybe? 

Is there seriously a child— not just any child, his Christopher. Eddie’s Christopher. Who is also Buck’s Christopher? — there’s a child who calls Buck his dad? Buck is dad to someone? 

Okay, yeah, they talk about it. Eddie talks about it. He talks about adoption papers and Chris has told Buck more than once how he loves him and has missed him and how Buck is special and means so much to him. 

But—?  But he’s never—

“Did,” Buck tries but words are hard. Why are they so ridiculously hard. “Did he just? Did he call me w-what I think he called me? Or— or am I—? I’m losing my mind, aren’t I. I’m still sleeping. Right? This is a dream.”

Eddie reaches for Buck’s arm, captures skin and muscle between two fingers, and squeezes. Lightly, but still noticeably a pinch. 

“Ow?” Buck glares at him. Not that it hurts. He just feels like being indignant. 

Eddie rolls his eyes and just smiles at him. “Not a dream. And you already know he’s your son. Our son. Where have you been the last seven years?”

Buck tries not to smile back but can’t help it. “He’s just— he’s never. Called me that. He doesn’t call me that. I’m not— I mean, I am? In a way? But— you’re his dad.”

Eddie’s face goes soft and fond, and he rests his hand on Buck’s thigh. “You’re his dad, too. You have been for a long time. No, not in the same way as me. But biology is not family. Love is family.” 

“Yeah. Yes. I—” Buck knows that. Of course he knows that. His family is Maddie and Chim and Jee-Yun and Hen and Bobby and Karen and Athena and Ravi, and by extension May and Denny and Harry and Michael and David. And of course Eddie and Chris. Always Eddie and Chris. It’s not that Buck doesn’t know. It’s not that this is a revelation. Just—

Buck’s eyes are wet and his heart is bursting, and he rubs a hand over his jaw. “He called me Dad.”

Eddie reaches until he’s cupping Buck’s face and jaw with one hand. “You’re our family. We love you.” 

“See, I know that. I do know that. But— Eddie. Eddie, he called me— he called me Dad.”

Eddie sort of laughs but it’s in a soft, sweet way, and then he pulls Buck toward him until he can kiss his forehead. “Of course he did.” 

[wwe-supernaturalxbands]

Star Crossed Lovers

Summary: Buck has been into Eddie for years, he assumed his feelings were reciprocated, just the timing was always wrong. However, Eddie begins to date Ana and Buck begins to distance himself and begins to move on after meeting reader when Ana was expected to be introduced to the firefam

Word Count: 2128

Eddie had started to date Ana Flores and for some reason he was hesitant to introduce her to his family and the 118, he knows it probably has something to do with the way his heart flutters around Buck but he needs to think about Christopher and how his mom had reminded him that Chris needs a mother. He knew Ana was getting impatient and wanted to meet those close to him. He also started to notice that Chris seemed to get sad. Chris also stayed hidden in his room on Fridays and it was because Eddie would cancel Movie Night with Buck so that Ana and Chris can bond but Christopher seems to not want to bond with her. Ana told Eddie it might help if Chris sees that she is here to stay by having her meet the 118. 

The day before the monthly BBQ at the Grant-Nash house Eddie looks at everyone sitting at the table eating, "Hey I'll be bringing Ana tomorrow is that ok?" Everyone looks shocked, they assumed the reason Eddie hadn't brought her over was because they weren't serious and Eddie would soon realize he is in love with Buck. Bobby is the first to recover and quickly looks at Buck who just continues to eat but looks down at his food, "yeah Eddie, she's welcome to come" and Hen and Chimney glare at Bobby while Eddie pulls out his phone to text her. Suddenly Buck gets up and leaves the loft, before anyone can follow him the bell rings. Since Christopher hangs out with Buck during the Ana/Eddie dates, Buck and Chris talk. Chris admits that Ana treats him like a baby and he doesn't like her but his dad won't listen and keeps trying to force them to have movie nights together. Buck also tells Chris that with Eddie and Ana becoming so serious, Buck won't be around as much as he used to but he'll always be a phone call away. Christopher understands, he knows Ana doesn't like his Buck, he heard her complain over the phone with her friend about how Buck is always there and the more her and Eddie date the more she is going to convince him to stop bringing Buck home. 

The day of the BBQ Christopher is done getting ready and walks to the living room where his dad is waiting for him, "we need to go pick up Ana and then we will head over" Eddie explains and Chris just sighs and walks out the door. Eddie is able to tell Chris doesn't like Ana but he really hopes tonight will change that, maybe if he sees Buck accepting her he will too. Eddie feels a pit in his stomach though at the thought of Buck and Ana meeting each other. He kind of hopes they won't get along but he also knows he needs them to if he wants Ana to stop mentioning that he should stop hanging out with Buck. After picking her up they arrive at the Grant-Nash house and walk in. Right away Christopher goes over to Harry and Denny where they begin to whisper and all three boys glare at Ana, the adults not knowing that Buck had texted Chris and informed him that he won't be able to make it tonight. Chris knows it's because of Ana. Eddie notices the adults are all sitting and have their plates ready, "you're late" Athena chastises him. Eddie looks down, not wanting to explain it's because Ana took forever to get ready because she had to make a dramatic appearance. Eddie gets himself and Ana plates and sits down, he notices Buck isn't there and gets upset so he sits next to Karen. "Everyone meet Ana my girlfriend, Ana meet Karen, Hen, Chimney, Maddie, Athena, and Bobby" Eddie introduces. They all are pleasant with her but Eddie is able to tell they don't like her, especially Athena and Maddie who can't seem to stop glaring at Eddie for some reason. He is itching to text Buck and ask why he's late but he knows Ana will get irritated. After a bit of conversing he takes the plunge and asks, "where's Buck", everyone looks shocked, assuming Eddie would be the one to know. Chris who was sitting and eating with the other two boys hears his dad and says "he's not coming" before turning back to his friends. Everyone but Eddie (even Ana who can tell Buck's in love with Eddie) know the reason Buck isn't there is because he couldn't handle the heartache of seeing Eddie in a serious relationship. Karen decides to change the topic of conversation.

Meanwhile Buck is at the grocery store, buying ingredients so he can make Eddie's abuela's chicken soup, his new comfort meal. As he's going through the isle he accidently bumps carts with another person. "Oh I am so sorry" the person apologizes, turning to look at Buck. Buck immediately finds this person comforting and beautiful, "oh no my apologies!" They look at Buck and can tell something is wrong, "I know we don't know each other but how about we go get some Mexican food, you look like you need a friend", Buck looks shocked but ultimately agrees. 

After the BBQ and grocery store day, Buck had told everyone (but Eddie) about Y/N, the quirky woman he met and how they were getting closer. Everyone was happy that he was beginning to move on. Chris could also tell there was something different about Buck but he didn't ask because nothing about them changed. He still made sure to make his dad drop him off at Buck's every weekend that Buck didn't work. Eddie was struggling, Ana wanted to make things more permanent by wanting to move in but he kept dodging it. He could also tell that Buck was talking to him but there was a distance between them now. They no longer basically sat in each other's laps, they no longer had lingering touches, they no longer hung out together after work. It was driving Eddie insane because he needed Buck in his life and although he knew he'd never have Buck in the way he wanted because Chris needs a mom, he still hoped they would still be close but it was beginning to seem like that was not the case. 

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

"We haven't had a day at the zoo, just you, me and Chris, so I expect us to go tomorrow, see you at 8am" Eddie tells Buck in the locker room on a Friday, it's been weeks since he's been with Buck in a nonwork related way. Ana had told him that he needed to prioritize her and he agreed because he knew he loved Buck but had to give Christopher a mother. Buck sighed, "You sure you want to come?" He asked surprised, he was planning on taking Christopher to a brunch place Y/N had introduced him to, so that Chris and Y/N could finally meet. He'd talked to both previously and they were both excited to meet each other. Chris was nervous about meeting Y/N because he was afraid she'd take his Bucky from him but Buck told him Y/N knew and accepted that Chris came first. Eddie nodded and walked away. 

*Next morning*

As Eddie was getting everything ready for when Buck came to pick them up, Ana walked in, she was still trying to convince him to move in together but he was still saying no, he knew the moment he said yes, he would absolutely lose Buck forever. "What are you doing here?" Eddie asked surprised, before she could answer Chris walked out, excited for his day with both Dad and Buck, he missed these. As soon as he saw Ana his smile was wiped of his face, "I thought Ms. Flores wasn't coming" Chris asked, and Eddie knew in this moment that maybe Ana wasn't the best option for Chris. Maybe everyone had been right in telling him to follow his heart. He thought with time Chris would come to love Ana but the fact that he refused to stop calling her Ms. Flores and refused to spend time with her was a major red flag. After the BBQ Bobby had admitted that when he was talking about moving on, on the q word day, he was actually talking about Buck. Now though, he noticed that no one talked about Buck in his presence, when he was at work, it was all professional, he was losing his family thanks to his attempt to make his parents proud. He decided that after the zoo he would convince Buck to have Chris sleep over so that he could break up with Ana tonight. After, he would come clean with Buck about why he started to date her and admit that he actually loves Buck. "Where are we going" Ana asked happily, while also going to help Chris with his shoes even though he didn't need the help. "Buck and I are taking Chris to the zoo" Eddie tells her firmly, she looks at him with her lips pursed, clearly upset. "I thought we were going to take Christopher to the zoo next weekend" she asked. "NO THE ZOO IS FOR ME AND BUCKY" Chris yells and walks back to his room. "Maybe he shouldn't spend so much time with Evan" Ana told Eddie for the millionth time, she also refused to call him Buck, because "it's childish". Eddie sighed. Suddenly, Chris walked out of his room with his phone and handed it to his dad, "it's Buck, he wants to talk to you" and then walked back to his room. Eddie grabbed the phone, "hello" he asked confused, wondering when Buck would arrive to pick them up. "Chris mentioned Ana is coming? I figured we could just meet at the zoo instead then. I'm about to head over there instead since I was almost at your place, see you soon" is all he says before hanging up. Eddie gets upset, he was looking forward to finally being in Buck's jeep again like old times. Great, he muttered. "You're not coming, today is all about Chris and Buck. You and I will have dinner at around 8pm" is all Eddie says to Ana, she smiles thinking it's going to be a good night, in their many months dating, they've only slept together about 3 times, but she was patient, she didn't know it was because he felt like he was cheating on Buck. Eddie goes to Chris' room and explains it's just the 3 of them and that they would meet Buck at the zoo, which didn't lift Chris' spirit much. 

When Eddie and Chris finally arrived at the zoo, at the entrance they noticed Buck was talking with someone, Eddie immediately got jealous. Buck spots them and frowns, wondering where Ana was. "Chris buddy! I have a very important friend here who's been wanting to meet you forever" Buck tells Chris. Y/N hugs Chris right away, "Christopher it is so nice to finally meet you! Listen, Buck told me about your fears but just know that if he EVER tries to put me before you, I will leave him right away! You come first! Also we're not official yet because I need to make sure I have your approval, so after the zoo just let me know if you approve or not and be completely honest, ok buddy" she tells him truthfully, which Chris likes, so he can tell he'll get along with her right away. "Oh Eddie, you haven't met Y/N yet, Y/N this is Eddie" Buck introduces his 2 partners. Y/N knows all about Eddie and Buck's unrequited love. She also knows he's finally healing and moving on from Eddie. Eddie gets jealous, has Buck found someone? When did this happen. "When did you meet" he can't help but ask. Buck gets flustered, he knows the moment he tells Eddie, Eddie might figure it out. "The day I didn't show up at the Grant-Nash get together, when you wanted to introduce Ana to all of us" he says. 

That's when Eddie's world collapses. He realized the reason Buck didn't show up was because of the heartbreak of seeing Eddie with someone else, that same heartbreak Eddie is having by seeing Buck with someone. Eddie pushed Buck into the arms of someone else that unfateful day. Here Eddie was hoping to have a fun day at the zoo with his boys with the promise of tomorrow professing his love for Buck and asking him on a date, only to find out Buck has slowly began to move on from him after Eddie made his relationship with Ana serious by introducing her to the team. 

