#he then buried someone alive who wanted to bury her dead bro

[argeiarenga]

I love how Eteocles & Creon's relationship and Polynices & Adrastus's relationship are similar

it feels like a mad dog & its middle-aged owner

And like Eteocles and Polynices are opposite of each other...? Creon and Adrastus could be opposite of each other as well

idk like uncool winner and cool loser??

And they also have some crazy prophet who hates the dog so much

[dolliestfairy]

𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑒𝑟'𝑠 𝑏𝑎𝑏𝑦 𝅄ֹ ׅ♡ ೀ ʚĭɞ ‌ིᨴּ ˒˒۪

(Crazy) Yandere [Nerd] Boy x Soft!Chubby!Fem!Reader ༢𓏲๋ ⊹ ֢

𔓘 Tw : Kidnapping, Extreme Noncon (y'all are strangers bro), Rushed Fanfic, Mentions Of Blood, Virginity-Take, Extreme Somnophilia, Stalking, Extreme Obsession, Impregnate, A little of Bondage, Seriously dude you're fucking with a crazy nerd boy who is a freaking stranger to you like y'all didnt know each other but this madman is really know you to the soul from all his stalking and stuff. this fanfic is quite the Dead Dove Do Not Eat. Chubby reader fics with no skintone of reader mentioned.

𔓘 A/N : y'all.. this are f***king insane bro.. like this is kinda disturbing imo as a writer of this and also a lot of suffocating. Read at your own risk. me myself actually like the extreme yandere fics but this is still the prefix of it. stay safe while reading this because again; y'all are a stranger!! if a dark content yandere isnt your cup of tea then i highly recommend you to spend your shit at other blogs!! ty.

W/C : 6,4K for Stranger Fucking 💀

Currently thinking abt nerdy men who looks like they would shit in their pants when someone raised their voice at them, but the truth is; he's really really quite the strong. he's a nerdy man who arent shy at all (or maybe just a little) and he's simply just dont like to be bothered by anyone else. he's also a nerdy man who told himself countless time to just focus on studying and studying, and at the first moment; he actually manage to do it within his daily life, well until he met you.

You; plump, soft looking girl with chubby cheeks and doe eyes. you dont even know how much you affect him didnt you? arent you just dumb? walking there and then with such a tiny skirt that almost showed up your plump ass cheeks. walking down in the hallway with such dress that hugged all of your curves together perfectly. oh if only you find out how every night he would spend his time in his bedroom alone while his hand thrust his own cock up and down, thinking about you. he would be drown in his thoughts about how you would find out all his dark fantasy about you. but.. he do realize he shouldnt be doing this actually, no really, he should just be studying, but the soft laugh and those.. those whimpers terror you gave him just drove him to his edge.

And the fact that he masturbate about you when you both are clearly still stranger - is fucking crazy. he mostly had heard of how'd you talk, whimper and moan (wait.. how did.. he know?) and stuff like that while your own self being completely un guard around him. he swear to his thumbs he hated you for making him felt like this, i mean how could you?? a plump girl just trying to get into her daily life as normal as usual can make some nerd dude mad in love with her without her being aware at all?! he cant do this.. he cant do this anymore..!

And he really cant do it anymore. as he go to your apartement at midnight after finding out where you live. peeking through the window to what you were doing only to find you dressing in a short pastel rainbow dress lingerie with big bows placed in the back of your hair, dancing to some songs.. and oh my god he cant even explain how much he want to ripped those colorful dress lingerie off your body. he has no doubt at all that you have the most beautiful body he would ever sees in his entire life.

As he drown himself in his own thoughts until he heard a telephone ring -- it was your friend! your male friend! as you picked the phone up, talking with your friends, while he sees with his own eyes about the way you laugh softly at what-god-knows your friend was muttering to you. he doesnt and he would rather bury himself alive than admitting about the fact that he was really, really, envy and jealous. as he harshly breath at you, while all his body is literally focus with you. his eyes seeing you from head-to-toe, his ears listening carefully about the conversation you're having as his mouth try to resist to open it again because well um -- he is quite the drooling over there. that was it until you start to walk towards the front door where he was outside!!

As he sees you carefully, while hiding himself in the corner, and focused on the door handle you're about to open. until........

Until he quickly enough to put his arms and placed it onto your mouth, shuting you up until you passed out and bring you to your new home his home. as he open the bondage he placed at your mouth, and pinch your chubby cheeks until he sees your whimpering again. thats it! thats the thing that always drove him mad everydsy everynight. thinking about you whimper at whatever he was doing was like a holy candle for him. he then stood himself up, looking at your half unconscious body, and then start to strip you... to naked.

As he softly ripped all the dress lingerie you weared, and after he got the look at your boobs, he slowly put his hands up at where your nipples on, and start playing with it. while his eyes focused on your face, waiting the reaction he have been wait. and until then... you are moaning. honestly he have been thinking that he was in a dream that time. i mean -- he do have seen you moan by the way he always check on you secretly.. but he never except his own self to be the only one who could capable enough to hear your soft moan. as he sped up the phase of his hands playing your nipple, while his own other hand strat to undress himself.

And until he and your own finally completely naked. and... oh god to be damned. he swear he always sees you at some kind of whore while your other friend sees you just as an innocent normal girl, and he always have no doubt about his feelings That you have such an erotic body and at the end.. he was actually right. you do have a very very.. pleaseable body. as he placed his hands into your half unconscious body, lowering it until his hands touch your private part -- your pussy. he slowly but surely put his 3 long fingers in to play with you, and to be surprised or.. shocked even, that you are so so fucking damn tight! he even sure that your pussy is one of the most tightest thing he'd ever placed his hands on, as he quickly sped-ing up his pace at playing your pussy, watching you moan and whimper become one, he cant believe what he saw. you're literally still half unconscious! but yet you somehow still manage to bring out the sound he would die for with! at this rate he doesnt know if he wants to wake you up or just let you still be half unconscious so when you wake up, you're gonna have a some extra surprised with your naked body that has been covered with his cums. as he thinking about it while he placed his (quite big) cock at your pussy. trying to rip those tight wall of your pussy off. thats what he was trying to do until your pussy start showing a little drop of blood out of it.

Oh.. he get it.. yeah he actually get it. You're a Virgin arent you? oh.. such sweet cheeks.. well too bad yoi're going to give all of your innocents left as his own hands and dicks. the body of someone you dont even know at all. he actually felt (just a little) bit of guilt. but who cares anyway? you're literally still half unconscious! as he said it to himself while he tried his possible to pound your ass up at your fat pussy. going in and up in every corner. at first it was slowly, but then he start to change the position into a mating press just so the cums and the blood are still there. as he quickly but surely speeding his pace up like a mad man. at this rate he was at the edge of doesnt gave a fuck about the fact that you're still half unconscious but then he's also at the edge of shock and unbelief because of how you are still not waking up at his pounding.

And all of those pounding ends when his cock start to dried out with how your fat pussy suck all his cums and sperma in. pulling his cock out of your pussy only to see the view of the inside of your pussy, being drown with his cums. as his hands hold your body up just so all the cums he had restored isnt goung to spill. and until then he slowly put his hands down, letting your body down into the mating press position, watching your pussy spilling all of his cums like a fucking waterfall. (his cum waterfall) and then he placed his palm hands at your cheeks softly, while quietly muttering about how he would take care of you, and keeping you safe and that you wouldnt need to be scared of him (even after all his done to you) as he placed his other hand at your undressed belly, and then stroke it with such gentleness because he knew that right now, right at the almost-morning time, that you're going to be swellen with thousands - thousands of his sperm, and at the end of the month, he would see you placed your own hands at your bellies who at that time was full with his kid. oh how he cant wait... he just hope that you wouldnt be freaked out about the fact that you just found yourself in a unrecognizeable place with a literal fucking stranger who is now has placed a baby inside of you. yes, a baby -- his baby.

TSUKISHIMA KEI, ITOSHI RIN, MEGUMI, Itachi, Shikamaru, Nanami, Neji, Tobirama, Deku, KUNIMI, Muichiro, SEMI EITA, Konoha Akinori, Venti, XIAO, AL-HAITAM, Akaashi, KOZUME KENMA, & hatake kakashi.

did i forgeting anyone? insert ur fav!

Dolliestfairy's © Works. Do Not Repost My Creation at Any Platfroms Without My Permission.

[mysteryideasgroup]

MSA X Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island Chapter 15: Werecats and Werekitsunes are telling them that they have their stories in the past 300 and 200 of the 18th century/Werecreatures are killing the pirates and unsuspecting people are dead in the century/Rest of the gangs are shocked and surprised that the Zombies are tried to warn them from Werecats and Werekitsunes have their victims

Simone, Lena, Icy and Mima were some of the early settlers who made the island their home. They look after their "cat god" and "kitsune god" for a bountiful harvest. Everyone is having a happy and peaceful life on the bayou until the night of the harvest moon when Morgan Moonscar anchors his ship, the MAELSTROM, where he and his pirates arrive on shore to bury their stolen treasure.

They were celebrating their harvest dinner party when the pirates attacked and forced the settlers into the water, all except for Simone, Lena, Icy and Mima who hid behind the trees. They watched their friends and neighbours get eaten alive by alligators. They’re horrified by their friends and neighbours who have died of alligators eaten alive. They find a hiding place until the pirates have left their property. They have prayed to the cat god and kitsune god to avenge the settlers, even if it means killing them. Their wish was granted, as they were first transformed into were-cats and were-kitsunes.

Simone: We became cat creatures and destroyed the pirates. And only afterwards did we discover that invoking the cat god's power had cursed us as well.

Icy: We become kitsune creatures, the kitsune god's power is cursed as well.

Lena: Over the years, boats continued to come to our island. One was full of spice traders who started the pepper plantation. The plantation flourished.

Simone: At least, until the Harvest Moon, sometimes it became necessary for Lena to lure outsiders back to this island.

Icy: Someone has gotten the hottest peppers in Harvest Moon, we got killed unsuspecting people in past.

Fred: Just like you lured us.

Lena: I had years of practice.

Daphne: And those zombies are just the poor souls you've drained, they're just trying to warn us so we wouldn't suffer the same fate they did!

Marco: Not good, zombies are trying to warn us that they have drained them! Like the same fate!

Simone: Pretty smart, for a television reporter.

Icy: Cameraman reporter.

Trixie, Laura, Sardonyx, Muffet and Claude are peeking near the old wooden door, all of them shocked as they hear every single word.

Suddenly, they hear a loud were-cat and were-kitsune roar coming from outside.

Lena: Sounds like Jacques and Vincent have found your frightened friends

Fred: Jacques?!

Marco: ! Vincent?!

Simone: We needed a ferry driver, the old man wanted immortality, so we gave it to him."

Icy: Yes, right, we need a ferry driver, the old man wanted immortality, so we gave it to him.

----

For @laurasanchez36

All belongs to my Msa ocs sonas and new Msa ocs sonas Teams/Groups/Gangs/Squads/Crews and Team/Group/Gang/Squad/Crew

All belongs to her Msa ocs sonas and new Msa ocs sonas Teams/Groups/Gangs/Squads/Crews and Team/Group/Gang/Squad/Crew

Scooby-Doo belongs to WB (Warner Bros) Animated Movies

[clanofjones]

Ghosts of Our Days - Chapter Two

<- Chapter One

Ao3 link (full work)

This chapter, like all of them, was co-written with @theosb0rnway!

Chapter Two: Iced Iced Baby

"Fuckin' creep." Casey wished that Donatello would find a hobby besides spying on his friends and family, especially since Casey Jones didn't want to be seen by anyone.

Okay, he wanted to be seen by Shredder in his nightmares, but it's not like he'd willingly tell anyone that, or tell anyone anything.

If the others found out about Raph, Casey knew he would be blamed for panicking and very clearly following Raphael's orders to run. Sure, Raph never told him to take his body, but no way in hell was Casey going to leave Raph to die with Super Shredder. Master Splinter was in no shape to fight, so Raph was a laying, stabbed, broken target that Saki could easily stab again.

'He's still dead anyways' a voice muttered in Casey's head.

"Shut up."

'You let him die, you made things worse.'

"Shut. Up."

'If it wasn't for you trying to save HER he'd still be alive-'

"SHUT THE FUCK UP!"

It took Casey a minute to realize he was talking to himself.

Alone.

On a roof.

While dismantling all the electronics he owned.

Sorry, Angel, big bro would have to get another phone and spam you with another crappy "New phone who dis?" message at 2 am.

Angel.

Casey faltered for a second, trying to think of a way to tell his precious baby sister that her favorite tea party playmate was now laying face up in a pool of his own blood, a loving expression still on his lifeless face.

"At least he's... happy..." He whispered, walking to over to finally shut his eyes and officially lay Hamato Raphael to rest. He took a moment to cry and wiped his tears before getting back to work.

The vigilante's mind raced with ideas of what to do next. He was almost done destroying any evidence of his existence, but he couldn't go home and he CERTAINLY couldn't go back to the lair.

Then there was the matter of Raph's body, which he desperately wanted to keep with him, crossing hotels off the list. He could find an abandoned building for now, maybe one by some of his favorite dumpster haunts so that food and clothes were always nearby. He knew he had to sneak home, but that was at the bottom of his current to-do list.

He put that at the bottom of his ever growing list:

1. KILL THAT FUCKER

2. Get Raphie a new home

3. Food.

4. New dumpster territory?

5. Raph's things from lair

6. Get un-Donnie-fied phone

7. Angel

8. Raid room for all things

Casey Jones was a man of few words, mainly because when he tried big words they all came out screwy. He liked big words, but the gap in his mouth sure didn't. This is why he resorted to physical ways of communication.

Currently, his fist was communicating with his broken phone that today was the worst day he'd ever had and that ripping things apart felt good. He pulled out the last wire on the beat up old thing and smashed it with his boot, throwing everything he destroyed over the edge of the rooftop before grabbing Raph's heavier body and honing his expert searching skills.

For all his vigilantism, Casey wasn’t sure what to do with a body. Especially not the body of someone you cared deeply about, and especially not the body of his lover. But he had to do something with Raph’s body, and he wasn’t taking it back to the lair. Even as he thought it over, it stung to realize he’d referred to Raph’s body as an ‘it’, no matter how correct it was.

He knew that bodies were sure to rot if left unattended for long after, and he couldn’t let that happen to Raph.

It wasn’t as if he could just as well bury him, either. Cremation was also out the window. Until he decided on what to do with it, as he got his breathing under control for a third time that night, he knew he needed a box freezer. Ice and cold kept a body fresh, right? He hoped so.

In some odd twist of fate, luck smiled on him, after everything, after keeping him out of commission, after killing his boyfriend, after forbidding him from reaching his boyfriend in time to save him, and he raided an unoccupied apartment for their box freezer.

If tonight had been a normal night, he would have felt the strain of pushing a box freezer up a flight of stairs, to an apartment he knew would always be empty, due to the crushed wall that the HOA or whoever never bothered to fix, after running up over twenty levels not two hours ago.

But tonight was not a normal night, he registered after plugging the freezer into an outlet. And as he lowered Raph into the freezer, his lover’s face almost uncharacteristically soft and affectionate to all who hadn’t known him, really knew him, Casey found that he couldn’t physically feel much of anything at all.

Even as he sank next to the freezer, his body was overtaken by belated sobs, the cold from the freezer seeping into his veins. This was the man he loved, dead, laying in a fucking freezer who knows where, with his whole family miles away probably out looking for him.

Did Casey feel bad for this, for doing what he thought was right to save Raph?

For leaving April, Splinter, and the boys to deal with Super Shredder on their own?

A couple hours ago, Casey would've said yes, would've stayed to protect his friends and finish that fight fair and square, but then Oroku Saki just HAD to get his boyfriend involved and Casey couldn't think about friendship or protection or anything but the horror in front of him.

So he did what Casey Jones always does when he's scared.

He ran.

Ran as far as he could until he finally dropped, and then he had to watch the love of his life slowly die in his arms. It was almost laughable, how many times he had to keep his breathing in check, to refrain from hitting the already brittle wall.

The hardest thing in the room was probably the freezer, and he couldn’t do that, no way in hell. Raph was there. Even if he was dead, he was there. And nobody was going to take that from Casey with their head still attached to their neck.

But, he reminded himself, now wasn’t the time to decapitate anybody, nor was it the time to lose himself – he had to do things methodically.

Rationally, he knew that Super Shredder was too strong for him to fight on his own, and coupled with the inevitable presence of Leo, Donnie, Mikey, April, Slash, Splinter, and Leatherhead in various places around New York, and they’d all be crowding at the hotel sooner rather than later.

Oddly enough it took a few days of hanging around the apartment, with nothing but the freezer, Raph’s body, and his own mind for company, until he got properly hungry.

Long ago, in happier times, he’d mapped out a small grocery store three blocks from the apartment complex, and after determining that there wasn’t a single crumb in the entire room, while expired food wasn’t one of Casey’s biggest worries, per se, he really needed to not die of starvation.

So, he opened the freezer, pressed a kiss to Raph’s cold forehead, told him he'd be back soon, closed the lid again, and climbed down via his grapple line.

He wasn’t sure if the trek had been easy or if he was slowly becoming desensitized to all but everything. Either way, he slipped inside the convenience store with minimum stares. It was the early hours of morning in New York, after all.

He snatched anything that didn’t look like it would give him food poisoning that would last relatively long. Specifically foods that he'd known Raph to like. Memories had to be kept alive somehow, and what better way than through food, right? At least until the fucker that killed him was properly dead, no resurrections allowed.

He still had to live long enough to make sure Shredder died, and stayed that way, this time, and to make sure that Angel would be okay without him. However, this was counterproductive, because as he stood, he was also broke.

All his savings were back home, and he hadn’t put a resounding amount of thought into getting back there. Truthfully, he hadn’t put much thought into much of anything besides killing his newest nemesis.

He managed to grab a few boxes of poptarts, microwavable pizzas, canned soup and fruit, and a few handfuls of granola bars. It wasn’t exactly a good meal, but it was edible, he supposed. Reasonably priced, given the economy.

‘Casey,’ the voice whispered in his ear.

“Shut the fuck up,” he bit back in a mutter, and the voice offered no retaliation, as if it had only time to whisper one foreboding thought to him alone, before running off to torment another poor soul.

He thought it odd that the voice had called him by name. And that the voice sounded as familiar as it did. Almost like-

“Casey?” He blinked three times, before turning to the source of the noise, which actually hadn’t been a disembodied voice in his ear.

It was April O'Neil, looking about half as awful as Casey, he was sure.

“Where have you been? I haven’t seen you in–” This was bad. Casey had no way to explain to April anything that had happened without any possible incorrect conclusion not only being jumped to, but tackled and put in a headlock.

So, for the second time that week, Casey did the thing he was best at in crisis – he ran. Even as April called his name, chasing him, demanding to speak with him, that this was IMPORTANT, CASEY, but he didn’t stop, not at the checkout, and as alarms rang that someone was robbing the store, he rammed the door with his shoulder.

“Casey! Have you at least seen Raph, we–”

What.

He chanced a glance back at April, as he felt his eyes widen from behind his mask, and his knuckles turn white from the pressure he was exerting on his stolen wares.

April was saying something else, a hand extended, but he couldn’t, there wasn’t time, there wasn’t a way he could, not when Shredder was still alive.

He left as quick as he could, not bothering to turn around and taking the longer route back to the apartment. After all, he had a very important job to do.

Then he’d see about April and the others.

Eventually.

.

.

.

.

A/N: FYI, this is a canon-dependent fanfiction written by two dummies (aff) who don't have access to TMNT 2012 in its entirety.

Chapter Three ->

[natsukicookies]

180 personality change.

Ships: suna × f!reader x miya twins

Summery: just y/n being annoying but them finding her cute.

Words: 669

Type: fluff || funny || sfw

≛ ، . ‹ ִֶָ . ָ࣪ ‹ ャ ִֶָ ≛ ، . ‹࿔ৡ⃪꫶⃗၇͜ᩘ🦋͜ᩘ၇⃪⃖ৡ࿔ ‹ ャ ִֶָ ≛ ، . ‹ ִֶָ . ָ࣪ ‹ ャ ִֶָ

"Go away, you're annoying" suna muttered pushing y/n away who was annoying the hell out of him.

"Aw but I know you love me!" The female teen tease with a smirk on her face as she came closer.

"I know you simp for me" she tiptoe to be closer to his ear "I know you dream of me too and I know what kinda dream is it too- Da'k!"

She whispered into his ear but in the end of the sentence suna put his hand on her mouth shutting her up.

"I swear to God if you say one more thing.. I will choke you to dead" he gave her a death glared but as soon he let go of her mouth..

"Oh yeah?" Y/n stated as her smirk got bigger. Suna knew the next word that's gonna come out of your mouth is gonna be something annoying.

"Choke me like you hate me but you love me~" she sang running around him in a circle, Not caring if others saw it.

And if it weren't already enough before, now everyone was looking at them which was making suna wanted to dig a hole and bury the teen girl alive..

In the corner was the tiwns watching them, Atsumu put his hands on his hip and said "at first I thought she was the cute, shy and innocent type.."

Osamu hemmed in response, both remembering the first time they saw her.

Osamu, Atsumu and suna were on their way to gym but someone bump into Osamu making all the page fall everywhere.

"A-ah.." they all looked down and saw a [h/c] haired girl on the floor picking up the page in a hurry.

"I'm s-sorry" she mumbled not looking at them then she stood up and bow before running away. All of them thought she was quite the shy one... well that was until they get to know her.

Looking at her now it's like her personality did a 180 switch or something.

"She did change a lot" kita said as he joined the twins, Both twins nodded agreeing with him.

"She's quite wild" Osamu said looking at the first year girl who was laughing and annoying his friend.

Atsumu quickly looked at his twin with wide eyes "oi samu! You're simping?" He asked his twin and Osamu's eyes widened as his face turned red from embarrassment?? Orr..

"No!" He defended himself "I didn't want to call her flirty or a pervert so I.." he tiled off, looking away.

"Bro.." Atsumu said with a unreadable face. "Don't give me that look!, You, yourself simp for her!" Osamu Whisper yelled so the others wouldn't hear.

"No I don't-" Atsumu was about to defend himself but got cut off "suree, as your twin I can read you like a book you know?" Now it was This time to go red.

"Okay okay. Don't fight" kita stopped them as both were about to get in to a fight.

"Yo" y/n popped out of nowhere giving all the three of them a jumpscare but Atsumu was the only one who show it.

"HA!" Y/n hold her stomach as she bust out laughing and so did Osamu.

"DON'T LAUGH! BOTH OF YOU!" Atsumu yelled but it didn't effect both of them one bit..

"Wait what happened to your forehead y/n?" Kita changed the subject as he saw her a red mark on her forehead.

Now all the attention was on y/n forehead. She covered it up with her hand as she puff out her cheeks "suna bonk me" she sulked "he's such a meanie!"

"I can hear you" suna said not really looking at her. "THATS BECAUSE I WANT YOU TO. SO YOU CAN FEEL GUILTY FOR HITTING A CUTE GIRL LIKE ME" she yelled as she put her hand on her hips.

Suna ignored her but in the end all of them smiled at her childish behavior "it is cute" they all thought.

Buy me ko-fi please?

[randomingoftherandomness]

What I am hoping for from Winner is King ( 烽火流金)

Okay, so at this point, let’s just be reals here, Word of Honor has kinda set the bar for me in terms of standards to expect from the slew of danmei adaptations this year. Granted, I know that there are some who think the way it was adapted was not up to their standards and that it could have been done better, please don’t bring it on this post because this is not the post for it.

In this post, I’m going to talk about  Winner is King (*•̀ᴗ•́*)و ̑̑

Now, Sha Po Lang, the original novel, is for me one of the best things that I have read in a very long while. As such, I can be rather precious about what I am hoping to see come alive on the show and what I am hoping will be present in the portrayals I see. I know there are some concerns regarding the script and behind the scenes stuff - and they are very valid concerns that I feel too! - and with the recent announcement that instead of 45 episodes, we are only getting 40, I can foresee that there could be some rushed handlings of the very plotty nature of the source material and perhaps a sense that style can trump substance.

But as the actual show isn’t beaming right into our eyeballs just yet, here are some things I am looking forward to seeing in Winner is King and some things that I am crossing my fingers will make the final cut! 

Warning for some novel spoilers ahead. I’ll keep it under the read more.

Tagging @zhongwans because I said I would haha...

Things I am looking forward to:

The Changgu dynamic. I think it goes without saying that if the chemistry between your leads is a dud, the show doesn’t need to even pass Go, it can just shuffle itself off the board because it will be dead in the water. The Changgu dynamic has to be nailed; I need to see that self-doubt, that caring for the other but coming at it from the wrong way, that awkwardness that comes with trying to hold back the burden of your love and care because you don’t want to overwhelm the other... 