[cal-daisies-and-briars]

🧟🧟🧟🧟🧟🧟🧟🧟🧟🧟🧟🧟🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸

Hey!

36 for 🧟:

—-

Hen and Bobby exchange a look.

“I have to ask,” Bobby says.

“She hasn’t been bitten. She isn’t infected.” Athena insists. “Not like that.”

“Like what, then?” Hen asks.

Athena’s mouth tightens. “She was scratched, but-”

“Athena,” Hen gasps.

Bobby looks crestfallen.

Buck feels sick to his stomach.

“She��s not infected, Hen!” Athena insists. “It’s been over forty-eight hours. She has different symptoms. She’s not turning to anything! She’s in the car with Harry right now. I wouldn’t leave them together if I thought she would hurt him!”

Hen looks at Denny. “Baby, go back inside with your mom. Stay in there and don’t come back out.”

Denny looks disappointed. “But-”

“Go. Now.”

Denny sighs, but turns and runs back towards the library. Buck is relieved to see him go. He shouldn’t be around this. This might go a bad way.

“Please, take a look at her, Hen. My baby girl. Please try to help her.” Athena begs. “I’ve done everything I know how.”

—-

120 for 🩸:

—-

Christopher pulls away from him.

“Can I see your fangs?” He asks.

“I don’t have fangs,” Eddie protests, slightly affronted.

“Let me see!” Chris complains. “You said anything I needed.”

“And you need to see my teeth?”

“Yes!”

Eddie sighs.

“Alright.”

He opens his mouth wide enough for Christopher’s inspection. The most interesting thing he fears Chris will find is coffee breath.

Chris, determined to find something, pushes up Eddie’s top lip with one finger and inspects his top teeth. His eyes scan the slightly more pronounced canine teeth.

“They’re just kind of big,” Chris decides.

“I’m not Dracula, Chris.”

“Do they get pointier?”

“Only when… Well, when I’m not really in control of myself.”

“Oh,” Chris says.

He lifts a finger to poke at Eddie’s left canine. Eddie flinches away.

“Sorry,” Chris mumbles, blushing. He retracts both hands from Eddie like he’s been bitten.

“Don’t be sorry,” Eddie shakes his head. “I just… It scares me.”

“Having your teeth touched?” Chris asks.

“No. The thought of hurting you.”

“Oh.”

Chris pauses for a moment.

“I know you’d never hurt me on purpose, Dad.”

Eddie knows he’s talking about more than just the points of his teeth. He could weep.

He loops an arm around Chris and draws him close again.

“I love you more than anything in the world.” He tells Christopher.

“I love you, too, Dad.”

���💧💧

When Eddie and Chris emerge from Christopher’s bedroom, things do seem to be lighter between them. Buck feels the palpable relief in the air.

He makes everyone a late lunch/early dinner type meal that they all sit and eat together. Chris batters Eddie with vampire-related nutrition questions. To his credit, Eddie answers them all and doesn’t seem uncomfortable. It seems that he meant what he said to Chris. He is as forthcoming as possible.

“Can we all play a board game?” Chris asks halfway through dinner.

Buck knows Chris has gotten super into board games while he was in Texas. It’s a hobby of Adriana’s, apparently. She’s a bit of a collector. Even before Sophia left, Adriana was buying Chris her favorite games and teaching him. Something to fill the lonely spaces of time Chris was subjected to.

Eddie, who doesn’t have this information, but who knows his little sister, looks almost startled when Chris asks. Buck gets it. Before, he’d have asked for video games. Time and proximity leave their marks. And maybe just being around Sophia has also made him miss Adriana.

“I’m down,” Buck says quickly. “But you’ll have to teach me. I’m better with cards.”

“Me too.” Eddie says. “We still have Boggle, I think? And Monopoly?”

Sophia nods and smiles tightly. “I’d love that Chris.”

Buck can feel the way she misses her sister radiating from her.

“Definitely not Monopoly,” Chris wrinkles his nose. “Tia Adriana got me Ticket to Ride. That’s pretty fun. Can we play that? You build train routes.

Thrilling?

“Absolutely,” Eddie says.

Chris gets up and disappears towards his room to grab the game. Buck clears the table and puts dishes in the sink. They can worry about properly cleaning later. There are more important matters to attend to right now.

“He seems good,” Sophia says, squeezing Eddie’s arm. “Better than I expected, based on when I left.”

Eddie nods. “We’re going to get through it.”

Buck smiles warmly at him.

“You are,” he agrees.

Eddie’s brows furrow. “We are.”

Oh. Oh, good.

“We are,” Buck repeats in affirmation.

“Christ, just marry him already, Eddie.” Sophia rolls her eyes.

Buck goes beet red. “Hey, now. Soph-”

“I think applying for a marriage certificate might complicate things for all of us, legally,” Eddie replies, unphased. “I was told to lie low.”

“Well, quit being disgusting or your child will pick up on it,” Sophia cautions.

Eddie and Buck look at each other, uncertain. How do they explain that to him? Will he be unhappy? After all this time listening to Buck talk about his commitment to finding Eddie, has he suspected how Buck feels about his father?

“Pick up on what?” Chris asks, stepping into the kitchen with the big board game box in his hands.

Fuck.

Fuck.

Buck is frozen.

But Eddie is still as forthcoming as he promised to be.

“Your aunt is making a joke about how all the time apart from each other, uh, made Buck and I finally confront how we actually feel about one another. Does that make sense?”

Chris blinks, processing. “You’re in love with each other?”

Oh boy. They haven’t actually talked about this yet. The answer is fairly obvious but Buck might have preferred to say it without an audience.

Eddie looks at Buck and smiles softly.

“Well, I love Buck,” Eddie says.

Buck watches to see how Christopher takes this, but he doesn’t react. He and Eddie both look expectantly at Buck. Sophia snorts, amused.

[heartbreakslow]

da$h watch 1x01

Woodsy: Hartley High prides itself on being a safe environment Darren: lolsob

(Per usual, this is just the bits that I find relevant to how I see the character arcs--I'm not going to describe every single moment that has Darren or Cash in it).

In the opening explanation of the map, we're shown Darren and Ant's implied hookup with Darren signaling for Ant to follow them out of the gym. At school, we see Darren and Quinni fixing their makeup together; then Amerie plows through the two of them and Darren immediately starts complaining to Quinni about what a "pick me bitch" Amerie is. Quinni responds, "Maybe she just didn't see us," and their dynamic for the rest of the episode is established--Quinni is the angel on Darren's shoulder.

The map is revealed and the kids cluster around it, with Darren staring at their section in shock and fidgeting with their necklace, before whipping their head around when Spider starts asking Ant about his hookup with Darren and if Ant is "into dudes now." Ant is uncomfortable and says nothing; Darren snaps back, "who said I'm a dude?"

(Cash, who hasn't been introduced yet, is reading the list of sex acts to himself with his lips moving!)

During Woodsy's assembly, Darren sits there glowering except for a fake laugh when Woodsy says the school is a "safe environment."

Re Spider and the flaps thing, Darren says, "who knows what that incel was thinking? Straight men are a mystery to me."

At SLTs class, Darren hears Spider, Ant, and Dusty talking about the cemetery party and asks them about it, but Spider won't tell them.

Later Quinni and Darren have a little argument where Quinni encourages them to be kind to Amerie, Darren resists ("I love you but that girl has literally never acknowledged our existence"), and Quinni responds, "so? Haven't you ever felt like a complete reject?" leaving Darren to chew this over.

After school, Darren goes over to Bruno's to hook up with Jacob. Jacob gets up right after sex and goes for a shower, at which point Darren impulsively steals his waving cat figure and then is inspired to steal and dress up in Jacob's clothes and get a job at Harry's by pretending to be a posh boy who wants to make his own money.

They sneak back into their house through the window and change back into their normal clothes before interacting with their mom and their stepdad Bobby. Bobby asks if Darren is going to be around that night, which Darren correctly interprets as Bobby not wanting his friends to see Darren. Bobby misgenders them, Darren blows an airhorn at him, and Bobby starts saying the quiet part out loud: Darren's pronouns are too confusing, don't make sense, and aren't important because "there are starving children in Ethiopia." (Note that Darren and their mom are Black and Bobby is white.)

Darren looks to their mom but doesn't get any support. She does use their pronouns and couches it as "you wouldn't want to watch football anyway," but won't call out Bobby and encourages Darren to go stay at their dad's house instead.

They go back to Jacob's, trying to seduce their way into staying over, but he refuses because they stole from him. They flounce out, yelling about his smelly room. Then they try to call Quinni, but she's too busy reading about flaps, so Darren sleeps on the beach on a pile of rocks.

The next day, they wash up in the shower at work while Cash is outside with the eshays. Cash and Chook are beaming at each other like the best of friends and Chook chucks Cash under the chin.

After 34 minutes, Darren and Cash have their first interaction, which starts with Darren yelling at Cash for stealing food. Cash explains he's a delivery driver picking up an order, and also makes a joke, which takes Darren aback. Cash has a very stony/bored look on his face, but asks Darren if they're going to the cemetery. Chook is watching the conversation.

Darren sees Amerie's bangs and is enjoying laughing at them, but says to themself "this is just too pathetic" and ends up approaching her and offering to fix them. Cut to Darren, Amerie, and Quinni hanging out and Darren's scream therapy confession is "I'm a reject!" Darren admits they like Amerie now that she's been "knocked off her high horse" and asks her about the cemetery; she explains the kids have parties there, and the three of them decide to go.

Despite hyping Amerie up, Darren is nervous coming into the cemetery party ("I've never made an entrance like this before!") and has to be encouraged by Quinni. But then they all start dancing and having fun.

Darren is poking around in the alcohol cooler and starts drinking liquor out of a bottle. They look up and see Cash who is dealing at the party. They go over and start asking him why he doesn't drop out of school, because he's 18 and making good money. Cash looks blankly at them and keeps looking away from them and saying, "yeah, and..." He finally says, "I got my reasons," shrugs, and walks away.

Darren sneaks into their dad's house, swinging themself in through the kitchen window, which is very cool until they crash into some cutlery and wake up their dad and scare him. Then they just walk by him like nothing happened!

Thoughts: an iconic first episode, and probably the one where we get the most information about Darren. We see a lot of layers to their character beyond the "social reject" or "sassy queer person" tropes that they fit at first glance.

The map: for most of the season, Darren is quite loud and performative about their sexuality. Like, there are multiple references to them oversharing about their sex life/interests in SLT class. They also never complain about being on the map. But their reaction is interesting--they're not happy about it. They look surprised and self-conscious when they see their name and hookups on there, but quickly have to transition into being sassy when Spider starts asking Ant about his hookup with Darren.

The Ant/Darren thing gives some more shading to Darren's attitude toward sex: there's a total lack of solidarity between Ant and Darren when the hookup is revealed, they don't even look at or speak to each other, and Ant never admits to being attracted to Darren (in the next episode, he argues that he's not queer because a handjob is "all the same if you close your eyes"). This is just an embarrassing secret for Ant. You'd expect that to be painful for Darren, but they're just a little bit miffed and then they move on.

Amerie: Darren is naturally reactive/self-defensive. They don't naturally have much empathy or openness toward people who aren't "safe" (meaning themself and Quinni)

One of my favorite things about this show is how it will show the same thing happening over and over until it "takes." Quinni keeps encouraging Darren to be kind to Amerie, and they keep resisting, but they can't forget the idea. Darren goes through a night that makes them feel especially alone and rejected. And then something shifts: they do reach out to Amerie.

The cemetery: so, despite Darren performing that they're a *~reject~* who hates normies, they also kind of want to be part of the crowd and participate in what the other kids are doing. They keep trying to find out about the cemetery party the others are going to. And then, despite talking a big game, they're nervous once they get there. They're somebody who swings between insecurity/self-consciousness and bravado.

Stealing and breaking in: Darren is not inclined to reach out for help. They'll meet their needs by being sneaky/sexy/clever.

We see it a couple ways: they impulsively steal items a few times. They could have tried asking to borrow Jacob's uniform, but they stole it. They make a point of keeping the cat and lying about it. They could have called Quinni right away when their mom asked them to leave, but their first impulse was to use their sexuality to get a place to stay, rather than telling their best friend that they need help.

They also never told Jacob they were kicked out of the house--I mean, he's not a developed enough character for me to defend him, we don't really know him, but it's not like Darren gave him much opportunity to be a friend to them.

Why did they break into their dad's house? Were they planning to hide there or do they just like breaking in? A big part of me thinks Darren just likes breaking in!

Darren's mom and Bobby: first of all, this is one of my favorite scenes in the show. I love that it shows someone being a dick about pronouns in a realistic way, and it doesn't hit you over the head with it. It's not a 101-level scene about pronouns. Darren doesn't have to explain being nonbinary or counter every stupid thing Bobby says. The focus is more on what this says about Darren's relationship with their family.

Bobby and Darren's mom are jerks, but the dynamic is such that Darren gets framed as being overdramatic/picking a fight just because they call out what's going on. When they guess that Bobby doesn't want his friends to see them, Bobby says they "assume the worst," but that is literally what Bobby was going to say!

Bobby and Darren's mom are literally kicking a kid out of their house for their identity (without being sure they have a place to stay, natch) but framing it in a way where it's Darren's fault for being too extra. Their mom isn't saying anything offensive, she's using their pronouns, calling them babe/honey, and sort of downplaying the situation...but she doesn't do anything to defend them. The conversation ends with her saying "problem solved!" but the problem is just...a child expecting to be in their own house?

Darren is such a great character. They don't have an over the top traumatic backstory but we can see how all these quiet/small rejections add up. They're defensive in a way that kind of creates a cycle--I mean, they could have just knocked on Quinni's door instead of going, "I GUESS I'LL JUST SLEEP ON A PILE OF ROCKS THEN!" but that's Darren.

Cash: ????

I will say that I didn't love the "I've loved you since year 8" reveal. Maybe that's an unpopular opinion. I just think the two of them have enough chemistry without needing something like that. But it does make it interesting to watch these scenes from Cash's perspective. Do we think Cash is staying in school JUST for pining or if it has more to do with Nan and/or feeling some ambiguity about the track his life is on?

Darren clearly knows of Cash, like they know he repeated a grade, but they also haven't really talked because Darren's surprised by Cash making jokes.

Is Cash afraid to do more than watch Darren because Chook is often watching Cash?

I also love how Cash's expressions look so different when Chook is there. He looks so stony and bored when he's picking up the food from Harry's. Then when Darren talks to him at the cemetery, he still doesn't say much or react, but his eyes are just--so much more open? Without the sneer/hypermasc body language it already seems very different from the other scene. Will McDonald is so good.

[foreverrandomwritings]

Season 7 Episode 8: Step Nine.

Okay starting off I am terrified of what’s about to happen. Bobby needs a fucking break and I’m very upset that Amir has turned evil.

HE WAS TALKING ABOUT BEING ABLE TO LET GO AND FEELING LIKE HE DESERVES TO HAVE EVERYONE AND EVERYTHING HE HAS!

Amir my honey why must you do this to Bobby. I understand he kinda fucked up but fuck man he’s repented and it’s not really his fault.

Flashback of young Bobby and his family😤😤

But that flashback leading to Bobby downing alcohol and then getting sick, seeing his dad being an alcoholic dick head.

May is back omg. Bobby really thinks he doesn’t deserve this.

BOBBY YOU DESERVE ATHENA AND THE FIRE HOUSE AND BUCK AND MAY AND HARRY AS YOUR KIDS!!

Amir wanted Bobby to see what he did but like he sees it every time he wakes up and isn’t in Minnesota with his wife and kids.

Bobby is following Amir around, this isn’t gonna end well I feel…..

She said Amir is a little crazy. Yes honey I am aware he followed Bobby to an AA meeting lol.

Bobby you sweet heart. Charlie you sweet baby.

BOBBY. I get why he thinks his dad needs him and why he thinks he’s a hero and what not but oh my sweet boy.

I love Bobby but where is Buck and Hen and Karen and Eddie and Tommy and Chimney and Maddie and Ravi and Christopher?

This isn’t exactly going how I expected it to go.

Young baby Bobby feeding into his father’s addiction is so sad.

Amir knock this bullshit off.

This is a weird and awkward way of making amends.

Oh fuck Bobby. Doing everything he can for this stupid piece of shit and it’s getting him nothing. The firefighter showing up and dosing him in fire knowing they “normally” works. So that means they are used to him being so fucking drunk he doesn’t wake up. Them also bantering with him and also defending Bobby😤

Bobby is getting a sick ass sunburn.

I knew this rancher was bad news.

Also him flipping the truck when neither of them were wearing a seat belt🙄🙄

I KNEW SOMETHING WAS ABOUT TO HAPPEN TO HIS DAD!

Finally wearing some fucking headwear to protect you from the sun.

His dad is dead and somehow Bobby is gonna blame himself for that🙄

Awe all the relief workers showing up and help Bobby and Amir. I do not however appreciate this one guy calling Bobby “cap” like uhm sir who do you think you are?

Bobby’s alcoholism started that young🥹 stop this right now.

Overall I am happy that Amir wasn’t a bad guy. But I’m also extremely disappointed in the fact that the only mains we saw were Bobby and Athena. Like the show gives us Buck and Tommy and then doesn’t show them for two episodes…… how rude.

[luvsbitca]

s02e07 Haunted

I’m back.

Let’s get scared.

Zombie! I find it very interesting just how precarious LA appears to be. Faultlines and sinkholes, oh my. Though I only just found I it about some cool limestone caves in the south-western part of Australia where they found an intact skeleton of a marsupial lion.

I like to think that if the spirits were disturbed they would have wanted to save the man too and would have understood being disturbed.

I do enjoy the balance they are able to walk between amazing rescues and their personal lives without it being OTT melodrama. I mean it’s melodramatic but the actors help elevate it above being too soapy.

Buck and Eddie on the roads again.

I am constantly surprised about where some people manage to graffiti.

👻

Loving the step-dad vibes between Bobby and Harry & Mae.

She’s a field sergeant. She goes where she wants.

It’s a very impressive school. The kids are all so clean while playing.

Surely, this is not the first time they have been in this situation. I’ve seen it a lot. They would have other options but also, here comes Shannon.

Halloween is really not a thing here. How much does Halloween cost people in America. This is a lot.

A ghost called 911 to save the guy who fell because the one who died couldn’t get back to his love.

I love that Athena has made identifying this person her mission.

Scary story time with Athena.

Eddie looks ridiculous and I don’t know why. It should be badass, right?

Yes, Carla. Call Eddie out on his shit.

Christopher looks amazing. He would be an epic Wolverine.

Straighten those fingers child, do not let the horse eat them.

Where is this child’s adult?

Then move out, Buck. Move on.

[kaycynyrs]

This was my take,

Bobby - wartortle/braviary/drampa?

I feel like Bobby's starter would have been rufflet/braviary but he got a squirtle after he lost his family. The drampa totally would be a gag gift from Buck that he'd unironically love.

Athena - rapidash/vespiqueen/inteleon

Athena is just a badass and I thought she deserved badass Pokemon. Rapidash because of her fiery personality, vespiqueen because both Athena and Vespiqueen are bosses, and inteleon so she can have a detective Pokemon partner.

May - roselia/gothitelle/amaura?

Honestly I kinda just chose these on vibes. I think May'd think they're neat

Harry - beldum/dreepy?/toedscool

Again, total vibes here. I thought Harry would like these Pokemon. Specifically I think he'd think toedscool is hilarious

Chim - jangmo-o/Mr. Rime

I feel like jangmo-o would be his starter, as like a gift from his mom. Then, as he got older and started liking movies more and more, I can totally see him getting a Galarian Mr. Mime

Maddie - mimikyu/frosmoth

Maddie totally has Mimikyu and Frosmoth energy. Like Mimikyu is canonically a lonely but badass Pokemon lore wise. Like it puts on the pikachu outfit to try and fit in and is willing to beat ass if someone breaks its costume. I just feel like Maddie totally would relate to Mimikyu. Then frosmoth for after she gets away from Doug, cause people view moths as like pretty ugly in real life but I totally think Maddie would think frosmoth is beautiful and I think she'd get one as like a sign of healing

Jee - cleffa/cutiefly

Cute things. That's all. Next.

Hen - audino/mudsdale

I feel like hen would totally click with an audino. She's like the only one that I can imagine getting a healing Pokemon. She also just gives mudsdale vibes idk why. I think she'd vibe with the horse, and be able to use the mudsdale to help transport patients.

Karen - Alakazam/porygon

She's a frickin rocket scientist, of course I gave her the smart Pokemon.

Denny - Cubone/golett

Idk maybe it's a bit fucked up, but I gave Denny Cubone cause of his bio mom signing parental rights away, and I kinda thought maybe the Cubone and Denny would have a kinship. And now both Denny and the Cubone get two moms. Win win. Also I think Denny would think golett is neat.

Mara - whimsicott/Cinccino

Fluffy things. Next.

Buck - sawsbuck/boltund/trubbish

I think Buck's starter would be Yamper. I can totally see Maddie getting a yamper for Buck so he's not so lonely while she's gone. It also probably helped that Yamper evolved into boltund so she knew the Pokemon would be able to keep up with Buck's rambunctiousness. Then I think he'd pick up a Trubbish on his travels. Especially if that trubbish was alone or something. Cause I highly doubt people in the Pokemon world like trubbish too much. No way he'd leave it there without trying to help. Then when he joins the 118 and gag gifts Bobby the drampa, Bobby returns the favor and gag gifts him a sawsbuck.

Tommy - machamp/delcatty/corviknight

I feel like with how I've seen Tommy's dad characterised/theorised about, he'd totally be like "rah toxic masculinity" so I can see Tommy's starter being a machop. But I kinda think Tommy learns to like it since he'll have a sparring partner once he joins the air force. Then he'd probably get corviknight when in the airforce so he can have a 'mon in the skies with him. Then I can see him getting a delcatty when he's finally in LA toward the end of his character growth as like a bit of a selfish "purchase". Friendship? Idk how that would work, but like I'd wanna see Tommy grow and get a 'mon just for him, not for fighting or for any aesthetic, just a cute little cat he can cuddle with, and I kinda think he needs that lol.

Eddie - ursaring/sneasel

I can totally see Eddie's starter being a teddiursa. Like little Eddie with a teddy bear? Yes. Also, he's a complete papa bear, so I thought that was fitting. Then I thought he'd have a sneasel cause he's all "dark and brooding" pouty mc pout face. Also he's going through shit and idk why I just thought sneasel would fit that vibe.

Chris - magikarp/dwebble/cramorant

I chose magikarp because "just keep swimming" also I think it'd be awesome for Chris to have a huge ass gyrados. I also think he'd be the type of kid to think bugs are neat. Hence the dwebble. Also I can see dwebble being really useful for Chris when it evolves. Then I think Chris would think Cramorant was funny.

I genuinely don't know Ravi's character well enough to assign him a 'mon. Though if I think of anything, I will totally add it to this list because I have no shame lmaoo

All for fun, but if you had to give or make a Pokémon for each member of the 118 and their loved ones what would they be??? And of course other members of the show too.

[lgg5989]

Church Encounter Blurb Request

Hey guys! We ( @barbiewritesstuff​ and I) are back with something that was requested soooooo long ago but that we wanted to release in its rightful order!

I hope you enjoy this and please see my masterlist for more Church Encounters and Top Gun content! This can also be read on Ao3!

No moodboard today! Just a picture of our favorite aviator!