I need Gu Yun to be shamelessly sweet with his words and his coaxing of his Yan Wang from a sulk. I need Changgu saying “I hate you to death, Gu Yun” (pining)

Hu Ge Er. Let me just be clear here, I will cheer when she dies, but I hope that how they handle her characterisation will do her justice. There is no excusing the level of horrible that she is, but I hope that she isn’t written as a single dimension abusive piece of shit. Nuance, is what I am looking for. I need her to be the villain and the reason for Chang Geng.

I. NEED. THE. WOLF. ATTACK. SCENE. OUTSIDE. OF. YANHUI. TOWN. aka The First Time They Meet

There is legit no excuse for them to fuck this up, but the Steampunk elements. I would not know what else to say if they fuck this one thing up that is so integral and basic to the love of this IP. They cannot fuck this up. I am very sure I will join people in rioting if they do.

I need to see my Red Kites, my Heavy and Light Armours, my Dragons... I need to see the steam powered lamps, the iron puppets... I need them to get the Wind Slashers right. I need them to get this world-building right ok? I need to be dropped into this show and just swoon over just how accurate to imagination everything looks. Tencent does have the blessed ability to make very good looking productions, so on this note, I am assured. 

I need them to get the human element right; I need to understand why Gu Yun is the way he is, I need to know why the members of the Lin Yuan Pavillion will back Chang Geng and why they won’t. I need to know why Liao Chi would betray the Emperor. I need them to make me feel; I want them to make my heart hurt when Chang Geng’s heart is hurting, I want them to make me cry when Gu Yun is at his lowest and feels like he can’t go on. I want them to make me laugh, I want to feel for Shen Yi and Miss Chen’s awkward courting. 

On that note, I hope they get the Shen Yi and Gu Yun dynamic right too! These two are bros ok? Life and death, ride or die, best bros forever and I need, need them to nail just how integral these are to each other and how much they chose each other as family. I need the bickering, I need the protectiveness, I need the banter. 

I also need Chang Geng conspiring to marry Shen Yi off quickly so that he can have Gu Yun all to himself lol but lbr here if we can get an ending for this show from Tencent that even breathes the same atmosphere of air as satisfactory I will praise the heavens

The Bone of Impurity. I don’t know to what extent they will cover this or if they would do it the way the book does it, but this being an element that is integral to Chang Geng, I would be surprised if they dropped it entirely. So yeah, I am looking forward to seeing Chang Geng fretting and worrying and getting Bone of Impurity attacks.

Just the way that Gu Yun allows himself to be cared for my Chang Geng and how Chang Geng lets Gu Yun care for him

I want one acupuncture hedgehog scene please and thank you

I do want to see how they handle Chang Geng and his elder half-brother; how that dynamic unfolds will be something to pay some attention to, I think

Oh! That moment when Chang Geng kneels down in front of his brother and tells him to please bury any talk of his marriage and revealing to his brother the scars that he carries from his time living under Hu Ge Er’s roof (this is one brand of Whump that I promise you will hurt you very badly and it will be very good)

The argument at Jiangnan is something I really think will also make the final cut. It wouldn’t make sense to drop it seeing as this is a pivotal shift in their relationship where Chang Geng is finally holding his ground and not bending over backwards and believing everything his Yi Fu says. And this was the catalyst for their four year separation so yeah. I hope they do this justice.

I am not a betting person, but I high key bet that the scene between Gu Yun and the previous Emperor where he tells the man, “If you go, then I won’t have anyone left” and this being the moment that softens the dying fucker’s heart enough to give him a bracelet of beads that will be a major plot point towards the end

THE. BATTLE. SCENES.

Things I am hoping will happen:

At this point, speculation is that the point that tripped Winner Is King up for a recheck was the politics. This year is the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party in China and rumour has it that shit be sieving thick and so a lot of shows are erring on the side of caution. 

Politics is the highest likelihood of a recheck but I am hoping that it won’t be dumbed down or watered down too much because the politics and the way things played out in the book was absolutely divine and I really want to see that court intrigue and scheming and interplay unfold.

I’ve mentioned in my most recent podcast episode that I am banking on this show to scratch my itch for a Nirvana in Fire level of plottiness and infinite craftiness of the characters and I am crossing all fingers and toes for that to happen because All! The! Characters! Hold! Their! Own! And I need to see that play out please I am not asking for much...

The final sea battle with the Pope. I wouldn’t even know where they would even begin to shoot that scene but this is something I would love to see happen.

The Bone of Impurity attack after Gu Yun sneakily left the capital. That was the scene that caught me and hooked, lined and sinkered me for Chang Geng as a character. Listening to this scene be brought to life in the audio drama has really hammered it home that if they make this bit into the show, I will watch and weep if it is done right. 

Cao Niangzi being Cao Niangzi. I am thinking it might not happen the way I want, but I just need them to get them right.

Ge Chen peeing on the enemy’s face. Please. I laughed so hard. I need this. It will be a balm to my soul.

Please, I need Gu Yun’s soul crushing flute playing like I need Gong Jun to always be absolutely horrible at singing because baby this is your niche and this is your charm own it work it

I also need Gu Yun stealing a bamboo flute from a 10 year old because he got jealous please and thank you

Any flashback of Chang Geng and Hu Ge Er before Yanhui Town

I want to see that moment that Gu Yun hears first hand from someone who had knowledge of what Hu Ge Er would do to a baby Chang Geng and the horrible abuse she inflicted on him, because up to that point, he only knew that something went on, but never to the extent that revelation wrought unto him

Any of the Bone of Impurity moments; any mention of it, any visual representation of it... Gosh, just the idea of having the Bone of Impurity made visual is just... Ugh. Yes. Please. The suffering.

[bonus] Things I wish will happen but will probably not:

The hot spring scene or a version of it

An implication that baby cannibalism was involved in the making of a Bone of Impurity

The scene where they get to the goddess doll (the description of it in the book was so bone chilling and if they do this I will have nightmares, I’m just warning you)

I really, really want a scene where, after being crowned Emperor, Chang Geng goes to the frontlines to reclaim the South and upon hearing that he was there, Gu Yun immediately panicked like he was about to be caught with his pants down doing something illegal when all he did was ordered his subordinates to keep news of his injuries from being reported back to the capital

Any flashback of Chang Geng and Hu Ge Er before Yanhui Town; especially when they were with the Barbarians

I want to see some version of Hu Ge Er realising what she has done to her own child and to Chang Geng

Okay this got super long but what are you guys looking forward to seeing when Winner is King hits our screens? I’m looking forward to creating content for this fandom when it hits ೕ(˃̵ᴗ˂̵ ๑) In the meantime, sound off on what you’re expecting and what you’re maybe wary about!

[infinitecrime]

Spoiler free TFATWS Episode 5 review:

Another very solid episode. A huge amount of pay off for many of the various subplots at play and a great progression of the overall story. Some conversations that really needed to be had were finally had and it was immensely satisfying. Other than a strong opening action sequence, this episode was mainly character and dialogue focussed, which I think is going to upset some of the fanboys, but for me it might have been the strongest episode yet.

Spoiler heavy review:

Writing/Plot: 

The opening fight was fantastically choreographed and heart breaking in a lot of ways. The acting was noteworthy which is rare for a fight scene where people normally phone it in or we don’t really see much of their expressions because they’re stunt doubles. I’m glad this was the only real action this week - it felt nice to get a break and return to character and plot driven scenes.

Overall this episode was just really satisfying in terms of plot progression and pay off. We resolved Bucky’s beef with Wakanda, Zemo’s fate, Bucky and Sam not seeing eye to eye, Isaiah’s story, Sam’s issues with the shield, and closure for Lemar’s family. We’ve progressed Sam and Sarah’s money/boat issues and whatever the fuck Sharon and Batroc have going on. Next week we’re setting up to give Yori some closure and put an end to John and the Flagsmashers.

Even the Flagsmashers, who we barely saw, got more development than it seems they have for a while - we now know they are all in on criminal behaviour, are willing to kill, have a distinct target (the GRC), and a distinct goal (stop the Patch), and have a mini army to do it with.

The vibe of this episode was just... soft, which is surprising for a hyper masculine superhero bro show. The whole community coming together to help the Wilson’s and Bucky being inducted into the family was just so wholesome. Even the Isaiah scenes, heart wrenching as they were, would have been intercut with violent and graphic torture flashbacks under some other director, but Kari knew that the story was powerful and upsetting enough on it’s own.

Sam:

Sam and Sarah are just amazing. Really really hope we see her in future Marvel properties. It's so nice to see the perspective of someone so grounded in a world of wizards and shit. I love that he seems to tell her everything and values her advice just as much if not more than that of soldiers and superheroes. 

Watching him grapple with Steve and Bucky’s expectations of him vs Isaiah’s expectations of him vs Sarah’s expectations of him vs his own wants and needs was very impactful, and in the end, he’s going to honour them all and pick up the shield, but on his own terms, as his own man, because he wants to, not because some old men told him to/not to.

Sam finally got some of those deeply emotional beats that I have been hoping for this whole time, which gives Anthony a chance to really flex his acting muscles. He’s great at subtlety but he really shines in this episode now the writing has allowed him to. Everything with Isaiah and the scene of him wiping blood off the shield was so raw.

Isaiah, who gets his own section this week:

God, his entire section was so powerful and well done. I’m so glad he came back and we got to learn more about his story and his situation. I’m so glad it was explicitly addressed what was done to him, why it was done, how it affects Sam and his perception of the shield, how it affected his family, and how he still carries all that trauma to this day. I’m so glad it was a one on one between them.

Carl Lumbly was absolutely fantastic and Anthony played off of him wonderfully. The injustice and pain is so stark in this scene. I would love to see more of him in the future but I also want him to be able to finally rest.

Isaiah did exactly what Steve did. Went against express orders to do the right thing and saved a group of POW's that the top brass had written off as expendable. In return, Steve got his fake Captain title made real, a fancy new shield, and was lauded as a hero. Isaiah was imprisoned, tortured, experimented on, and treated as a criminal. For the same. damn. thing.

I was perplexed in previous weeks about people condemning Bucky for not telling anyone about Isaiah, when doing so would have disturbed his well earned peace and put him in extreme danger. In this episode we get the confirmation that Bucky’s choice was right: Isaiah is legally dead and in hiding and the government don't know he's alive. He wants to be left alone ("Leave me dead, my name is buried") and that’s more important than what Sam wants or what you think Bucky should have done. It’s up to Isaiah; and Bucky (and later Sam) respected his wishes.

Bucky:

Ayo calling Bucky White Wolf, telling him to steer clear of Wakanda “for the moment” but not forever, and making Sam a vibranium Cap suit shows he’s fully forgiven. To be honest, they likely don’t have an extradition treaty with Germany so they actually never would have gotten their hands on Zemo if Bucky hadn’t broken him out, so they’re probably happier with him than they let on right now.

The Zemo-Bucky relationship and the grudging respect and understanding they have for each other is so interesting. I honestly don’t believe this is the last we’ll see of Zemo. He’s straddling the anti-hero/villain divide and he’s just so fascinating. Bucky getting his closure with Zemo and showing him that he isn’t the weapon Zemo treated him as was powerful, although I don’t think Zemo actually thought he would kill him. He knows that Bucky wasn’t corrupted by the serum, and even admitted as much.

Fighting John with the shield must have given him flashbacks to the helicarrier fight with Steve which can’t have been pleasant. The pure rage on his face at seeing the shield misused was clear here.

Seeing him helping the Wilson’s and being integrated into the community and the family in a way he hasn’t had since the Howling Commandos (and even then, they were at war) was just so, so sweet and wholesome. And his boat fixing skills corroborated my science nerd/mechanic Bucky headcanons.

Bucky and Sarah lightly flirting is very cute and I would like to see that relationship be developed more. 

It was nice to see him explicitly apologise and recognise why Sam didn’t want the shield, as well as explaining why he reacted the way he did. I don’t understand the people saying it wasn’t good enough at all - it was a clear and sincere apology and completely proportional to the actual offence, which was not quite understanding a perspective that he wasn’t really equipped to immediately understand. He doesn’t need to beg or plead - just acknowledge his ignorance, say sorry, and improve, which he did. Sam was perfectly happy with it and accepted the apology, his gift, and his help on the boat. Drama over nothing as per usual amongst the Bucky antis.

I still wish they would be more explicit about Steve’s fate and how they both feel about it, but I liked the scene we got.

Other characters:

“You built me.” - Wyatt is extremely good at mining sympathy out of an otherwise unsympathetic character. As much as I hate him, I did feel for him in the courthouse scene and with Lemar’s parents. He's an example of the veterans that are exploited until they crack then left in the dust as damaged goods when they do. I’ve been so, so impressed with Wyatt and the nuance and complexity and sympathy he’s managed to inject into the character. In anyone else’s hands he would be a two dimensional power crazed villain, but in Wyatt’s he’s a lot more than that.