Tagging: @roosterscock @sydneyhlove​ @mygyn​ @inky-sun​

With one hand on your swollen tummy, you lowered yourself onto the wooden lawnchair they had set out in front of the firepit. Bob and Maria had already begun, spearing their marshmallows onto some sharpened sticks as they waited for others to arrive. By the time they did, their marshmallows had blackened to perfection and their conversation had changed from wedding planning to highschool friends through the intermediary of Clueless, the 1995 masterpiece starring Alicia Silverstone.

“My friend Marie and I always used to pretend we were like, Cher and Dionne,” Maria said, “Like -- we were like fourteen, mind you -- we’d dress like them, we’d try and like set up our teachers, it was really fun,” she laughed

“Marie and Maria?”

“Both our moms were really into The Sound of Music,” she shrugged, “It’s a shame, I don’t see her much anymore…We stopped hanging out when she went to college out of state and when she moved back, we always said we’d meet up and then never did…”

Bob hummed, “I used to have a friend called Yves that I met when I started racing,” he said, “I just got my learner’s permit so I was what? Yeah I think I was sixteen, anyway, I had a friend called --”

“Whoa there bud, back up a bit. You used to race? Like race what? Karts?” Tony asked, bringing blankets. He handed you a furry plaid one and deposited random ones on each of the remaining empty chairs before distributing the remaining three between him, Bob and Maria.

“Yeah I started go-karting when I was 7 and then I moved up to cars,” he replied.

“Shit,” Tony swore, impressed, “Like Nascar?”

“Yeah, I never made it further than the regional touring series, though,” he said, sounding disappointed, “Either I didn’t qualify or I DNF’ed but I never had much luck so I quit. It’s an expensive hobby, I didn’t want to sink too much money in it if I wasn’t going to amount to anything… Then I did some bull riding, I was good but I saw an accident happen one night and I figured it wasn’t for me either,” he added

“Wow, so you’ve literally never been on time in your life,” you teased, trying to lighten the mood a little and Bob looked at you with a grin. When Maria looked away, he stuck out his tongue at you and you feigned outrage.

“What were you going to say about your friend Yves?” She asked, once she saw your joke hadn’t done the trick and Bob still looked a little green. The sound of her voice roused him from his thoughts but he blinked at her a few times before his brain made sense of the words she had said.

“Oh yeah! I had a friend called Yves, when I was sixteen. We were hanging out after practice one evening when we found a film in his dad’s basement, err, I think it was called ‘Days of Thunder’? It came out around the 90s. Anyway it was loosely based on Tim Richmond and his crew chief Harry Hyde, and we were OBSESSED with it! We’d like take turns being Tim and Harry and it was just great and then obviously I left and we lost contact…” he trailed off, “We still text sometimes, mainly birthdays and Christmas but yeah, we went from joined at the hip to barely talking in the space of a year… I heard he’s moved away from Nascar now, I think he’s doing F1 in Europe.”

“Which team was he with? Please tell me it was someone good,” Tony said, looking at him with wide eyes.

“I’m sorry man, I think it might have been KBM,” he said and Tony groaned loudly

“Did Bobby tell you another one of his terrible jokes?” Jake laughed, limping on his foot support boot to sit by your side, bringing two mugs of steaming hot chocolate. You padded your tummy with the blanket and then balanced the mug on top, hiding both of your hands in the warmth again.

“Nah, did you know your buddy here used to race for Nascar?” Tony said, pointing at Bob with his own marshmallow spear. Bob swatted it away with his own stick, accidentally dropping it to the floor. When he picked it back up, the sweet had mixed in with blades of grass and bits of dirt.

Bob looked at it in disgust. Maria fished a tissue out of her pocket and presented it to him. He tried using it to remove the marshmallow, but due to the sticky nature of the candy, half of it stuck to the wood anyway. In the end he resigned himself to removing the obviously gross bits.

“Just regional and for like a year,” he answered.

Jake paused, looking at Bob a moment before asking, “Whoa hold on, I thought you did barrel racing?”

“No, that was bull riding,” Bob said with a slight sigh and a crooked grin on his face.

“So when did you find the time to work construction?” he asked, sounding a bit confused.

“Oh, I only worked part time, and whenever they needed me, which wasn’t all the time. And I mostly did it whenever the high school wrestling season allowed for it,” Bob said, his eyes on the ground.

Tony looked at him a moment before commenting, “Goodness, you had a busy childhood…”

“Yeah… Didn’t really want to be home much…” Bob answered, trailing off, his eyes taking on a hundred yard stare.

“How did you even get to talking about Nascar anyway?” Jake asked, trying to change the subject.

“We were talking about high school friends,” Maria added, her hand resting on Bob's thigh.

Jake nodded, “Can’t contribute, sorry,” he said, “I wasn’t exactly popular for most of high school,” he added.

“Err, I beg to differ,” Maria said, giving him a pointed look, clearly trying to jog his memory.

Jake suddenly seemed very interested in his shoes, “Yeah… Okay, yeah, maybe you’re right,” he said.

“Care to fill us in?” Bob asked.

“Stacey Callahan,” Maria replied, a sour expression passing over her face. Tony, already five beers deep into the evening and entirely unable to read the room, decided to speak up, “Oh! I heard she’s back in town!”

“Wonderful, Antonio, thank you for your contribution. We don’t speak her name here,” Gio said, suddenly appearing to their left, where the light of the flames made him look like a ghostly apparition, “We’re also going to move you away from the fire. Any more alcohol and I’m afraid your breath might catch on fire.”

“I don’t actually know who Stacey Callahan is,” Bob insisted.

“My ex-girlfriend,” Jake replied, glancing at you guiltily.

“And my ex-best friend. Or so I thought. Turns out she wasn’t a friend at all,” Maria said, her voice turning a bit dark.

Gio leaned forwards in his chair, and surprised the group with a loud, “That fucking bitch --”

“Language!” Giovanni Senior grumbled, making his arrival with both of his daughters-in-law all the more appreciated by the fact that he had brought an old fashioned radio with him and several cassettes.

“Stacey Callahan,” was all Gio needed to say.

Giovanni grumbled in response, “What are you doing wasting your time talking about that hussy?”

“Just talking about high school friends and acquaintances,” you replied quietly, surprised by his coldness.

“She ain’t a friend, and I wish she hadn’t even been an acquaintance,” Jake whispered beside you.

“You okay?” you asked, your voice as quiet as his, barely audible over the crackling fire.

“I’ll tell you later,” he replied, “In private.”

“Tell you what,” Tony said, and you heard the Seresins all draw a collective breath of apprehension when he pointed at you and swayed dangerously close to Bob, “I like you. You scare me sometimes, but I like you. I’m happy Jacob married you,” he said, giving you a sappy smile and a hiccup.

“Yeah,” Gio agreed, “You scare the shit out of me, and let’s be honest half the time you do it on purpose, but then again so does Jake so that makes y’all the perfect match in my eyes.”

“Who are we talking about?” Isabella asked, her arm around Nonna’s as she guided her towards a chair.

“Jesus Christ, do we have to start recording our conversations so you guys don’t interrupt us every five seconds?” Maria asked, it earned her a sharp smack on the head with a rolled up newspaper Nonna had brought to stoke the fire.

“Guarda il tuo tono,” she warned. As soon as Nonna turned away, Maria rolled her eyes, clearly thinking that her tone hadn’t been that disrespectful. It earned her another slap with the newspaper, this time from her mother.

“We were saying that Jake and Y/n are a very good match,” Giovanni filled them in.

“Sooooooooooo much better than Jake and --” Tony leaned forward conspiratorially. He lowered his voice to a whisper, “Stacey Callahan,” he finished.

The whole group took a collective breath, a mix of feelings in the air that had you wanting to get up and go back inside, then Nonna spoke, “Stop talking about that rotten girl. Y/n how is the baby? Are you feeling alright?”

“I’m fine, thank you. They’re very active tonight,” you said with a smile, rubbing the little fist protruding just under your ribs with your fingers.

“How about we change the subject?” Jake said brightly but a pained expression on his face, talking about his ex-girlfriend had clearly brought about some painful memories and he was eager to run from them.

“Hmm,” Maria agreed, also eager to talk about anything else, “Y/n, that pasta you made was amazing,” she told you. Around the bonfire, despite the thick cover of darkness, you could see them all agreeing, nodding enthusiastically at the statement.

“What was it again?” Sofia asked, rocking baby Bianca in her arms. The child, now almost one year old, was suffering from mystery pains, which usually cropped up after mealtimes and made it hard for her to sleep. Even now, she sniffled and let out little whines that broke your heart.

“Fettuccine Alfredo,” you replied

“Never heard of it,” Nonna replied and your brow shot up

“Oh, it’s the American name for Fettuccine al Burro, Nonna,” Maria explained, “And it has cream, I think.”

“It does,” you confirmed

Nonna hummed, as if deciding whether or not the addition of cream to her beloved pasta dish was enough to go back on her previous compliment, “Real parmesan?” she asked sternly.

“Yes ma’am,” you replied, “I think Jake would divorce me if it wasn’t.”

“Damn right I would,” he joked.

“Real butter? No margarine?”

“Mhm,” you hummed, sipping from your mug

“Very good,” she said, dealing her verdict with a smile in her voice, seemingly happy with the way the interrogation had gone.

Gio whistled, impressed, “Mamma Mia,” he laughed, “Better than a Hollywood Handshake.”

Sofia, Alessa and you burst out laughing, rousing a finally dozing Bianca. She didn’t seem too unhappy though, the pain had clearly let up for a moment as she giggled sleepily.

“A what?” Giovanni asked

“Paul Hollywood is a judge on the great british baking show. He’s a ruthless judge, but when you impress him, he gives you a handshake,” you explained

“I think they’re worthless,” Tony spoke up in a drunken stupor

“Ay, there we go again,” his wife grumbled with an eye roll. She had apparently had this exact conversation many times before. Every time they sat down to watch an episode, you imagined.

“They are worthless. He’s shaking hands left right and centre. He’s devalued the handshake! It used to mean something!” he exclaimed, swinging the bottle of water Maria had replaced his beer with high in the air, splashing the bonfire in the process. Bianca startled in Sofia’s arms, “shhhhhhh,” he said, looking at the baby, placing one of his large hands on her tiny belly. She let out a happy sigh, the warmth and comfort of her father’s hand sending her straight to sleep.

“They mean nothing!” he whisper shouted

“Okay enough about handshake inflation,” Giovanni cut his son off as he opened his mouth to continue his tirade, regretting having asked for an expansion on the subject in the first place.

“No!” Tony protested, “Paul Hollywood’s devaluation of the handshake must be spoken about! You know what? I’m going to write to the BBC, I am going to tell them they need --”

“Channel four,” Jake added helpfully.

“I am going to write to Channel four, and I am going to tell them -- I am going to tell them -- Honey, what am I going to tell them?” Tony asked, leaning towards his wife

“You are going to bed, Mister,” she laughed

“I am going to tell them I am going to bed, Mister! -- Wait --”

“Right, up you get,” Gio said, standing up from his chair and motioning for his brother to do the same. Tony obeyed, swaying dangerously.

Bob held out his arm to steady Tony while Gio took his time circling around the fire. He eventually got there, and helped his brother towards the house, supporting his weight with one arm around his shoulders. You watched the two walk back towards the house, progressively getting darker as they made their way through the garden.

Suddenly overcome my the need to sleep, you yawned, “I think I might go to bed as well,” you said, pushing yourself out of the chair with great difficulty, heavily helped by one of Jake’s strong arms.

“I’ll come with,” Sofia said, holding her arm out for you to grab, “I think this little lady needs to sleep in something other than my arms,” she added

“She looks so comfortable though,” you said, brushing the cloth she was covered with away from her face so you could see her peaceful expression.

“Maybe, but she is heavy,” Sofia shrugged.

“I can carry her for a bit if you’d like,” you offered, “It would be good practice.”

Sofia nodded, handing her daughter over to you. You moved her a little so she lay upright, her chubby little cheek against your collarbone and her legs on either side of your prominent baby bump. She fit there as though your body had always been meant to carry children like this.

Turning back to bid the rest goodbye, you caught Jake’s eye. He looked at you with a strange expression, his eyes intently staring at Bianca and your bump.