Val is intriguing. Skrull? HYDRA? Power Broker? Something new entirely?

I wish John’s wife got a name. This is the second love interest minor female character (after the bartender) without an onscreen name, unless I missed it.

I am still somewhat perplexed by Sharon. Is she a double agent? A triple agent? Is she the Power Broker? Is she against the Flagsmashers, or with them, or only out for herself and against everyone? I’m not sure how this can all be resolved in only one episode but I guess we’ll find out. I wonder if she’s being set up for a future project. Is she a Skrull?

I knew Batroc would be back when we didn’t explicitly see him die - is he being used by Sharon without his knowledge for some other purpose, or does she genuinely not give a fuck if he kills Sam?

Nice to see Torres and to see that he has an obvious crush on both Sam AND Bucky. He’s for sure swooping into the final battle next episode having fixed Sam’s wings.

Is the inclusion of Eli Bradley setting him up for a future Young Avengers series, or is he just a nice comic cameo and nothing more?

Lemar's parents had me tearing up. Fuck Walker for lying to them but at least he gave them some closure I guess? Poor Lemar. He deserved so much more and we deserved more of him.

Fuck John Walker and his fake shield.

[letsunity]

The Lucky Batch ☘️

Cold Lullabies

With the information that Raffle delivered, Kenlha wanted to hear their side of the story. However, she struggled to muster the gut to do so, knowing the pain they must feel.

Every day, Kenlha misses Morast, wishing that she’d never been their padawan. Maybe the Clawdite would still be alive if Kenlha was dumped with another master, someone like Kit Fisto or Ki-Adi Mundi, the latter being a sociopath. Mundi was better than Mace Windu, the prick.

She has an idea how they feel. Though instead of losing one, they’ve lost many. Not only their batchmates but prior mother-figure, Master Bastet. 

Master Fisto, Master Koon and Master Kenobi believed that she was best for this squad, they trusted her to care for them. In order to do that, she needed to know as much as possible.

Not only that, but share as well. They’ll be fully open to each other, no secrets between them. That’ll build trust and maybe make them almost competent. 

The twins, however, are crafty bastards. 

Foxy would direct the conversation in one of his many attempts to flirt. Thumbs would egg him on while Ballast laughed. 

Pepper, being the only medic, could say that he was busy with one of his idiot brothers. Given how often this lot gets injured, she can’t argue that he’s was a busy guy. 

It was a waiting game. She’d have to ambush one of them, get them comfortable with her. 

This togruta space witch is even craftier than these twins.

While trying to mentor Brisk and Luna, she’d wait. 

Eventually, Kenlha’s time came, just not how she wanted it to. 

On one of the missions, Pepper was hurt, the fool more focused on protecting Foxy. He got an infection from the wound, even contracting a virus. Foxy was adamant that they not go back to Kamino, leaving them to follow Pepper’s fevered orders. 

It inspired her to start practicing medicine, only for her to realise how complicated it was. 

With perseverance and a visit from a clone named Kix, Peps was on his way to getting back on his feet. 

Since he couldn’t run away, Kenlha would take advantage of the only moment she had. 

“Looking better by the day,” Kenlha complimented, sitting next to Pepper’s bed. “You’ll be giving out stickers any day, buddy.”

“Goose will be thrilled,” the medic continued, wondering how high it’s body count was now. “Ryder needs a new Nexu sticker. Then I can make the hot Cheetos dipped in mashed potatoes scratch and sniff for him.”

It was sweet to see the new Ryder bring such a gift to Pepper, he adored it. 

“Is it alright if I ask you something?”

“You can always confide with me, Ken. Doctor patient confidentiality ensures your secrets are safe with me.”

He was a soft boi, a good brother to her and an excellent doctor. When she looked into those mismatched eyes and his soft smile, it was easy to forget what he’d endured. What both twins went through together. 

“I’d like to know about before me and before Master Bastet. I’m a Jedi, I can sense your instinctive caution around me, even though you don’t show it. As your General, your sister, I want to be there for you as you are for me.”

Perhaps it was the fever, maybe it was exhaustion, but he gave somewhat of a summary of what transpired with Master Laverna. She could feel the trauma, especially regarding the force-choke.

He had to hold his neck, recalling the events as though he was re-living them again. 

Raffle forgot to mention that the Jedi’s death was an accident, but in her opinion, he deserved it. While she’s biased, being their sister, she can’t stand people mistreating the clones. 

Being so close with the twins, she’s disgusted by that dead Cathar.

“I... sometimes I don’t think Foxy should’ve gotten involved,” the medic sighed, like a weight was lifted from his chest. 

Understandably, Kenlha was surprised, though she wouldn’t voice it. He was sharing with her, she can’t ruin this. She can understand him more, and by doing that, she can be a better sister. 

“He had a padawan, a girl, possible 11 or so, named Teles. I cut off her leg, but didn’t cut high enough, and she died, likely septic shock. I held her hand as that light fell away. Nothing he could’ve done to me would compare to feeling her going limp and cold.”

He felt responsible for her. He did everything he could and she still died. It’s a pain that Kenlha empathised with more than she wished she did. Her eyes burned as salty water seeped through her ducts, dribbling down her yellow skin.

“I often feel that I killed my master, Morast Tane. They were strict, but they were better to me than anyone before. They tried to guide my energy onto something productive and constructive, kind of like a parent to me,” Kenlha started, recalling the events herself.

“It was on a hot planet called Nevarro, magma and volcanic ash littering the ground. While fighting an army of droids, some damned flyers shot from above, causing the ground to become unstable.

I didn’t think. I jumped into the air, slicing through those bastards. One that I bisected fell, crashing into that unstable ground and causing Master Morast to fall. I tried to pull them up, but they fell into the lava. 

The only word they could muster was Run before the cries started. Being outmatched, outgunned, we had to leave. There wasn’t even anything to bury them,” Kenlha sighed, the sensation of something clawing at her throat adding to the tears. “I know the pain of being responsible, even when others tell you it wasn’t your fault.”

The medic absorbed her tale, allowing her a few moments to recollect herself. The togruta held his hand, supporting herself and him in the emotional moment. 

There were days she wished it was her instead of Master Morast.

“Do you remember the Endeavour, that ship that crashed down, killing two-thousand troopers?” Pepper started, his voice trembling. “I... could’ve stopped that from happening.”

She waited, feeling his grip tighten around hers.

“At Geonosis, while Foxy, Mozzarella, Springer and Locke were fighting droids, I and a few others were sent back to look for surviving Jedi. Instead, I found someone with my face, only far younger.

I knew who he was, everybody did. The Maker’s chosen child, the payment for his involvement in making us. The one that he named Boba, raising as his own.

If I’d just taken him in or hell, even shot him, then all of those clones would still be alive. Master Windu and Master Skywalker wouldn’t have been hurt. Instead of that, I let him go, lying to my fellows that I didn’t find anybody.”

“While the Endeavour was a tragedy, I think you did the right thing. They were only a child, weren’t they? Even by Mandalorian standards, he was a kid, right?”

“Master Bastet said something similar. And she’s dead too. I tend to have bad luck regarding Jedi.”

He was afraid to get close to her in case she died. It’s an understandable fear, she was terrified of ever having a master again.

Kenlha was scared to even be a Master, worried that she’d never live up to Morast with her young girls. Brisk and Luna were outliers too, so she had an advantage there, but still. 

There are days where she wondered if Morast would’ve been better for them.

“I won’t promise that I’m not gonna die. We all die eventually, many earlier than they should. What I will promise, Peps, is that I’ll be here for every day that it gets hard. During the days it feels like there can’t be a tomorrow, I’ll be right here to listen. All of us, even Goose.”

“Foxy’ll need an ear, too. He’s an idiot, but he’s my idiot.”

“He was adamant that we steer clear from Kamino. Would I be pushing it if I asked why?”

She watched those green and brown eyes ponder, thinking over her question. As with before, he chose to share.

“Foxy and I aren’t just twins. There’re loads of twins, Echo and Fives from the 501st for example. We, however, are literal twins. Our clump of cells split and we grew attached at the shoulder,” he explained, motioning to his tattooed shoulder. “The Kaminoans, having not seen it often, experimented on us to prevent it from happening again. Our earliest memories have made us dislike them, especially the one named Nala Se.”

It made sense and she could agree with it.

“Then to ensure that we don’t go, I think I’ll have to learn some doctor lessons from you. I’ll be your, um, what’s that dumb thing Jackal says?”

“P-to-the-wan?”

“Yep, I’ll be your medic padawan,” she smiled, earning one from him as well. It was a beautiful thing, given his experiences. “Have a sleep, pal. We’ll give you a few minutes of peace.”

“There’s tape in Boots’ room,” he chuckled. She smirked, knowing that it would be for Ballast. “It... was good talking with you, Ken.”

“You too, Doctor Bro.”

Kenlha will talk with Foxy as well. She’ll talk with all of her siblings, assuring them that she’s there for ‘em. Not just her clones but her padawans, too. 

She wasn’t going to lie, it felt good talking to Peppy about her feelings as well.

Feelings aren’t accepted in the Jedi Order, so he made her feel valid. It was something she desperately needed from someone, and she was happy it was from Peps.

This is a good family she’s found.

Love you guys!

Tags: @lynnpaper @just-another-dreamerr @maygalodon @radbatch @oo-hazel-oo @foxlock​ @lusiawonder @catboy-tech @cosmicghostie @monako-jinn-stories @namesmox @generaltano @lavenderstaars @mango-peachjuice 

I am evil, yis 😈😈

PS - it’s 3:23am lol brain is working overtime!

[westershiresauce]

Headcanon: Deus Ex Scuba Gear

Note: Spoilers for Bly Manor. 

So, here is my Bly Manor/Supergirl crossover crackfic headcanon where Kara is Dani and her ex Mike gets killed by a truck when he walks into traffic after Kara comes out to him and breaks off their relationship.

“Mike, I think I’m gay,” the blonde whispers, too ashamed to speak any louder. The man next to her tenses slightly before a look of relief washes over him.

“Oh thank God,” he says, and smiles at a confused Kara.

“What? You’re okay with this?” Mike shrugs and shoots the woman his frustratingly disarming grin. 

“I mean, am I glad I’m being dumped? No. Am I relieved that the reason is you aren’t into guys? Kind of.” Kara wrinkles her brows in confusion and he continues. 

“I mean, I know I’m hot.” Mike grins again and winks at the blonde who purses her lips at his peacocking, “I thought maybe you were just frigid or something.”

“Mike!” Kara looks around to make sure no one is listening. Mike laughs and she shoots him a glare. 

“Hey, you’re the one that decided to break my heart at the corner of a major intersection.” 

He winks at her and she advances on the man, trying to shut him up. He skips away from her, ignoring the fact that he is now in the crosswalk of the intersection. 

“Mike! Stop fooling around!” the blonde pleads but the man ignores her. 

“Hey, were you checking out chicks while we were together?” He waggles his eyebrows and Kara balls her fists at her sides. She refuses to take the bait. The man just laughs at her silence. “Dude, you totally did. What’s your type?” 

He goes quiet suddenly and his face lights up. Kara shakes her head. It is seldom a good thing when the man gets a light bulb moment. 

“Hey Kara,” his face gets lecherous and Kara readies herself for some horrifying comment, “Would you let me watch?” 

Kara’s face blooms red with embarrassment and anger. She steps closer to jab her finger against the man’s face and get her point across. However, Mike anticipates this and he takes another step back, grin still in place even as a truck barrels into his body. Kara stares in shock, midstep and with her finger still in the air as Mike is flung at least twenty feet down the street. The smell of burning rubber as the truck attempts to stop and the blaring sound of a horn being pressed much too late fill her senses. 

Kara: “No, Mike, not gay as in happy. Good lord, dude!”

Kara is at the hospital when Mike is pronounced dead. Rhea never really liked her so she leaves for her apartment, still shaken but confused about how she feels about what happened. On the one hand she feels responsible for what happened, but on the other hand, she almost feels relieved. Until, that is, she goes to wash her hands in the bathroom and sees Mike standing behind her. She screams and when she turns around, he is gone. It isn’t until a few days later that she hears someone walking around her apartment that she realizes what happened. She grabs her trusty bat and walks out, expecting some coke addict rifling through her bookshelves but instead sees Mike, pawing at her bookcase. He grunts in frustration when his hand goes through a book but cheers when he manages to knock one onto the floor. Kara drops the bat in shock and Mike turns around, grins wide and puts a hand up in a peace sign, just like when he was alive.