“Goodnight,” you said

“I won’t be long, I promise,” he replied.

Sofia slid her arm around yours once more, using her phone to light the way. Once she reached the porch, she switched it off.

“Do you mind putting her to bed? I need to make sure Tony hasn’t done anything too stupid. Last time he was like this, he tried climbing on the furniture,” she explained

“When was the last time?” you laughed, trying to remember ever seeing Tony without the full use of his faculties

“About twenty years ago… You’d think he’d learn how to handle his alcohol in all that time, wouldn’t you?” she grinned. A thud resonated through the house and Sofia sprinted up the stairs towards their bedroom. You followed behind, quieter and calmer, carrying the sleeping baby up to her room.

Once there in the nursery, you gently lowered her into the crib, removing the muselin away from her little body for barely a second to avoid burrito-ing her into a swaddle. She shivered. You quickly brought up her blanket and pulled it up to her chin, placing her taggie, a large square of fabric with a crocheted elephant head attached to it and a little elephant foot at each corner, between her arms. She nuzzled it with a sigh.

“God of wonder, God of grace, Even when I can’t see Your face,I know You are here. You’re all around. In Your arms of care, I am found. Your angels’ watch around me keep, All through the night as I sleep. Under Your wings, soft as a dove, I rest in Your unending love. Thank You, Father, Holy One, I rest in You, now the day is done. Amen,” you said, stroking her face from forehead to the tip of her nose, her skin so nice and warm against your fingers.

Switching on her nightlight and watching it for a minute as the machine came to life, playing a soothing melody, lighting up the ceiling with projected stars, you slowly waddled your way back to your own room where you found Jake, already changed into his pyjamas. He lay there staring at the ceiling.

“Do you love me?” he asked

“Yes,” you responded, unsure whether this was the set up for one of those ‘would you love me if I was a worm’ questions.

“Why?” he asked, turning towards you. He sported a facial expression of such doubt and heartbreak it made you want to cry.

“Because I do,” you responded with an uneasy laugh, “Because you’re kind, caring, gentle, unbelievably smart and an overall amazing person,” you replied.

Jake stayed silent for a few more moments, mulling over your answer.

“And hilarious,” he said, “you forgot hilarious,” he added with a grin.

“And humble. I clearly forgot humble, too,” you giggled, “Why are you asking your wife, whom you married, and whom you’re about to have a baby with, if she loves you?”

“It’s nothing. The whole thing about Stacey Callahan made me feel wrong, I guess,” he said with a sigh.

“You promised to tell me,” you reminded him.

“So I did,” he said without expanding any further. You got the impression he was looking for the right words, though so you stayed quiet and gave him time.

“Stacey… Started out as Maria’s friend,” he started hesitantly, “Well, they became friends when they got into highschool. Before that they were kind of acquaintances through girl scouts and some mutual friends. I think she may have gone to like, three of the same birthday parties and like one sleepover? Nothing to write home about.”

“But then, about halfway through grade 10, maybe, Stacey started really trying to befriend Maria. We all thought it was cute. Maria never really made many friends, and I’m sad to say it’s probably because three insanely protective older brothers aren’t necessarily conducive to a packed social calendar. But Stacey didn’t seem to care, she schmoozed her way into Gio and Tony’s good graces with strategically timed college care packages, and she even offered to help dad with the horses. Mamma and Nonna were harder but they were no match when she baked a true, authentic, Sfogliatella -- it’s like a sort of shell-shaped filled pastry with a sort of ricotta, orangy filling -- it was vile, but the fact that she tried was good enough,” he finished quietly, pausing a moment before drawing a deep breath in through his lips.

“I wasn’t too keen on her at first. She seemed to be trying a little too hard, from what I heard. I stayed kinda clear of Maria’s friend group and I didn’t really interact with her friends when they came over. And then I met her during a DND campaign my cousin Stephano dmed. She was fun, and I liked hanging out with her so I figured I was wrong and maybe she was just a little… clumsy with people. Maybe she couldn’t really read people well. Like me. So, I gave her a chance, started being friendly, called for her birthday -- just… friendly…Until, obviously, it wasn’t anymore. I don’t know how it happened but one day I was minding my business, trying to be nice and the next I was telling her I might be in love with her in the middle of the highschool parking lot the night of her graduation”

“Stacey dropped Maria like hot coals. The second we made it official, it’s like a switch flicked and everything she did to get into her good books, she did to me. And only to me. She barely ever spoke to anyone else, or when she did it was just one word answers. But never in front of me, whenever I walked in the room, she was all smiles and polite answers. So I didn’t figure shit out until it was too late, even though they all told me about everything, I was convinced they just hated that I finally had a friend -- a girlfriend, who loved me and didn’t see me as the annoying church kid who couldn’t read social cues and needed a speech therapist until age ten. I was just happy I had someone who saw the good in me without knowing about the not-so-good bits,”

“I was so in love with her, I thought I was going to marry her, have kids, grow old, the whole nine yards. And she agreed! She said we’d have the whole Catholic wedding, ten kids, white picket fence thing I wanted,” Jake tried to steady his breaths, tears flowing freely on his cheeks, “So. She said that because it was going to happen anyway, what was the point of waiting? Why not just…” he let out a shaky breath, “Why not just have sex? God wouldn’t be mad at me, considering we were going to get married anyway. I --” he choked out a sob, “I said yes. We had sex, and nothing happened. No smiting from the heavens, no disasters, no real repercussion. So we kept doing it,”

“Maybe the following periods were just a grace period God gave me to realise my fucking mistake and repent but after a while her facade started to crack,” he said taking a really deep breath, “I’ve only ever told one person what happened past this point, and only because Bob saw something he wasn’t supposed to see. Everyone else thinks we broke up because I found out she’d been lying about being a Christian. Not because --” he continued, his voice thick with the tears he was trying to swallow down, a battle he kept fighting despite his already monumental loss as tears flowed down his cheeks in such a volume that it was making his pillowcase wet, “Not because she just got bored of me. We dated for a year, and I thought it was going so well and then, I caught her in bed with my cousin Stephano while I was on break from the academy,” Jake laughed bitterly, “She said she had fun with me but she was in love with him now. She just threw me away. Like I meant nothing.”

“Why would she do that?” you asked, one hand covering your mouth in shock, you desperately wanted to hug him, but you knew he needed space.

Jake breathed out shakily, a pained expression on his face, “She said she just wanted to know what I’d be like.”

“I’m sorry,” you said, “That’s horrible. I’m so sorry you had to go through that,” you added, feeling like nothing you could say would ever make Jake feel better.

“Trusting people wasn’t easy after that. Especially after I found out the love bombing and getting bored was her whole M.O,” he said, “Trusting people isn’t easy. Guess that’s why I liked casual hookups so much.”

You said nothing. Jake turned his head to look at you, his tears now slightly drying on his skin, turning his cheeks red.

“I trust you, though,” he said.

“I trust you too,” you replied.

With the lull in the conversation, you took a moment to pull your pyjamas on before climbing into bed. Jake moved towards you, resting his head on your chest and taking a few deep breaths, his nose pressed into the side of your neck.

“Can I ask you something?” You asked him.

Jake let out a quiet laugh before answering, “I think you just did darlin’, but go ahead, ask me somethin’ else.”

You smiled at his antics before your face turned serious again, “Jake,” you said, hesitating for a moment, “If you regret not waiting til marriage… Why did you keep having hookups?” you asked quietly, reading between the lines of his explanation and feelings.

He thought for a moment, “I don’t know. I guess -- I guess it’s because I didn’t think I deserved love, but at the same time, it’s nice to have some human contact…” he said, “I lost my way. After she left, I started thinking that, well, I started thinking God wasn’t … Good.”

“Not Good?” you asked, furrowing your brow in confusion.

“No, I guess I thought God wasn’t Good to me. I knew He was Good to everyone else, but I thought He wouldn’t love me. I thought I had finally made Him hate me,” he said, his voice smaller than you had ever heard it. He shifted again to lay on his back, one hand coming to rest under his head. Uncomfortable with the words he was using, he tried to avoid your gaze by staring straight at the ceiling.

“Premarital sex isn’t a death sentence, Jake,” you whispered, looking over at him, wishing you could travel back in time, grab younger Jake by the shoulders and tell him that same thing over and over until he believed it.

“It was to me,” he whispered, “I spent so long thinking I just wasn’t right, you know? I couldn’t talk, I couldn’t make friends… After quarterback Gio and linebacker Tony, I just felt like the broken reject of the family. Especially after Maria was born. Don’t get me wrong, I love them all so much, but I felt so inadequate next to them. I felt like I was disappointing everyone, my mom, my dad, my teachers,... I thought the only one I hadn’t disappointed yet was God, and then I went and fucking ruined it by doing the one thing everyone had always told me not to do.”

“I just felt so awful, and I guess part of me thought that’s what He wanted me to feel? Because in my head I was a monster and I deserved to be punished? And then I got my air kills and it just got worse I think, because not only did I break the promise I made to save myself for marriage, but I also broke one of the ten commandments,” he said, “Bob took a while to convince me that God wasn’t making me feel miserable, I was. And I guess he was right, because you walked into the rec room on your first day as a dagger squad member about a month after that. And look at us now, married and almost parents! I can’t wait for them to get there,” he sighed, “If you had to guess, do you think they’ll be a boy or a girl?”

You recognised a change of subject when you saw one, but not willing to inflict any more pain on Jake for tonight, you avoided prodding any further.

“You know my slice of cake was blue,” you replied.

“I thought you might have seen the light. They’re definitely a girl. She’s definitely a girl,” he said with a grin. The crying-induced swelling of his face was gently going down, and his voice slowly returned to normal.

“What do you think we should name your daughter then?” you asked, laying down beside him in the bed.

“I like Emma, or Julia, or Amelia,” he answered with a pensive sort of tone.

“You like the ‘a’ sound at the end,” you remarked.

“I didn’t even notice,” he laughed.

You thought about what he said for a minute before asking, “No Italian names?”

“No,” he said, an adorable crease lodging itself in between his brows, “There’s nothing wrong with them, but I’d like the idea of them matching us. We don’t have Italian names, neither do they. If that’s okay with you of course?”

“Sure. I like Charlotte for a girl,” you said, “And Christopher for a boy. Or Michael, or James, or Arthur! There are so many nice boy names,” you laughed, slotting yourself in Jake’s arms.

“How about we just see what she looks like when she’s here?” He asked, a sly smile on his face.

“They,” you corrected.

“That’s what losers say,” he replied, nudging you in the side with a finger. The two of you laid in silence on the bed for a few minutes, you running your fingers through Jake’s hair as he calmed down from the previous conversation.

“Babe?” he asked, gaining your attention, “Could you read to me? I want to fall asleep to your voice.”

“Of course,” you said, shuffling so you could sit upright. You reached for your bible on your nightstand and opened it randomly. By coincidence, it landed on the book of Ruth, one of your favourites. Instead of starting at the beginning, you began reading where your annotations left off, the pen and highlighter marks stopping abruptly at Ruth 1:6.

“She set out with her two daughters-in-law to return from the land of Moab, for in Moab she had heard how the Lord had come to the aid of his people, giving them food to eat. She and her two daughters-in-law set out from the place where they had been living and took the road leading back to the land of Judah. Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, “Each of you should go back to your mother’s house. May the Lord show you as much kindness as you have shown to those who died and to me. May the Lord grant each of you consolation in the home of a husband.” She then kissed them, and they wept aloud. They said to her, “We will go with you back to your people.” But Naomi replied, “Go back, my daughters. Why would you go with me? Do I still have any sons in my womb who might become your husbands? Go back, my daughters. Go your way. I am too old even to have a husband. Even if I thought that there was still hope for me and I slept with a husband tonight and gave birth to sons, would you wait for them to grow up? Would you stay unmarried for them? No, my daughters, for it greatly grieves me on your account that the hand of the Lord has been raised against me.”

You looked over at Jake. His breathing had slowed down, his chest rising and falling with long deep breaths. He looked more peaceful now, the crease in his brow long gone, and the tear stains on his cheeks all but forgotten as he laid in bed, his eyes closed, concentrated on your voice. The only indication that he was still awake was a small twitch of his lips when your hand left the pages of your Bible to brush a loose curl from his forehead. Even then, he didn’t seem too far from falling asleep.

“Ruth Stays with Naomi. They cried out loud again, and Orpah kissed her mother-in-law goodbye, but Ruth clung to her. Then she said, “Look, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and her gods. Follow your sister-in-law.” But Ruth answered, “Please do not insist on my leaving you or forsaking you. Wherever you go I will go, and wherever you live I will live. Your people will be my people and your God will be my God. Wherever you die, I will die and be buried there. May the Lord do this to me and even worse if anything other than death separates me from you.” When she saw that she was determined to go with her, she said no more.”

By the time you finished, Jake was snoring away, barely audible over the breeze carried through the open window. The noise made you smile and suddenly overcome by tiredness, you lowered yourself down in bed. You curled up into Jake’s side, resting one hand on his chest and whispered a prayer for the both of you. Seconds after saying ‘Amen’ you fell into a well-deserved slumber.

[matan4il]

Is it me or does it feel like Buck and Eddie were each other's first best friend? Like they've had casual and childhood friends but it feels different with them. They are so devoted and open with each other that it makes them unable to be soft and vulnerable with other people even though they try to. And like the instant they met, they knew their trust would be well placed.

This makes me wonder if they're aware, even partially, that they're friendship is certainly deeper than most, and that there is a possibility for them to become more somewhere down the line.

Dayna, it’s so good to hear from you, lovely! :D *HUGS*

Oh, I full on believe that they’re each other’s first best friend. I think it’s completely supported by everything we know about their history in canon.

For Buck, we see him in ep 405 at the age of 20, a football star, and yet who does he go to when he’s in need? His sister. When he wants to leave, who does he want with him? His sister. Not for a second do we see him being sad about leaving anyone else behind, or feeling like there’s a best friend he has to at least say goodbye to. Then after he leaves, we see him bouncing around between places, never mentioning any significant friend to Maddie in his postcards. Nor do we see anyone like that featured in any of the flashbacks to the key moments of his journey. The one other person we see is some guy who's ready to ditch Buck for a hookup, and who’s only featured in this trip down memory lane because he unintentionally put Buck on the right path to find the 118, his first real family outside of Maddie. But does Buck have a best friend there? In s1, we don’t really see that. He has a dad figure in Bobby, a great friendship with Hen and Chim, but best friend? No. We never see him choosing to hang out outside of work with any of them one on one, just to hang out and fill each other on stuff. Not like we see Hen with Athena, or Chim and Bobby during that season, or Hen and Chim in later seasons. Edmundo Diaz, Buck’s first ever best friend, confirmed.

In 315, we don’t get to see Eddie before Christopher’s birth, but we still can deduce a few things. We know that he’s becoming a father, but no best friend is in sight at the hospital, nor is one even mentioned. Since Eddie at that point still lives where he grew up, that would imply he doesn’t have a best friend from high school he still hangs out with. And again, one isn’t mentioned either, not even when Eddie decides to leave. We also don’t see Eddie, while he’s serving, talking to a best friend about his issues in his home life, not in a phone call to a friend in the States, and not to another soldier in his unit. We know from his interview in 206 that he did enjoy the camaraderie he had in the army, but it seems like that didn’t develop into having an actual best friend at any point. We don’t see one from the army when Eddie is lying there, injured, after he saved the other soldiers from the helicopter, and we also don’t see a best friend when he returns home. Again, not even a mention of one. Evan Buckley, Eddie’s first ever best friend, also confirmed.

So yes, I have no doubt that a part of the reason they’re so oblivious isn’t just that they’re morons, it’s also that they sincerely don’t get how special what they have is. They cared about and trusted each other almost immediately, which is a profound kind of connection. Then they form this beautiful friendship where they’re there for each other right away, and it’s especially lovely since neither one of them has any experience with being another person’s best friend. But you can see how naturally they fit into that role for each other. But then they become fully partners, they share with each other everything, including a kid! They do that in a way none of the other good friends on the show do. Think of Athena going through her divorce from Michael in s1 and becoming a single mom. Hen’s there for her, but at no point does she become May and Harry’s other parent, or Athena’s partner in raising them, unlike what Buck becomes to Chris and Eddie. They’re fully a family. And they don’t even realize that their bond is so much more intense than a normal friendship. I just love them and I can’t wait for them to realize what they have isn’t simply friendship, and what more they can have as official boyfriends...

Thank you for this ask, I adored it! I hope you’re having a great day, hon! xoxox

(If you're looking for my ask replies, here is my ask tag! xoxox)

[immaturityofthomasastruc]

IOTA Reviews: Psycomedian

Okay, so not only is this episode going to focus on comedy, something that has always been one of Miraculous Ladybug's weaker aspects, but a celebrity guest star gets to be the Akuma for the week. Doesn't that sound fun? Surprisingly, yes, kind of?

Let's get into the twenty-second (chronologically the fifth) episode of Miraculous Ladybug's fourth season: Psycomedian

We start off with Marinette talking with her friends about all the times she's failed to confess her feelings to Adrien, where we get a little highlight reel of some of the times she's embarrassed herself in front of Adrien while the writers, I mean Mylene, tries to reassure the audience, I mean Marinette, that she and Adrien have made progress and are friends, even though they barely hang out together.

Marinette comes up with a plan to change the way Adrien sees her as “more than the funny friend”, referring to the events of “The Puppeteer 2”, where the clip featured had her and Adrien talk about they should stop pulling pranks on each other... even though Adrien was the one who tried to prank Marinette by pretending to be a statue, and Marinette only acted like she was pranking Adrien back to justify her creepy behavior around him while she thought he was just a statue. This has got to be one of the flimsiest excuses for an episode, and given the plotlines this show has, that's saying something.

Alya tries to reassure Marinette to be herself, though with the way she phrases it, I wouldn't be surprised if you saw it as her subtly insulting Marinette instead.

“I know you're super insecure about how Adrien sees you, but can't you see the flaws you're ashamed of are what make you who you are?”

Nearby, Adrien's friend Nino is showing him a video of standup comedian Harry Clown, voiced by real life French comedian Franck Dubosc.

While I made a joke about it at the end of my last review, I don't think all celebrity guest stars in cartoons are inherently bad, as there have been a lot of standup comedians with great roles in children's media, like Howie Mandel and Weird Al Yankovic in Bobby's World and Milo Murphy's Law respectively. What I think made those shows work more was that they didn't really rely too much on the image of the comedians in the leading roles (although Mandel did appear at the beginning of every episode of Bobby's World and also voiced Bobby's dad), and focused more on the characters they played, trusting them to be entertaining in their own right. The Genie in Aladdin is another good example, as Robin Williams' energetic and upbeat performance was perfect for a character as eccentric as him. I'm going to talk about this more when I review “Penalteam”, but these characters and shows work more because you don't have to know who someone like Weird Al is in order to enjoy a show like Milo Murphy's Law.

The problem here is that Harry is clearly based off a real person, therefore, a lot of kids won't get who he is. In addition, despite being a standup comedian, the jokes don't really match up with the kind of jokes you're used to seeing from those kind of entertainers. While I haven't been able to find a lot of Franck Dubosc's routines with English subtitles, his delivery is pretty good, as is his performance in this episode, but a lot of the “jokes” he tells are either standard puns or just random things he says peppered by him honking the clown nose he wears/pretending to honk a clown nose when he isn't wearing it.

What, did adding “Bazinga!” to the end of every joke not go well with test audiences?

Standup comedy is about overdramatizing everyday life by telling stories about fairly mundane subjects and making jokes about them. When you get down to it, a lot of John Mulaney's most memorable routines are about things that happened to him, like the Stranger Danger seminars his elementary school had, a party he went to in high school, or his experiences trying to get a flight at an airport, but the way he describes them are done in such an energetic way, they become hilarious to watch. Hell, one of my favorite George Carlin bits is just him explaining the etymology of the term post-traumatic stress disorder.

Here, the jokes don't really feel like they're coming from a standup comedian, and while I understand comedy is subjective, the jokes Harry Clown makes here just aren't that funny in my opinion.

And then there's the fact that Adrien didn't find the sock joke funny, when a lot of the jokes he makes as Cat Noir are puns. Instead, while Nino was showing Adrien the video, Adrien laughed at Marinette making some erratic movements while describing her fantasies to be with him. Once again, this isn't exactly the high praise the writers think it is. While Marinette is making Adrien laugh, it's not intentional, and they're playing up Adrien laughing at Marinette's eccentric behavior as a good thing.

Marinette sees Adrien laughing, not knowing he's laughing at her, decides to come up with a way to make Adrien fall in love with her by making him laugh. Ah, going for the Roger Rabbit approach, I see.

Apparently, Harry Clown is a regular at the bakery Marinette's parents own, so she rushes over there to meet up with him while he buys a baguette. Harry figures out Marinette has a crush on Adrien, and reveals he and Gabriel actually go back, as Gabriel designed a French fry costume for his first movie.

Ah, yes, my favorite superhero: Artery Clogger.

Harry promises to give Marinette and Adrien tickets to his latest show, and goes over to Gabriel to offer Adrien a role in his latest movie, where “Super Fry” has to save the world with the help of “Camembert Justice” and “Wonder Potato”. Despite the strange premise and Harry honking his nose while explaining it like one of his jokes, it's supposed to be a serious movie. So is he going the Man of Steel route or the Titans route? While Gabriel seems to be okay with the script as long as the movie gets produced, he has a feeling nobody will actually take this guy seriously.

After happily running out of Gabriel's mansion, Harry and Marinette go over some jokes based off the former's routines, leading to Marinette performing prop comedy in front of Adrien.

Unless you've got Tom Servo and Crow T. Robot hiding in your purse with Tikki, I'm not interested. While Marinette keeps making Lucille Ball and Betty White cry from Heaven with her abysmal performance, Harry gets a call from the only agent in Paris, Bob Roth, and has to get there as soon as possible. While presenting his script to him, I know this might break your suspension of disbelief but Bob can't see how dramatic the standup comedian's movie about a talking french fry really is, and just sees it as a comedy. Is this another jab at the fans who supposedly underestimate the depths of this show? Bob makes a good point that Harry is a comedian at heart and a movie as dramatic as this is a real risk and probably won't bring in a lot of money. Then Harry says his dream was to be a superhero like the French fry and Bob laughs off his dream before tearing up his script, leaving him heartbroken and unable to console an upset Marinette. Right before he goes on stage for his show, Shadowmoth akumatizes him into Psycomedian

Psycomedian himself is... okay.  The design reminds me a lot of Reverser from Season 2 with the use of black and white, only with a red cloak for some reason. I like the emblem being a mix of the classic comedy and tragedy masks. As for his powers, because Harry wanted to make people feel more emotions other than joy, Psycomedian has the ability to force people who look at him to feel the emotion reflected on his mask whenever he squeaks his nose, also like Reverser, but with a wider range.

Gee, where have I seen that before?

Adrien quickly ducks out to transform into Cat Noir, right after making one of the only funny jokes in this entire episode.

Marinette transforms into Ladybug as well and soon meets up with Cat Noir, quickly figuring out they can't look directly at Psycomedian. After retreating into a safe place, Ladybug summons her Lucky Charm, a makeup kit. She plans to apply makeup to her eyelids to make it seem like her eyes are open, and lures Psycomedian into a trap. She takes his clown nose, believing it to be where the Akuma is, and gives it to Cat Noir to Cataclysm. However, the Akuma is actually in his fanny pack, where he takes out a new nose and uses his power on Ladybug.