Mike: “I’m still here, bro!”

Turns out Mike is tethered to Kara and it is a horrible, cruel curse. He is both the best and worst wingman and Kara is still not convinced he doesn’t try to peek when she is getting dressed or showering but he also helps her learn to be more confident. All his shameless arrogance makes him a great cheerleader, at least once they talk about some ground rules.

1. No creeping on Kara in the bathroom or when she is changing. Mike scoffs at this and mutters about being able to creep on hotter ladies. 

2. No unsolicited advice or comments about women that Kara is not interested in pursuing a relationship with. This is added after a week of Mike making comments about women that had Kara blushing constantly, even at work.

3. No watching when Kara has a lady over. She wasn’t sure where Mike disappeared off to when she did manage to have a date come back to her place but he would always leave after shooting Kara another peace sign and telling her to “do the circle thing I showed you.”

It all hits the fan when Rhea gets wind of Kara dating women and she packs up and leaves. She does not want to deal with that fallout and she would rather get a fresh start somewhere else. Where is that where else? London, Bly Manor, American au pair, you know the rest.

Kara: “Yeah, I’m gonna take a one way and gtfo of here.”

Who are our players at Bly?

Our cook Owen Sharma is good old Jack Spheer because sometimes these things write themselves. And who is our beloved Hannah Grose? Why, Lucy Lane. Because she was too good and I always want to see more of her. Plus she can be a stern little spitfire with the kids and ghosties (The kids refer to her to as Major). She takes her fine self and daydreams about the moment that charming Jack came over to get the job as a cook, not dead, just as a useless hetero (is that a thing? It is now...) that can’t fathom for some reason that Jack is totally in love with her.

As for Rebecca Jessel and Peter Quint? Kelly Olsen (the only character with any brain cells half the time) and Andrea Rojas, our muy caliente Scotsman. Is that racist? No, but her horrendous accent might be a crime. This version has none of the controlling assholeroy of Peter and no secretly killing Rebecca. Just good old bad luck in a horror series. Andrea gets drunk and tries to dive into the lake to find the chest of loot she is convinced is down there so her and Kelly can run away to America. 

Andrea: “This is a file on all the reasons you should run away from this haunted ass creepy mansion and come with me to America. Also, there is a map I drew of the lake with an X where the loot most definitely is.”

Kelly: “This is just a picture of you in lingerie and a sheet of paper you colored blue with a big red X in the middle.” 

Kelly dies trying to save her when Andrea starts to get hypothermia and they both drown in the freezing lake. Because why bury your gays when you can drown them? Amiright? Who finds their bodies the next day? This leads to the following section: Next slide, please!

Who is standing in for Miles and Flora Wingrave? Why, Ruby and a tiny Nia, of course. Nia is a sweet baby angel and I want to meet her as a little sister, totally doted on by her big sister, Ruby. Nia sees Andrea and Kelly arguing like lesbians (so much hand waving and crying and angry whispering) on the far end of the lake while their blue popsicle bodies float around. Ruby and Lucy drag little Nia away from the scene.

Nia: “My giant scarf is perfectly splendid! Also, I am baby.” 

Things get really spicy when Kara shows up, ghost!Mike and all. He complains about not being able to haunt the “hot chick from apartment 314” any more, but he perks up at the thought of “British broads.” Kara had hoped he was tethered to National City or something, but it appears he is linked to her. Mike is ecstatic when he finds out Bly is full of ghosts. He is always off somewhere exploring the mansion and only pops in to tell Kara snippets of Bly’s history and its many inhabitants. 

Meanwhile, we get to the real star of this indulgent charade. Lena as the wonderfully fit Irish (let her have the accent!) gardener, Jaime. She is convinced Kara is a corn-fed straighty from America until Kara throws herself at her in the greenhouse because flowers turn on lesbians (see Imagine You and Me and Georgia O'Keeffe’s many works. This is sapphic lore, kids.) She opens up about Mike and Lena smooches her so she doesn’t have to listen to the hot blonde’s delusions. 

Lena: “What do you mean it is too bright? What book? This is a watering can for my gardening activities. So is my fashionable, appropriately sized hat.”

Kara: *OMG she is so hot and cool, what do I do?* “Hey, do you guys do the circle thing in the UK?” 

Meanwhile, things are getting interesting with Mike and the ghosts: Kelly and Andrea, newly minted Bly ghosts, explain that they are stuck on the grounds. Mike, who believes in having the freedom of “you do you,” vows to break the curse. He strikes a heroic pose that makes Andrea roll her eyes but Kelly agrees they need to find out more about the origins of the Bly Manor curse. 

Flashback episode in a horrid b/w tone because I want to show this is old, okay. It’s not like we could figure it out by the clothes. Or the set dressing. Or the fact that the one of the characters died of “the lung.”

Anyway, we have our sisters, Viola and the other one. Their names don’t really matter because they are going to be the brunette one and the blonde one, played by the queen of period series: Katie McGrath.   

Anger-y brunette Katie, getting her smacking hand ready. 

And blonde, sad (but also evil? plot twist!) Katie, lusting after her brother in law. 

And they fight over none other than Daddy Cullen, Maxwell Lorde, because look at that hair, look at all those buttons, look at that big hand! Who could resist? 

The child is baby Lena being twirled by Anger-y Katie pre-“the lung” because let’s just have this turn into a black hole that destroys itself. 

Baby Lena: “Swing me, mummy. Swing me with your good lungs!”

Anger-y Smack-You-Every-Time Katie: “I swung too close to the sky and now this is happening to me.”

So while Kara and Lena are christening all sorts of places at Bly (yes, even the master wing because, of course, the master wing), Mike, Andrea, and Kelly are incepting themselves into all sorts of memories and whatnot. Cue that montage!

404 ERROR. MONTAGE NOT FOUND. 

Whoops, looks like we blew our budget on that black and white filter. Sorry about that.

Once the ghost trio realizes the chest in the lake doesn’t in fact hold some dragon’s hoard of gold, but the key to ending this madness, Mike pops in on Lena and Kara to bring them up to speed. Kara screams at him about the third rule while Lena tries to accept the fact that her girlfriend (yes, they are girlfriends by now, keep up) has a ghost for a best friend. 

Kara makes Mike look away while her and Lena get dressed and after quite a bit of exposition, they decide to pull the chest up from the lake. Lucy and Jack have been off playing hide the croissant or whatever the straights do during their leisure time, but they quickly hop on the “break the Bly manor curse” train.  

There is a fun B (C?) plot where Ruby and Nia steal Jack’s car and drive into town. No one in town cares because they are rich and all the adults at Bly are busy romancing each other and assume the girls are being odd rich kids playing somewhere in the manor. 

The adults are planning how to get down to the chest without suffering Andrea and Kelly’s fate, when they find some scuba gear the kids bought on their last trip to town. It is wholly impractical but the adults shrug and accept the plot hole so they can hurry this along. 

They draw straws and Kara has to dive down and tie some chains around the sunken chest. Lena jumps in front of limited edition Scuba Gear Kara to stop her but the American has to America so she dives into the freezing lake after a swoon inducing “I’ll be right back” kiss. Like, gifable on tumblr, twitter, and whatever new platform there is a hundred years from now.  

Scuba Gear Kara: “Guys, I can’t see anything through this helmet. Guys?“

After a few tense moments where Anger-y Olden Time™ Katie tries to stop Kara, Mike, Andrea, and Kelly step in and use their ghost powers to keep her away from Kara. Jack uses his car to pull up the haunted chest and they pry it open with a crowbar and plenty of moxie. The screams of slap happy Katie of the past ring out around the heroes as the curse is broken. The ghosts cheer, everyone laughs nervously (they know the end is never the end in a horror story) and Kara shivers from the cold until she is next to the fire, dry and cuddled up with Lena.

As her final act of revenge, Anger-y Katie gives Kara the Lung(!) but thanks to the power of Science, our spunky American pulls through after properly completing the full course of treatment and antibiotics. This includes Lena taking sexy care of her girlfriend. *wink*

***** westershiresauce is not a medical professional and their thoughts regarding the health benefits/healing powers of a sexy nurse!Lena are not verified. Don’t take srsly. ***** 

Cut to, one more garden and I can retire, Lena, sitting next to an immaculate shrub, waiting for her wife Kara to bring out the tea and biscuits. 

THE END!

Lena: “I swear to all that is holy, if that tea is shite, I am leaving her. It’s been like thirty years!”  

[justsmilestuffhappens]

@siriuslyjamie where feet may fall ( and fear surrounds me ) smartbuckley on AO3

This right now though. OMG.

Oh no. Buck doesn't have a kid to say bye to. Or so he and others thinks. We know!

Modeling! Modeling?

You tell him Eddie. You tell him!

He misses hearing you voice at night! Omg!

I miss you too buck fuck!

I've officially left my body

The fake smile buck plasters on is real when it comes to Christopher

I'm deceased y'all

Eddie grounding buck as he's thinking of the Bombing no!

Don't do anything stupid while I'm not watching your back okay?

Eddie I always care Diaz fuck!

They're back from Austin and oh no the parents are coming. Fuck!

Buck's triggered by explosives this is both ironic and deeply sad. No.

Shit he just revealed that he's seeing a therapist on accident

Buck called them but they never answer him any time. Fuck. I'm crying. You deserve better man.

Yeah Buck you've grown so much since you joined the 118 and left home buddy you did good!

I fell asleep I was so tired lol.

The parents are here. They're judging. Ugh. I hate it here.

The parents thinking buck freeloaders off of Chimney because he's comfortable there when he's practically family and now he's gonna be regardless of what they say or do I'm crying

Excuse you Buckley's telling Maddie off for leaving Doug then invalidating buck's trauma when you weren't ever around to see it his he nearly died and lived through an event filled with both pain and death surrounding him

Oh no fuck he just admitted he's in love with Eddie while talking about the Tsunami and Christopher OMG

They just found buck on the side of the road and they reveal he's adopted while arguing with him no that's why they're detached of him

Buck's running, it's his turn now, only he's, he needs time to think, to process, Oh, Maddie knew he was adopted but not that they didn't even want him ouch why

Gdi no buck staring in the mirror and thinking his birth mother didn't want him since he was just left to be found by the Buckley's buddy it may hurt but you are a wonderful guy my man and that's without the Buckleys help you did so much after you left home bud but Maddie loves you okay gdi

No one's ever wanted him everybody always leaves ouch but looks whose here now you've still got the station and the 118 and Eddie and Chris cough because they're both together with the others and an individual group

Punching the mirror no buck oh God he's stress baking Bobby would be startled and proud you've picking up his coping habits man

And Eddie's now just there watching buck at the punching bag looking fine as hell and here for him but not knowing God Chimney didn't tell him yet

Buck's crying in the locker room Eddie's sitting next to him and they never even wanted buck ouch

Eddie's hugging him now fuck I'm soft let this boy find peace it's okay buck Eddie's here for you man

Eddie kissing buck's head I'm dead

You tell him Eddie we're here for you I'm here for you buck hell yeah use your words bud good for you

Buck is trapped in the warehouse and falls into water triggering memories of his past holy shit

Modeling buck's modeling sounds about right totally possible

His arms in a cast fucking hell poor guy can't catch a break but you're alive buck and that's good you can heal and hopefully it's not too bad

What the fuck he's thinking about high school Oh no his parents didn't answer and what he's a teenager in the hospital alone!

Buck sending photos to Maddie of his travels like the post cards tho

Wtf someone tried to murder him or caused an accident and hurt buck because they were jealous of his parents owning company how ironic since they barely care

Oh buck 1.0 starts in South America while bartender huh

Buck's lover is an older man omg

No he was a married man and Buck didn't know he didn't mean to the guy cheated on his wife!

Buck's gonna be a seal now

Oh the old college house with buck's room mates from s1 he's starting his fire academy training

Buck feels guilty for taking up space in the hospital even though he's legit hurt my guy please stop and yes Eddie's here for you he's your best friend and he loves you

Did Eddie lie saying they're married please tell me he did that old trope alive and kicking yes!

Buck wakes and wants to confront his parents one last time before they leave OMG they're still here

Eddie freaked out at the thought of losing buck just the same as Buck did when he was buried

Oh fuck the Buckleys are alone in Chimney's place and Buck's gonna confront them alone with Eddie outside waiting I can't you can do this buddy get your closure man

You deserve so much buck like you deserve to be happy to man

Buck distancing himself by calling them by their first names

Yes buck use what you learned in therapy bro your techniques

He's not your Evan he's Buck! Say it right Phil and Marge !