Rather than making her cry like he tried to do earlier, Psycomedian thinks it's better to make Ladybug angrier than the Incredible Hulk after stubbing his toe. Ladybug is now far more aggressive and doesn't even care if civilians get hurt in the crossfire, so Cat Noir has to retreat with Ladybug once again. Admittedly, I like this twist, as it's a different take on the usual formula where this time, Cat Noir has to be the brains of the two while Ladybug is handicapped by the Akuma. They go to the sewers to recharge, and after Ladybug is still literally too angry to die, Cat Noir has to restrain her in some kind of rug while they search for the Akuma, but temporarily lets her go to use her Lucky Charm, which gives her a motorcycle helmet... which she immediately breaks.

But I thought being simple was good! Wasn't that the point of Thomas Astruc's magnum opus, “Simpleman”?

While Psycomedian goes to see if Bob still wants to make the serious movie he originally proposed, Ladybug uses Cat Noir's belt as a blindfold while she steals another motorcycle helmet. Cat Noir uses some makeup lying around to paint over said motorcycle helmet in order to blind Psycomedian before Cataclysming him. Again, I like how Cat Noir figured out what to do, and I really wish we got more episodes like this.

Ladybug de-evilizes the Akuma, uses Miraculous Ladybug to fix the damage, gives Harry a Magical Charm, and Cat Noir says the obvious and tells Harry to get a new producer after Bob turns down his revised idea for his movie,

Marinette goes to apologize to Adrien for her behavior, and Adrien clarifies he was laughing at her earlier, which again, she's cool with for some reason. And so the episode ends with a rare example of Marinette talking to Adrien before they see Harry go on stage again.

Surprisingly, putting aside the first act, this episode wasn't all that bad. Admittedly, for a comedy episode, there were barely any jokes that I found actually funny, and even the ones I liked like Adrien's dark humor comment only mustered a light “Heh.” from me. While the Akuma was more of a repeat, the way the powers worked made the fights more interesting because they couldn't look at him, even if Ladybug suddenly became Daredevil at the end with how she perfectly managed to parry Psycomedian's punches. And again, I liked the idea of Cat Noir being the one to stop Psycomedian with the helmet, even if he didn't have to paint it, just put it on Psycomedian backwards so he still can't see.

Angry Ladybug was also a really enjoyable part of the episode and it was nice to see Cat Noir play the straight man in their partnership for once. But like with him doing more to save the day, I really think this episode should have been a learning experience for Adrien. He could have learned how reckless he was as Cat Noir after seeing how reckless Ladybug is under Psycomedian's influence, but instead, he became just as angry as she did in later episodes (Sentibubbler, Kuro Neko).

But I still had problems with how Franck Dubosc was utilized for his guest appearance. I already talked about how I think his jokes aren't that funny and not like an actual standup comedian, but the whole movie idea was just really confusing. On the one hand, I like how this is a representation of actors being typecast into certain roles, but on the other hand, it's hard to really take his movie idea seriously because we know so little about it other than it being about talking food and that he makes quips about it. I think if we knew more about it like a better description of the emotional scenes or if maybe the hero was clown-themed like a heroic version of the Joker, Harry's akumatiztion would be better in my opinion.

I was honestly expecting this to be a real bad episode, one of the more frustrating and least funny with tons of Unfunny Marinette Slapstick, but I was surprised to see the Marinette humiliation only last for the first act, and it was mostly a single scene that wasn't even that cringeworthy. Even after she made a fool of herself in front of Adrien, her feelings are taken seriously. When she cries, it's framed as a serious moment. I was surprised that Psycomedian didn't make her sobbing constantly to ruin the drama of that one scene. While I don't get why the writers think Adrien laughing at Marinette's weird behavior is a good thing, especially since we've rarely seen him laugh around her whenever she does stuff like this (Mr. Pigeon 72, Simpleman), I still liked the resolution for how straightforward the conversation was, and other than a simple gag of her gushing over sitting next to Adrien. If we got more scenes like this this season, ones where Marinette and Adrien got to talk more as people, I'd have an easier time believing Adrien when he calls Marinette one of his best friends in “Ephemeral”.

But overall, while it was heavily flawed, I still thought this episode was decent, and given the other episodes I've seen, I'll take decent any day.

For my next review, I'm going to take a look at “Qilin” next for two reasons. 1) Since it leads into the season finale, I want to take a look at “Penalteam” before the last two episodes air, and 2) I would rather take a look at Miraculous Ladybug's attempt to do a racism episode before I have to watch “Penalteam” again for the review.

[gregorovitch-adler]

So, they've finally got into the crypt now. Really creepy.

John says his microphone, Sherlock, Mariana (and also Archie) are his new life now! 🥹

John feeling all pissed off and heading off to confront Carrie and the theme music cutting off his long rant in the middle was funny. 🤭 You go, John! Get your dog back.

Sherlock complains about Archie's snoring as he and John try to locate Carrie and her phone in her house. 😅

C: Grab him and go please.

J: He needs the the toilet.

C: Not [Sherlock], Archie.

Love this! 😁

Carrie is still quite defensive about everything when John tries to talk to her. Weird.

The whole sequence where John didn't like it because Archie was comfortable with Carrie was so sad. At least he agrees to come with John once he and Sherlock show up to Carrie's place to get him (and ask about Beatrice).

God, Archie has a human femur bone with him!!

Of course, the bit about Carrie just turned out to be a Red Herring. Everytime people in a detective story suspect one person from the start, the said person usually turns out to be not that bad. Just a Red Herring.

Robert really shouldn't have sent her to steal John's mic. Things don't look so good for Bobby Knobhead.

Robert's childhood sounds bad. What happened to his dad was cruel. Then he goes into an attack mode and starts rambling about the injustice that John's father, Harry, had to face. People often do that when they're vulnerable.

Oh, so Beatrice died of natural causes and she had planned everything before her death!

That's what the will said: Robert gets all the cars and money after her death if his relative buries Beatrice in the mausoleum. If not, then Robert would dig out Beatrice and Sir James, cremate them both, and spread their ashes in the whole forest. (I didn't get this part at first because of Robert's thick accent. Kudos to the convo I just had with my friend. Now I can see it all clearly. 👍)

Jeez, actually ended up doing all that!

But he didn't kill his sister, surely. Sir James just wanted Robert to Cremate both him and Beatrice and spread their ashes together in the forest so they aren't separated after death, in case Robert's folks aren't able to bury them together.

This was so Gothic and oddly cute (romantic).

Sherlock and John encourage him to fight for himself. Everyone thinks he's the killer; Sherlock and John ask him to fight for his innocence.

The entire sequence of John driving off the vehicle because he'd always wanted to is hilarious and delightful.

"Holy moly, that's fast! Whoo!" - I love him.

"How many times do I have to tell you to not do something? Does that ever stop you?" (John to Sherlock).

Exactly, Sherlock, he's right.

I love it when John gets into all doctor mode. ❤

When he started to perform chest compressions, he did it in a cycle of just 10 compressions in a row. I was confused, because in our first year of pre-med, we were taught to perform 30 compressions in a row, followed by mouth-to-mouth resuscitation (twice). Then check for the pulse again.

The moment I thought that, John stopped what he was doing and began performing chest compressions on Robert in a cycle of 30, hehe. That was good to hear.

"Get up, you stupid Bobby Knobhead!" - John says that when he's performing CPR on that guy. My man's really funny.

God they performed Defib on him right there! John managed to save him! Amazing.

"I'll be heading back to London, where my life is now." - 🥺 Stop it!!

The podcast team really drives this point home that Sherlock, Mariana, and Archie are the closest people to him at this point. That's where his life's at. It's beautiful. ❤

John again tries to explain his lame joke and Sherlock cuts him off, feeling irritated. 😂 I love them both.

Sherlock packed, and John felt so warm. He's really obvious with the way he talks.

John's friend from the village wrote the lyrics of a Beatles song to thank him. 😂 No wonder he's 'unmoved'.

Sherlock packed Archie in a fucking bag!! 🤣 Oh my god.

"You're lashing out at those you love." - Aww, John doesn't deny this statement at all. 💕

He's just really irritated. "You packed the dog in a bag!!" 🤭

The whole adventure is finally over now.

It was great. Really intense, and filled with Johnlock moments. John loves Sherlock and Mariana a lot!

And so did Sir James Beatrice. Love each other, I mean. Oof.

I actually expected Robert to be the killer, but turns out he wasn't.

Let's see what they do next week.

I finally got down to listening to Sherlock&co.

1.) I really like this new take on he Holmes adaptation. It's different and interesting. Sounds fresh.

2.) Their voices are distinct, but personality wise, Sherlock is quite similar to BBC Sherlock's Sherlock. But not John.

3.) John is so hilariously awkward and I get so much second hand embarrassment listening to him. 🤭 But I quite like this new way of characterising him. He is authoritative when he truly needs to be. But the rest of the time, the intro and outro of his podcast are record so pathetically lmfao. Love this John Watson.

4.) Mariana from Hudson's instead of just Mrs Hudson? I thought her character was going to be based on Mary Morstan from ACD canon (because of her name), but not really. She's a completely different character altogether. And Sherlock keeps calling her Mrs Hudson and she keeps correcting him saying it's Mariana from Hudson's. XD I can't say much on her character because I'm just on The Illustrious Client right now, but she sounds likeable.

5.) I love how they chose this story (The Illustrious Client) as their first one in the series of podcasts. I really liked that one in ACD canon too. The plot was quite intriguing and I like this idea a lot.

6.) John always calls him Sherlock but Sherlock calls him Watson sometimes. Many a time, actually. What's that about?

I'll probably make more posts as I keep listening to more. That's all for now.

@a-victorian-girl , @jamielovesjam

[pastelavender88]

Right Person At Maybe The Wrong Time- Chapter 7

Summary: It’s time for the party with Evan’s friends. Is Y/N ready?

Series masterlist

Today was the day of the party, and Alex was buzzing with excitement. I knew all about Evan's work family. Some who were attending the party were Chimney, who was dating Maddie, Buck's sister. They just had a baby named Jee-Yun, and according to Buck, she was the cutest baby ever. Then, there was Bobby and his wife, Athena. She had two kids named May and Henry. There was Henrietta, her wife, Karen, and their son, Denny. Of course, Eddie and Christopher were going to be there, so I'm sure I'll be fine. When I arrived at the beautiful house, I could tell the party was in full swing. I rang the doorbell, and a beautiful woman opened the door. 

The way she dressed, her bright smile, and her dazzling soul reminded me of my mother. She was confused by my presence, but then Buck swiftly came behind her. "Hey, you guys made it. Athena, this is Y/N and Alex." Buck spoke. "Oh, it's nice to meet the both of you. Please, come in." Alex and Buck instantaneously disappeared into the party. Athena turned to me and started to speak. "When Buck first told us about you and Alex, you aren't exactly what I expected," I guess she saw the confused look on my face because she added,  "and I mean that in the best way." We both laughed at that. "Well, let me introduce you to everyone." We came over to a small group of others. "Bobby, May, Harry, Micheal, this is Y/N. The mother of Buck's daughter." She pointed to Buck and Alex, who were sticking together like a heartbroken woman to ice cream. "Oh, we've heard so much about the both of you. When Buck said he had a daughter, I didn't think he got a sister pregnant." Everyone looked at the young girl after her statement. "What, I'm just saying." "It's fine, I swear. I'm sure I'm not what anyone expected, it's lovely to meet you, and you guys have a beautiful family." "Although I heard so much about you. Can you tell me more? Tell me about yourself? What do you do for a living?" Bobby asked. "Are you single?" The little boy named Harry asked. His sister hit him upside his head. "Oww... also, why did you settle for Buck?" "I'm about to hit you next if you keep it up, boy." His mom added. I laughed loudly at their family dynamic. It reminded me of when I was younger, and it was just my mom, dad, and me, joking around like that. "He's cute." Harry smiled brightly at that.  " I'm mostly a nurse, but I'm working on a book at the moment. My daughter and I moved out here around two years ago. It was after a few unfortunate events, but it led to a new chapter in our life. So, I'm grateful for it." I turned to the little boy and added, "and not that it's your concern, but I am single." The boy seemed to lean in at that. "Though, it's never going to happen." Everyone except Harry laughed at that statement. "Well, don't let us hog you, Enjoy the party!" 