Buck standing up to them

They put all that responsibility on Maddie who was barely 9 or 10

Buck tried pleasing them but it never worked they don't love him

I Have My Own Family! YES! 118

Buck left his toxic parents for one last time and didn't look back Bye!

Buck doesn't detach from Maddie by calling her his sister, he really loves her with all his heart she isn't like their horrible parents

Maddie kept everything is that really surprising though yes!

All his letters and photos like that postcard from before I'm crying

Everything Buck sent was an escape for Maddie from Doug the dog she wanted to be with he little brother and now they're together here with chimney and everyone

Buck is a Buckley whether they like it or not he's Maddie's brother!

“Look through the photos Buck. Remember who you are, and who you’ve grown to be. I’m so proud of you, alright?” Maddie whispers, kissing his forehead when Buck nods, a small smile on his face before he walks Maddie through the door. - Put this on my tombstone. I'm blown away now.

The good parts and the bad parts of your past all add up to being who you are you experienced it and grew from it your life things changed and so did you for the better you're wonderful buddy

Buck's heart was locked away to protect it but someone hurting him again but they got in and they love him he's theirs and they're his

I'm trying to not cry right now

Buck's got a home to go to you say would it be a place where he's not really a guest at maybe hmm ?

OMG they were dating pre pandemic and Eddie asked him to move in with him with them fuck but Buck couldn't say yes yet he still had stuff to work through

Buck's walls were no match to Eddie and Chris slowly coming in and alerting his world for the better guys I'm losing it here

“I love you, Eddie. I’ve loved you for so damn long and I’m tired of letting fear and insecurities stop me from going further in my life.” - I'm still screaming at this shit fuck

Eddie waited buck's ready now

He's ready to go public and to move in and for what's to come

Buck knows who he is and that he chooses the Diaz boys Yes!

[bee-kathony]

Walking the Tightrope - Jamie and Claire AU

The year is 1919, and a 13 year old Claire Beauchamp has just lost both her parents to the Spanish Influenza. Alone in the world, and out of options, Claire runs away, stumbling across train tracks. When she wipes away her tears, she discovers a train, and is welcomed aboard. 


What happens when Claire finds out that the train is home to the Ringling Brothers & Barnum and Bailey Circus? Luckily, she meets a family – The Fraser’s, who help her learn the circus life. But, will she always want to stay? Or will she eventually grow up and realize it’s time to leave the circus and her best friend, Jamie… behind?


This is the first 3(ish) and only chapters of this fic. I will also add the outline for what this story was going to be at the end. I hope you enjoy it and I was excited to get into the twists of this story. Moodboard by @beaauchamp xx

Chapter One 

Boston, Massachusetts 1919

Claire Elizabeth Beauchamp was 13 years old when she ran away to the circus. Normally, young girls don’t run away to join circuses — especially not young British girls who had just moved to America.

Claire and her family were originally from England, the beautiful city of Oxford, and had relocated to the United States for Henry Beauchamp’s job. He was a veterinarian, and had been offered a position to teach the subject at Harvard University, an offer he couldn’t refuse.

Their family packed up their small home and moved across the Atlantic. Claire found it was rather easy to leave her home country, she hadn’t always been the best at making new friends. And besides, she had her parents to keep her company. Henry’s brother, Claire’s Uncle Lamb, was an archaeologist and had traveled with them to stay for a few months in between digs.

They had only been in Boston for eight months before the sickness came. It was 1919 and the Spanish Influenza was spreading rapidly throughout the country and throughout the world. Claire felt helpless as she watched people around her die.

“You must stay with Lamb, darling,” her mother said, voice barely above a whisper. “He’ll take good care of you.”

“But I want to stay with you, mum,” Claire gripped her mother’s hand, aware of how hot her skin felt against her own. “I want to stay with you and papa.”

Julia Beauchamp had woken up that morning with a chill that rapidly turned into a fever. It was a miracle that Claire wasn’t ill. Her father, Henry hadn’t been so lucky. He lay in the bed next to Julia, chest rising and falling slowly, skin moist with fever.

“We won’t be here much longer,” Julia said and did her best to squeeze Claire’s hand. “You must make a good life for yourself. I know you can.”

“Mother!” Claire weeped as her mother’s grip loosened. Bent over the bed, she threw herself on top of both her parents, desperate to give them all the life that was in her.

“Oh, Claire, dear,” her uncle Lamb raced in and pulled her off the bed, his own eyes filled with tears as he watched his brother and sister-in-law leave the earth. “You mustn’t look, child.”

“I want my parents!” Claire cried against her uncle’s chest, her body shaking and not able to contain the grief she felt. There was nothing that could have been done — nothing that anyone could have done.

She had just lost both of her parents, what could have been worse?

It was barely twenty-four hours later that her favorite Uncle Lamb had fallen ill and died of the Spanish influenza. Claire Beauchamp was now an orphan with no one to turn to and nowhere to go.

An orphanage was the only suitable place for a girl like her. The thought of being stuffed into a house with tens of other children without a family made her stomach twist into knots.

Claire stood by herself, hands clasped firmly in front of her, trying not to cry as she watched her parents and uncle’s caskets be lowered into the ground. It took everything in her not to throw herself down and demand to be buried along with them. What did she have to live for?

Alone in the world and with nowhere to go, she ran from the funeral with nothing but the black dress on her body and the Oxfords on her feet. She thought she could make it on her own — survive all by herself.

There was no particular destination in mind, but the air around her was suffocating and every look of sympathy shot her way made her want to scream. So Claire turned, tears streaming down her face and began to run even faster.

The wind whipped past her face, salty tears flying behind her as she pumped her arms and legs to carry her as far away as possible. No one stopped her. No one knew her.

It wasn’t long before her chest began to burn and the tears filled her eyes to the point where she had to stop. When she looked up, she saw iron train tracks and followed them, only hoping that soon something would come and take her away.

As the sky darkened and the night grew cold, Claire shivered and wished more than anything for her family to be alive. But wishing wouldn’t bring them back. So with every step, Claire pushed out the memories she had of Henry, Julia and Lambert Beauchamp — because thinking of them only brought pain.

Stumbling along the tracks, her feet aching and stomach rumbling, Claire knew she needed to find a place to sleep. Lifting her head up, she saw lights in the distance — lights of a train. A train would have food and people, surely someone would be kind enough to help her find her way, or perhaps they would let her ride along.

With careful steps in the dark, Claire made her way to the last car of the train and stepped off the tracks to peer at the side of the boxcar.

Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus

A circus.

Claire’s eyes went wide, wondering what kind of animals lived inside the small confines of the boxcars. She had never been to the circus, but had always wanted to go. Claire loved animals and was always quick to make friends with them in whatever country they were visiting.

Voices came from further down and Claire walked forward into the light.

“Psst,” came from behind her and she whipped her head around, back into the dark. Not seeing anything, Claire shrugged her shoulders and kept moving forward. “Psst,” she heard the sound again.

“You!” A voice said quietly from above her. Claire looked up and gasped, jumping back to see a head sticking out of the boxcar. “I’m talkin’ to ye lass!”

“Me?” Claire pointed at herself.

“Do you see any other little girls around here?” The man said in a thick Scottish accent.

She shook her head and before she could do anything else, the man stuck his hand out, offering her a way up. With no other option, Claire reached up, grabbed it and was pulled up into the boxcar.

“Yer a wee thing,” the man said and for the first time, Claire got a good look at him. He was tall, with wide shoulders and had jet black hair. “What are ye doin’ out here so late at night?”

“I—“ She stammered, suddenly wondering if she made a mistake running away.

“Where are yer parents, lass?” The man said and when Claire met his eye, it hit her, the fact that she would never wake up to the smell of her father’s chocolate chip pancakes again or hear her mother sing along to the radio every evening. Tears fell down her cheeks and her chest caved in. The man with the jet black hair caught her in his arms as she began to fall to her knees and he held her against his chest.

“Shhh, I didna mean to upset ye,” he spoke softly. “Tis only it’s no every day young lasses come walkin’ beside the tracks.” The man ran his hand gently over Claire’s head, smoothing down the unruly curls.

“I have a lad about yer age, maybe a couple years younger. My daughter is probably near yer age though,” he said, trying to soothe her with conversation. “Usually the brothers dinna take a family on the road wi’ them, but they’ve allowed it this time.”

“Y-you have children?” Claire stammered as she wiped her face on her sleeve and looked up at the man. He released her, making sure she could stand on her own two feet.

“Aye, two of them, the wee numpties,” he laughed. “And my wife, they’re all part of the act, ye ken.” Claire raised her brows, unsure of what “act” he was talking about. He saw the confusion on her face, “Och, have ye never been to see a show before?”

“No, never.”

“My wife Ellen and I are lion tamers,” he said proudly, crossing his arms over his chest and leaned back against the wall of the cart. “My son and daughter are what ye could say cub tamers in training,” he laughed.

“You tame lions?” Claire asked, eyes wide for the second time that night. “I’ve never even seen a lion!”

“Ah, I thought I detected an accent,” he smiled. “That makes this even more curious. What’s a Sassenach like ye doin’ here?”

“A Sassenach?” Claire asked as she took a seat on a cot nearby, her legs unable to hold her up after a day of running and walking along the tracks.

“An English person, just a wee nickname,” the man smirked.

“I moved here with my parents about a year ago, we’re from Oxford.”

“Ah, Oxford,” he smiled. “I went there once as a lad, beautiful place. Yer parents, ye say? Where are they? Do they ken their daughter is runnin’ away from home to join the circus?” He laughed and then the laughter died as he caught sight of her face.

“My parents are dead,” she nearly whispered and the man dropped to his knees in front of her. “My uncle is dead. I have no one.”

“Oh lass,” he took her small hand in his. “I’m sae sorry, I— I’m sorry for yer loss.”

“Their funeral was today, it’s why I’m dressed like this,” Claire pointed at her dress. “I did run away, but I didn’t know where to run to.”

“It’s every kids dream to join the circus is it no?” The man put his thumb under her chin, lifting it up. “Ye’ve a place here, if ye want it.”

“But I can’t join the circus!” Claire laughed, her emotions running on overdrive. “I’m just a girl and a circus is no place for me.”

“Try tellin’ that to my daughter Jenny, she’ll be sayin’ the opposite,” he smiled. “She loves the animals, helps take care of them when she’s not performin’. She’s wi’ her Mam and brother up in the car ahead eatin’ dinner.”

Claire didn’t know what to say at this offer. Join the circus? It all felt like a fantasy. No one really ran away to the circus and certainly not young girls like her. But she didn’t exactly have a lot of options — no family, no house, no money.

“I’m Claire Beauchamp,” she offered her hand to the man.

“Brian Fraser, lass. Pleased to make yer acquaintance,” he kissed the back of her hand. “So is that a yes? Are ye runnin’ away to join us?”

It could’ve been much worse and as Claire looked around the small train car, she thought she might as well give it a try — the least she could get out of it was a hot meal and a night’s sleep.

“Yes. I’m running away to join the circus,” she smiled for the first time in days.

“Tha!” Brian smiled. “Ye’ve just made the best decision of yer young life, lassie. Now,” he stood up, taking her hand. “We need to feed ye and then find ye some place to sleep. I expect ye’ll be needin’ a wee nap soon.”

Claire followed Brian through a small door and through another into another train car. They walked through several others, past people with curious eyes and hushed tones, wondering who she was no doubt. Claire had never seen so many people crammed into such a small space before. They finally came into the train car Brian was looking for and he let go of her hand to walk over to a red headed woman, kissing her on the mouth.

They seemed to be in a train car where people ate, the place was lined with small tables and chairs, plates of food in front of everyone. Brian motioned for her to join him and she stood shyly next to him while he introduced her.

“I found a young lass outside,” Brian smiled, placing his arm around her shoulder. “This is Claire Beauchamp, she’s from England and she’s run away to the circus.”

“Run away?” The girl who must be his daughter Jenny said from beside her mother. “I didna ken anyone like ye would want to come and live here.”

“Who wouldn’t want to live here, Janet?” A young boy said beside her, looking at her with the bluest eyes Claire had ever seen.

“Claire will be joinin’ us for dinner tonight,” Brian smiled and then pulled up a chair for her. “Jamie, Janet, say a proper hello to the lass.”

The young girl stuck her hand out over the table, “I’m Janet, but you can call me Jenny. I’m fourteen. This is my younger brother, James.”

“But ye can call me, Jamie,” the young boy offered her his hand from beside her. He had a mop of curly red hair and mischievous glint in his eye. “Did Da tell ye we tame lions?!”

“He did,” Claire nodded. “I’ve never seen a lion before though.”

Jamie gasped, frightening Claire and he grabbed her arm, “Ye’ve never seen a lion? Jenny, did ye hear the lass?”