After saying thanks, I walked over to where Buck and Alex were hanging out. They were talking to a couple with a baby. So I assumed it was Maddie and her boyfriend, Chimney. "Y/N, this is Chimney, Jee-Yun, and you know Maddie." I looked over, and although she looked slightly different, it was still the Maddie I knew. She hastily wrapped me in a hug. "How are you? Well, other than the whole secret child becoming common knowledge?" Everyone chuckled at that. "I'm great, honestly. So many things are happening, but it's nice to be around people again." Chimney turned to me. "Nice to meet you, I'm Howard, but everyone calls me Chimney." I looked at him like he grew three heads. Buck quickly spoke up. "Don't ask even I don't know." We engaged in some small talk before I decided to mingle with others.

  A woman and a person I assumed to be her significant other came over. "Hello, I'm Henrietta, and this is my wife, Karen. Our son Denny is over there with who I assume to be your daughter." "You would be right. Hello, it's nice to meet you." "It's nice to meet you. Buck's told us a lot about the both of you." Well, Buck sure has gassed us up, huh. "Same here. It's amazing to meet everyone and get to know you all better."

  We continued to talk for what felt like hours, and eventually, I made my way to everyone at the party. Finally, I saw a certain brown-eyed fireman. "Well, look who it is. Edmundo Diaz. My favorite firefighter. No girlfriend tonight." "1. Don't let Buck hear you say that. Ever. 2. She's in the bathroom." That kind of threw me off because I never actually met his girlfriend. I didn't think they were that serious, considering him kissing me. Right when I was about to respond, a stunning woman walked up to Eddie and me. "Sorry to interrupt, I'm Ana. It's lovely to meet you." I hate life. Not only was she beautiful, but she was also kind.

"You too." "You must be Y/N. Buck and Eddie's told me about both you and your daughter, Alex." I looked over to Eddie, and he looked like he wanted to run cartoon style out of the room right now. "Oh, has he? Well, it's lovely meeting you, so what do you do for a living?" I wanted to be considerate, especially since I felt guilty about kissing Eddie. "I'm a vice principal, but I was a teacher not long ago. That's how we met. I was Christopher's teacher." So she wasn't Chris' mom. That's a relief.

The rest of the night was fun and filled with experiences. However, throughout the whole night, I felt someone staring at me. At first, I thought it was Alex or Buck. Although, when I looked, they were having tons of fun. Finally, I went with my suspicions and made eye contact with Eddie. He was looking at me with this look in his eyes. Something I haven't seen in a man in a long time. Boy, am I in for it.

There’s going to be a time skip after this just to get to the point of the season 5, episode 1 events. FYI dividers by @firefly-graphics

Taglist: @champagnesugamama​ @navs-bhat​

[hmslusitania]

What's your headcanon for each of the main characters' favorite show/thing to watch on TV?

Okay. Okay so

Athena — we know canonically that at least as of 2.01 her favourite show is Claws and she live tweets it and believes Niecey Nash should be on Mount Rushmore.

Bobby — gets extremely invested in every season of the GBBO, complains about the technicals every time, and then Athena and/or Harry will find him in the kitchen at like. Half two in the morning. Baking whatever it was.

Maddie — is a stated “reader” rather than watcher according to 2.02 but considering she lives with Chimney now I’m sure he’s done is best to curate something he thinks she’d like and I want to say it’s like. Downton Abbey or something else equally Austenian (I don’t know if that’s the right adjective it was autocorrect’s suggestion and we all know how that goes)

Chimney — has watched basically every scripted television show that’s gotten anything like buzz in the past ever. The West Wing? Yes. The Sopranos? Yes. Breaking Bad? Yes. Westworld? Yes. Game of Thrones? Yes. Supernatural? All fifteen seasons, baby. He’s also done the funny ones, your Mike Schur shows, your Office and Parks and Rec and Brooklyn Nine-Nine and the Good Place. His favourite right now currently airing is a tie between the Mandalorian and Ted Lasso.

Hen — doesn’t really strike me as a big TV person? But I feel like she and Karen have Movie Nights with a bottle of wine and a huge bowl of popcorn and it’s every sort of movie from old classics to modern comedies (Karen does a very good “here’s looking at you kid” Bogie impression that Hen does not find charming shut up)

Related but Karen has seen Every Episode of Every Star Trek Ever and this will be relevant later

Buck — much like Maddie (obviously) didn’t grow up with TV as a thing, like they had one in the house but it was in the living room in a cabinet and the only thing it got was the game and the only time they watched was Thanksgiving and the Super Bowl. In his adulthood, Buck is a huge fan of documentaries and docuseries. He’s seen every iteration of Planet Earth and Cosmos and the one docuseries the Radiolab guy did and watches all the space documentaries on all the streaming services and technically this all started before he started spending a bunch of time with an intelligent and curious kiddo but it got way more extensive when he wanted to impress Chris with random knowledge all the time. Also Jeopardy. He watched back episodes of Jeopardy on Netflix all the time and he cried when Alex Trebeck died yes I’m projecting onto a fictional character again

Eddie — my darling Eddie who has a Snake Plissken cosplay on lock? For no reason? Eddie is a closet spec-fic geek. And like yes he’s seen the big culturally significant stuff (Star Trek (he and Karen definitely bonded over that — they drive Hen and Buck a little nuts with discussions of Star Trek lore), GoT, Battlestar Galactica, the Mandalorian (he and Chim talk about it at work and it gets them both right in the dad places), Stranger Things) but I also mean like. Speculative fiction schlock and trash (I do not mean this in a derogatory way as Ive watched all these too). I’m talking like. Heroes. Legend of the Seeker. Timeless. The Witcher. iZombie. Eureka. Warehouse 13. Killjoys. Like Buck shows up at his house and finds him two seasons deep into a Magicians binge because Chris was on a sleepover. Eddie will never ever admit to any of this in public ever.

[buckleyblueyes]

buddie + coming out

Jess this got...so fucking long. I'm putting it under a cut. (send me a ship and a word and I'll give you a head canon)

Okay, so Buck first. I imagine that Buck first realized he wasn’t straight when he was in high school. He didn’t mention it to his parents because it’s not like they were that interested in who he was dating anyway. But he did come out to Maddie back then. They were driving around her jeep (coming out in cars is Real okay) and there was some cheesy pop music on the radio (it was the early 2000s) and he didn’t have the word “bisexual” just yet, but she asked if he was dating anyone/if he had a crush on someone and he said “uh...yeah. His name’s Jamie.” and she just took it in stride. Just kind of “oh, okay.” and then he added quickly “I still like girls, too, though” and since she was already through college at this point, so she knew sexuality wasn’t just gay and straight, so she didn’t even blink. “So, tell me about him” and he did. When he was done, she grinned, told him she wanted to meet Jamie some time, and turned up the radio. They drove around some more singing along to whatever cheesy pop song played next.

As far as Buck coming out as an adult, at some point in his late teens or early twenties he found the word bisexual. He never really tried to hide it, but he also never went out of his way to broadcast it. He never felt ashamed of his sexuality, per se, but he never felt proud of it either. It was just like...sometimes he dated guys, y’know? Anyways so flash forward to when he joins the 118. He doesn’t make a big deal out of it, but at some point early on Hen describes him as “a straight white boy” and he’s like “bold of you to assume I’m straight” “you’re not?” “not even a little” and leaves it at that. Sometimes he mentions hookups with guys during his 1.0 phase, but other than that he doesn’t really talk about it. He comes out to Eddie sometime in season 3, when he’s bemoaning his loneliness and Eddie says “you’ll find the right girl someday” and Buck suddenly realizes he’s never actually told Eddie he’s into guys so he responds. “Right person, actually.” and Eddie blinks twice. “What?” and Buck sighs. “I’ll find the right person, I’m bisexual.” and Eddie blinks again. “Oh...Cool…” and then they just move on.

Which brings us to Eddie. Eddie does not come to the realization that he’s queer until much later in life. He worries he might be gay in high school, because everyone else is interested in dating and girls, and he’s just. Not. Everyone always tells him that he and his good friend Shannon would make a good couple, and he’s pretty sure she has a crush on him, but he just likes her as a friend. Until one day, the summer after they graduate from high school, he looks at her and his heart starts racing and his palms are sweating but it’s not from the Texas humidity and oh my god. Is this what liking someone feels like? This is terrible, actually. But he was right about Shannon having a crush on him, so they start dating, and it’s great. And Eddie is relieved because falling in love with Shannon means he’s straight. He was just a late bloomer, like his mom said.

Anyways, so flash forward about twelve years and Eddie is starting to think he was wrong before. Oh, God, he was so wrong. He’s not sure when Buck went from his best friend to someone he was falling in love with, but it’s too late to go back now. But it’s fine. It’s fine. Buck is straight anyway, so it’s not even worth getting worked up over because it’s never going to happen and--Buck isn’t straight. Oh, hell.

And then he meets Ana, and she’s, well. She’s pretty, and he likes that she guesses his name right, but then he blows up at her and also she’s his son’s teacher, so that’s kind of weird. And then the pandemic hits, and he’s forced into close quarters with Buck and it gets impossible to deny his feelings to himself any longer. But he doesn’t know what to do about it. The problem for Eddie is that he’s only really had strong feelings for two people ever in his life, and the word ‘bisexual’ doesn’t to fit. More like ‘these two people in particular-sexual’ but that doesn’t really make sense.

So, when Ana comes back into his life, it seems like the easy way out. Nobody has to know that he has all these weird, confusing, not-heterosexual feelings. He’s 33 years old, who has a sexuality crisis at 33? Of course, the universe has other plans. He gets shot, he almost dies, and he realizes he doesn’t really feel anything for Ana and he probably never will, and predictably by the time he’s finally ready to confront his feelings and sexuality, Buck is dating Taylor. Great.

Anyways, so Eddie goes to Hen for help figuring himself out because if anyone would be able to help, his married lesbian friend seems like a very good bet. And he’s right. He explains how he’s only ever been in love with two people and that gender doesn’t seem to be a big factor in it, and she points him to the concept of asexuality and aromanticism, and more specifically demisexuality/demiromanticism and it just clicks for him. He wasn’t a “late bloomer” after all. So, I guess Hen is the first person Eddie comes out to. And he doesn’t really feel the need to come out to anyone else at that point because it’s not really anyone’s business.

Eventually, he and Buck get together. And for Buck, telling people isn’t a big deal because he’s been out as bi for years. Eddie isn’t reluctant to tell their found family, or even the rest of the 118. But he is nervous to tell his biological family. He doubts they’ll be too happy about him being with a man, let alone understand the concept of demisexuality. He starts with Abuela and Pepa, the family he’s closer to (literally and figuratively). He comes out to both of them at the same time, at Abuela’s, over a home cooked meal. He tells them that he and Buck are dating, that he loves him. Pepa puts a hand over his and gives it a gentle squeeze. “I’m proud of you,” she says. “It was about time you put that boy out of his misery.”

Eddie chokes on a surprised laugh. Then he looks at Abuela. Abuela is quiet for a minute before standing and walking around the table to where Eddie is sitting. She pulls him up to standing and gives him a tight hug. “Te quiero.”

Next he comes out to his sisters, who are pretty chill about the whole thing, and lastly his parents. His parents liked Buck when they met briefly, so if Eddie was going to be with a man, at least he picked a good one. And given that the rest of the family already knows and is supportive, it’s not like anyone would be on their side if they had a problem with it, and they want to keep seeing their grandson. So they just say “okay” and accept it in the most passive way possible.

Anyways this got SUPER DUPER long and detailed, so I’m going to end it with this: After they’ve been out (both Eddie coming out and Buck and Eddie being out as a couple) for awhile, Hen drags them to that year’s LA Pride with her, Karen, and the kids, and they end up meeting up with Michael, David, Harry and May there (and Bobby who is wearing a t-shirt that says “Free Dad Hugs” in rainbow letters, Buck takes him up on the offer immediately).