“I heard her fine well, Jamie,” Jenny rolled her eyes, but then smiled at Claire. “We can show ye them tomorrow when we unload”

“Unload?”

“Aye, when we unload to set up for the circus, we’ll be in Boston for the next two nights and then it’s on to another city,” Jenny smiled.

A plate of food was set down in front of Claire and her stomach made a very loud noise at the sight of it. She hadn’t eaten all day — she hadn’t eaten much of anything since she found out the news about her parents. She grabbed the fork and began to eat quickly, not caring if the food was too hot.

“Slow down lass,” Ellen smiled from across the table. “Ye need no worry about it disappearin’.”

“Sorry,” Claire said shyly, her cheeks turning bright red.

“Dinna fash, lass. I just dinna want to see ye gettin’ a belly ache. My Jamie gets those when he eats too fast,” Ellen smirked.

“Mam!” Jamie shouted. “Dinna talk about my belly in front of her!”

Brian snorted over his food, which only made Claire blush harder. She took her next bites a bit slower, savoring the taste.

“I never asked before,” Claire said to Brian once her plate was clean. “You’re from Scotland. You all are,” she looked around. “What are you doing here then?”

Brian glanced around at his family, then finally his eyes focused on Claire. “I suppose ye can say that we ran away too.”

Ellen took her husband’s hand, squeezing it so tightly her knuckles went white.

“We still need to find ye a place to sleep, lass,” Brian said a moment later. “There’s probably room for ye to join in our car tonight.”

“I can show her, Da!” Jamie said beside her and he nearly jumped out of his chair.

Laughing, Brian smiled, wiping his mouth with a napkin. “Aye, son. Take her to the car, we’ll be there in a minute.”

“Follow me, Claire,” Jamie smiled, offering his hand to her. She took it, following the boy back through the train cars she had come through. They found themselves in the same car Brian had pulled her into. As she looked around now, she saw that it was rather cozy — as cozy and nice as a train car could get she supposed.

“This is where I sleep,” Jamie said as he pointed up at the top bunk. “Then Jenny sleeps in the middle and there’s actually an empty bunk on the bottom. I guess that’s where ye can sleep.”

“You all sleep in here?” Claire said.

“Aye, Mam and Da take the cot in the corner, tis small, but it’s enough,” Jamie smiled. He couldn’t have been but a couple of years younger than her, but he was just as tall as her, if not taller. He seemed kind and not for the first time, Claire wondered what an entire family was doing joining the circus.

“My Da said ye were runnin’ away…” Jamie said to her as he came to stand in front of her. “Why, Sassenach?”

“Oh you too?” Claire smirked. “Your father called me that earlier, I suppose I better get used to it.”

“Och, I didna mean any offense!” Jamie put up both his hands. “Yer English is all.”

“No, it’s alright,” Claire smiled and tucked a stray curl behind her ear.

“Ye didna answer my question…” Jamie said softly.

“I—“ Claire felt her chest tighten and her eyes water. “I’d rather not talk about it just yet.”

“Oh that’s fine, Claire.” Jamie reached for her hand, squeezing it tight. “Ye’ll see soon enough how great this place really is. It’s like a dream!”

“I’ve just woken up from a nightmare of my own,” Claire said, her shoulders drooping. Jamie lifted her chin with his fingers.

“Ye’ve nothin’ to be scarit of, Sassenach. Not so long as I’m wi’ ye,” he smiled, squeezing her hand again.

“You’re very kind, Jamie. Much kinder than I deserve,” Claire smiled. She had to admit that Jamie was rather cute and very charming. Perhaps this circus thing wouldn’t be so bad after all. “I’m feeling rather tired.”

“Och, of course,” Jamie smiled. “As I said, the bottom bunk can be yers.”

“Thank you, Jamie.” Claire let go of his hand and climbed into the bottom bunk, sighing as she slipped off her shoes. She winced as she felt the blisters, but tried to keep quiet as Jamie climbed up to the top bunk.

“I’m glad yer here, Sassenach,” he said a few minutes later as they both lay quietly. “I was wishin’ for a friend.”

Claire didn’t know what to say so she turned over on her side and let herself weep. Only hours before, she had buried her family and said goodbye to the life she knew and now she was lying in a bunk on a circus train.

Her eyes grew heavy and soon the tears stopped as she slipped into a deep dreamless slumber.

Chapter 2

Claire woke to the quiet whispers of Brian and Ellen Fraser. She didn’t want them to know she was awake just yet, so she kept her eyes shut tight and face buried in the pillow.

“What is she going to do here, Brian?” Ellen said softly and glanced over at Claire lying still asleep on the bottom bunk. “Ye ken fine well that this is no’ a proper life for a girl like her.”

“Jenny’s here is she no’?” Brian said.

“Aye,” Ellen clicked her tongue. “But she’s our daughter, and she didna have much say in the matter at the time if ye recall.”

Brian rubbed his hands over his face, sighing as he looked at the young girl.

“She’s got nowhere else to go, Ellen. Her parents and uncle died of the influenza,” he said softly and Claire realized that his own children must still be asleep above her.

“Christ,” Ellen muttered under her breath. “So she really did run away to the circus, the poor lass.”

“Ye ken just as well as I do what that grief feels like,” Brian said to his wife. “The poor lass is heartbroken, I’m sure we can find somethin’ here for her to do.”

Ellen leaned against her husband, silent for a moment before nodding. “We must help her.”

“Aye,” Brian kissed his wife’s forehead. “I’ll go and talk to the brothers. Let them know about our newest passenger. I’ll find ye and the bairns at breakfast after setup.”

A sliding door opened and closed and Brian Fraser left the small boxcar. Claire could hear sniffling from the corner and opened one eye to see Ellen wiping away tears that fell down her cheeks. Compassion stirred Claire to rise from her bed and she sat down beside Ellen on the small cot.

Without saying anything, she took Ellen’s hand in hers and squeezed it. The older woman smiled down at her, squeezing back.

“I’m glad that yer here, Claire,” Ellen smiled and ran her fingers softly over Claire’s cheek. “We’ll do the best we can to take care of ye, and make ye feel at home.”

Claire’s throat felt tight, and she knew that if she spoke she would burst into tears, so she wrapped her arms around Ellen and buried her head against the woman’s chest. There was nothing quite like a mother’s embrace — warm and soothing, like being wrapped in the arms of an angel.

The two of them sat there for a moment longer, quiet as they both grieved for their own loss. Claire looked up and finally released her arms from around Ellen when Jamie and Jenny both started to wake up.

“Morning my darlins,” Ellen said to her children.

“Morning mam,” Jenny said, wiping her eyes as she jumped out of bed, landing on her feet.

Jamie yawned and jumped down as well, rubbing his hands over his eyes. He blinked and looked at Claire, as if remembering that she was there. “Morning Mam, Claire,” he smiled softly.

“Are ye ready for yer first day at the circus, Sassenach?” Jamie asked, a grin spreading across his lips. It was infectious, and Claire found herself smiling too.

“Ready as I’ll ever be.”

++++++

“So, what exactly do you and Jenny do all day?” Claire asked as they walked over to where the large tents were being setup. It looked like quite a job to do. Men and women were lined up in a circle, each holding rope, and tall wooden beams were on their sides, ready to be lifted. Claire didn’t envy their job.

“We help wi’ anythin’ that needs to be done,” Jenny said. “I usually help wi’ the cookin’ and feedin’ everyone. Well, as much as our cook Mrs. Fitz will allow me to since I’m only fourteen. She’s Scottish as well!”

Jamie bumped against Claire, “And I help with the animals! No’ the big ones though. Mam willna let me near them.”

“That’s cause you’re a wee ten year old,” Jenny smirked and winked at Claire.

“I’m turning eleven next month!” Jamie scowled and kicked at a nearby rock. He hated to feel like the odd one out. “I usually just walk around and see who needs help. Since I am ten…” he sighed. “I can only do so much. The circus is a tough job, ye’ll see soon enough, Sassenach.”

“It sounds like it,” Claire agreed.

They found the food tent, which had already been set up the night before. The smell of fresh eggs and bacon made Claire’s stomach growl and they got into line. Claire looked around the tent and saw mostly women there, as the men were still setting up the larger tent that would house the main event.

“Are you the only other kids here?” Claire asked the Frasers. She hadn’t paid much attention to anything when she boarded the train last night.

“Aye,” Jamie nodded, scooping a large helping of eggs onto his plate. “We’re also the only family here too. The circus is no’ exactly a life most people choose to raise bairns in.”

“But, we havena been here our whole lives either,” Jenny added. “We were both born in Scotland. Ye see, we moved here five years ago.”

They found Ellen sitting at a table, a plate of food already in front of her.

“Good to see ye, Claire,” Ellen smiled gently. “I hope my bairns havena been tellin’ ye too many wild stories?”

“No,” Claire shook her head. “Jenny was just telling me about when you moved here.”

At that, Ellen froze, her complexion going pale and she looked over at her daughter who shook her head slightly.

“Ye’ll have to forgive me, Claire,” Ellen said. “I dinna like to talk about our life before the circus. Those times are better left in the past.”

“That’s all right,” Claire nodded. That was certainly how Claire felt now. She would much rather leave all of her pain and grief behind her, and try and start a new life. Granted, this wasn’t what she had in mind, but it was better than living in an orphanage.

A few minutes later, Brian Fraser came over with his own plate. He was sweaty from putting up the tent, but didn’t seem to mind. Most people here were covered in a thin layer of sweat and dirt. Living on train wasn’t exactly all that clean, Claire realized.

“After ye eat, Da, can ye come wi’ us to show Claire the lions?” Jamie asked his father.

“Aye,” Brian nodded, chowing down on piece of bacon. “But ye kids ken the drill. Dinna stand too close while we feed them.” He turned to look at Claire, “The lions will be hungry this mornin’ and it only takes almost gettin’ yer hand bit off once, to practice extreme caution around them.”

“I don’t want to get too close at all!” Claire squeaked. She had been around animals all her life, her father had been a veterinarian. But, he had never worked on a lion before — only house cats and dogs, with the occasional horse.

Once Brian was done with his breakfast, Ellen and Jenny stayed behind to help with the food and cleanup, while Brian, Jamie and Claire went to see the animals. They were still in their cages, but would be unloaded into their own tent before the show.

“We have the lions of course,” Jamie said excitedly, almost bouncing as they walked. “Then we have the horses, pigs, giraffes, one elephant, monkeys, zebras —“

“Zebras?!” Claire gasped.

“Oh yes,” Jamie grinned. “They’re my favorite after the lions. A bit like horses, really, which I also love, but the stripes are the best!”

Claire could immediately tell when the reached the animals cages, as the smell was quite strong. As was the loud roar that one of the lions gave as they approached. Another man was already there with a bucket full of meat, which the lion was eyeing and trying to get through the bars.

“Stay back here,” Brian instructed them before going to join the man.

“That’s auld Alec,” Jamie pointed. “He’s in charge of takin’ care of the animals.”

“All of them?” Claire said, awestruck.

“Aye, I help sometimes, but he does most of the work,” Jamie said. They watched from the trees as Alec and Brian began to feed the lions. Brian distracted the lions, moving them to one side of the cage, while Alec opened it up and set the bucket of meat inside. Then the lions pounced on their food and ate it ferociously.

“Wow,” Claire gasped, grabbing onto Jamie’s arm.

“Dinna fash, Sassenach,” Jamie grinned. “They’re no’ as scary after they’ve eaten. Later, I’ll show ye how to pet one. They can be quite friendly.”

“I’ll believe that when I see it,” Claire laughed.

Brian returned to them, and auld Alec followed closely behind. “This is young Claire Beauchamp who has come to join us,” Brian introduced her.

“Tis nice to meet ye little lass,” Alec offered her his hand and she shook it.

“We need to find somethin’ for the lassie to do,” Brian quirked his brow.

“My father worked with animals,” Claire said shyly. “All kinds, but not any lions or elephants.”

“He was a veterinarian?” Alec asked.

“Yes, sir.”

“Well, perhaps some of his skills rubbed off on ye lass,” Alex grinned. “How’d ye like to come wi’ me and see the rest of the animals? I could use all the help I could get!”

Claire looked over at Jamie who nodded encouragingly, as did Brian. Jamie stayed back with his father, leaving Claire to follow the animal carer. The thought of being around animals was a small comfort, at least she had vague knowledge of their needs.

She would never forget one warm afternoon when her father was seeing to a pregnant dog. Claire had stayed up with her father all night, comforting the dog as she gave birth, and making sure the puppies were seen after.

“Is she in pain, papa?” Claire asked, petting the head of the golden Labrador.

“A bit, my dear,” Henry Beauchamp replied. “Giving birth is no easy feat. But she’s a strong girl,” he stroked the dog’s bulging stomach. “It should be within the hour.”

Claire and her father had stayed up late into the night, watching over the dog. She belonged to a woman from town, but all Claire wanted to know was who would keep the puppies.

“How many puppies will she have?”

“I think perhaps four,” her father said as he moved his hand over the dog’s belly. “But we won’t know until she has them. Why are you asking my love?” He cocked a quizzical brow at his daughter.

“Oh, you know,” Claire grinned. “Maybe Mrs. Wilcox doesn’t want four new puppies. Maybe she only wants three!”

Her father laughed, “That’s something you can ask Mrs. Wilcox tomorrow. And of course, you’ll have to ask your mother.”

“I will, papa,” Claire smiled and went back to petting the dog’s head. “When I grow up, I want to do what you do. Being around animals all day must be fun.”

Henry rose to his feet to check that he had everything he needed — sutures for after the birth, plenty of towels. “It is rather fun, my dear. But, I will warn you, that it can be quite hard too.”

“Why is that?”

“It’s never easy telling someone that their pet is ill,” Henry frowned, coming back to join Claire on the ground. “Or feeling like you can’t do anything to help. Not everything can be solved with medicine, I’m afraid. But I try.”

At this, Claire felt sadness wash over her. As little girl, they had a pet cat, but he had passed away before they moved to Boston. She knew all too well what it was like to be told that your animal was sick.

“Well, you can still be there for someone and try and make them feel better,” Claire replied. “I think I still wanna do what you do.”

Henry reached out and smoothed back his daughter’s unruly curls. “Then you shall, my darling. You shall do whatever your heart desires.” He bent and kissed her forehead. “Your mother and I will always be here to support you.”

Auld Alec showed Claire all the animals. Claire was gobsmacked seeing so many creatures she had never seen before. She had heard about the circus coming into town, and thought about asking her parents to take her, but that was before…

“I bet yer Da never worked on zebras, aye?”

“No,” Claire shook her head as they approached one. “A few horses, but never a zebra.”

“They’re a lot like horses, of course,” Alec said and reached his hand through the bars. “Go ahead and reach yer hand in, she willna bite.”

Slowly, Claire approached the cage, trying to be careful as she reached her hand inside. The zebra nodded her head forward against Claire’s hand, letting her pet her. The zebra made a snorting sound, and Claire laughed.

“Does she have a name?”

“Zoe,” Alec smiled down at Claire. “Zoe the zebra.”

“Fitting,” Claire nuzzled Zoe’s nose.

As the morning rolled on, Claire stayed with Alec and watched as he interacted with every animal. Treating them with such care and gentleness, as if they weren’t really animals at all, but humans.

Finally, they got word that the animals were set to be moved into their proper tent. Men came to unhook their cages and wheeled them into the tent. The horses were let out to walk and stretch their legs, and Claire immediately gravitated to them.

She was barely half the height of the horse, so she came up to it carefully, not wanting to disturb it. Alec had tied them up to a nearby pole and they were munching on a trough full of hay.

“Here,” came a voice from behind her, making her jump. She turned to find Jamie, holding a bright red apple. “Donas loves these.”

“Thank you,” Claire took the apple from Jamie and walked around to the horse’s head, and held out the apple. He snorted, looking her up and down before placing his wet mouth on her hand and snatching the apple up. “He did like it!”

“Aye, told ye,” Jamie grinned. “I love the horses.” He came to stand beside her, reaching out a hand to rub over Donas’ nose. “Tha thu nad bheathach math,” Jamie said in a foreign tongue.

“What did you say?” Claire asked.

“Oh,” Jamie’s cheeks blushed. “I didna even realize I was speakin’. Twas Gaelic. Just callin’ him a fine creature. I find that speakin’ to the animals in Gaelic helps to calm them.”

“Would you teach me some then?” Claire asked. “It looks like I’ll be helping auld Alec with the animals!”

“That’s great!” Jamie smiled. “What I say to the horses is really just gibberish. No’ meant to even mean anythin’, but try sayin’ what I did — tha thu nad bheathach math.”

It was a language Claire had certainly never heard before. Her mother spoke a bit of French and had taught Claire a few words and phrases, but Gaelic was very different.

“Tha thu nad,” she said slowly. “Be-heath-ach math?”

“Let it roll off yer tongue,” Jamie said the phrase again.

“Tha thu nad bheathnach math,” Claire said again, this time getting it as closely as she could to how Jamie had said it. “Well, with practice, I think I’ll get there.”

“Aye, ye’ll do great,” Jamie smiled. “I’m glad ye found yer place, Sassenach. It’ll be nice to have ye here.”

“Yes,” Claire rubbed her hand along the side of Donas’ neck. “I think it will be rather nice here after all.”

She hadn’t even been at the circus for a full twenty-four hours, but already it was beginning to feel like home. The animals would be her new companions, as well as the Fraser’s who had welcomed her in as one of their own. Running away to the circus was the best idea Claire ever had.

Chapter 3

7 years later… New York City 1926

Claire thought often of her first night on the train — how alone she had felt and like she would never belong anywhere. It had been nearly seven years since then and the circus was now her home.

She wasn’t properly educated, but her love for animals kept her with a full time position with the Ringling Brothers. Jenny Fraser was her best friend, along with her younger brother Jamie, of course.

They traveled from city to city, amazing people with the greatest show on earth. Wonders and mystery surrounded them and Claire felt she was part of something truly spectacular.

There were times she thought she should find proper work, especially on her eighteenth birthday two years ago. Jamie had set up a picnic by the horses, Claire’s favorite of the wild menagerie.

“I think I need to leave, Jamie,” Claire said as she took a bite of a strawberry. They were sitting under the tent where all the animals were kept and it was rather smelly, but Claire had grown used to it over the years.

“Leave? Why would ye do that?” Jamie said as he reached for a cracker.  

“I don’t know,” Claire sighed. “I’m an twenty year old girl, traveling around with a circus, surely I can find a real job out there.”

Jamie grew quiet, his brows knitting together and he crossed his arms over his knees. “If you want to then you should.”

“I didn’t think you would want me to go,” Claire said.

“I don’t,” Jamie looked up at her. “But if ye want to go…”

Sighing, Claire laid back on the blanket, followed by Jamie. They had grown close over the years, able to tell each other anything and everything. He had always been there for her as he said he would be. On the anniversary of her parents death, he always made sure she was alright and was there to distract her if she needed — or to be a shoulder to cry on when she needed that.  

“It’s not like I want too… I just feel I should. Make a proper life.”

“Ye have a family here, Claire,” Jamie turned onto his side, lifting his head up on his elbow. “Ye ken that.”

“Of course,” she smiled. “It was just a silly thought, Jamie. Nothing more.”

“I hope so,” Jamie said as he brushed a lock of hair off her forehead. Something in Claire’s stomach fluttered whenever he touched her and she wanted him to do it again. Jamie was much taller than her now, and had grown into handsome young man.

“Sassenach,” Jamie said. “I dinna want ye to leave.”

“I won’t,” she whispered and then his lips pressed against hers. A small sound left her lips in surprise, but then she relaxed, wrapping her arms around his neck. Before she could really taste his lips, Jamie pulled back, rising quickly to his feet.

“I’m sorry, Claire, I dinna ken what came over me,” his face was bright red and he was turned away from her.

“It’s alright, Jamie,” Claire sat up, her heart hammering. She had always wondered what it would be like to kiss him, but he apparently regretted it.

“I shouldna have done that,” Jamie cursed in Gaelic and before Claire could say that she liked it, Jamie had stormed out of the tent, leaving Claire alone, sitting on the picnic blanket.

++++++

Neither of them had spoken of the kiss since then and that was two years ago. Claire wondered if Jamie even remembered it had happened or maybe it had been so bad, he had forgotten it.

Claire thought he liked her, but clearly he didn’t and things had gone back to how they were before. Claire knew she fell in love easily — she always had a crush and for a long time her crush had been Jamie.

She would watch him nearly every night in the show, holding up hoops for the lions to jump through, admiring the hard muscles of his body. He was just two years younger than her, but already he looked like a man.

It came to no surprise, however, just how fast she fell for a man one night when Claire was introduced to a young investor by the name of Philip Wylie. He was in New York to see the show and was interested in becoming a partner with the Brothers.

“You’ve been with the circus for seven years?” He asked her over a drink one night. The show had just closed and people were still loitering around. She knew he was an important man by the fine material of his suit. Claire wanted to impress him, and help the circus bring in more money.

“Yes,” she smiled, “Joined when I was just a young girl.”

“That’s quite impressive,” Philip smiled, his hand resting lightly on her knee. “What is it that you do?”

“I help with the animals. Taking care of them, checking that they’re alright to perform for the night,” she placed her hand over his. Philip was at nine years older than her, and already she was smitten.

They talked for the rest of the evening and he escorted her back to her train car, kissing her on the cheek and promising to see her soon.

Blushing, Claire placed her hand over where Philip’s lips had just been, sighing as she leaned against the wall. Just then, Jamie came through the door, still wearing his costume from the performance.

He glanced over at her, his fingers deftly unbuttoning his coat. “Ye look happy.”

“I am,” she smiled. “I’ve just had drinks with a man who wants to invest with the circus.”

Jamie stopped undressing and stared over at her, noticing the glossy look in her eye and the red tint to her cheeks. “Ye mean that stuffy old man I saw ye wi’?”

“He is not stuffy! And he is not old!” Claire picked up a shoe nearby and tossed it at him, narrowly missing his head. “He was kind and charming, much nicer than you,” she rolled her eyes.

“Och,” Jamie grunted and finished taking off his coat. “Just be careful wi’ him. Next thing ye know, he’ll be wantin’ to take ye away.”

“And what’s wrong with that?” Claire crossed her arms, becoming annoyed with him.

“Well ye said ye wouldna leave,” Jamie turned to her. “Not for a proper job as ye say so I wouldna like to think ye’d leave for a man either.”

Claire’s mouth dropped open in shock and she crossed the small space to stand in front of Jamie, having to look up at him. “I’ve had a couple of drinks with the man, Jamie! Not accepted a proposal!”

“Forget I said anythin’,” Jamie ran his hands back through his hair, turning to leave to another car.

“Fine,” Claire huffed. “I’ll do just that, Jamie Fraser.”

He glanced at her, his eyes full of something Claire didn’t quite recognize before sliding the door closed and leaving her there on her own.

She knew it was important for Philip Wylie to want to invest in the circus, so perhaps she had flirted a bit too much and let him place his hands a little too high on her leg. But nothing would come of it, and besides… Claire would never leave the circus. Not for a real job, and certainly not for a man.

Outline for this fic:

Chapter 1: 1919. Claire’s background. She runs away to the circus, meets the Fraser’s

Chapter 2: 1919. Claire’s first day at the circus, she helps the Fraser’s and then Brian asks her what she’s good at. She tells him that her father was a vet and she was always around to help. He tells her they have a vet but she can be his young apprentice.

Chapter 3: 1926. Claire meets Philip Wylie. Two days later one of the animals gets sick and she stays overnight to keep it company. Jamie finds her and stays with her, on the other side of the train car. They talk more about what Claire would do if she left. Jamie tells Claire about Willie and how he died of the Spanish influenza when they came here. Claire asks him why they came to America, but he won’t talk about it.

Chapter 4: Jump forward two weeks later, and Claire has drinks again with Wylie. She kisses him and he puts his hands on her. Jamie sees them kissing and thinks that Wylie is trying to hurt Claire so he goes over and punches the guy. The next morning, Wylie shows up with a black eye and forgives Jamie, and says he’ll invest in the show on one condition - that Claire marries him.

Chapter 5: Claire feels like she has to marry Wylie to save the show and also she tells herself she loves him. Jamie is jealous, because he’s been in love with Claire since he first met her. That night he gets distracted at the show when he sees Wylie whispering into Claire’s ear and the lion scratches him. Jamie is rushed into the medical tent and the show continues. Claire helps tend to him and cries over him. Hours later as he is recovering, Claire tells Jamie that she’s going away with Wylie.

Chapter 6: Two weeks later, it’s Claire’s last day of the circus. Jamie tells her why they came to America. His father owed his uncles money, and after a time when Brian couldn’t pay, Colum wanted to show him a lesson. So he told one of his men to set fire to the small chicken coop, but a wind caught and it ended up burning down their house. They all escaped. Finally, she won’t have to be a girl on the run anymore. She will live with Wylie in New York City, and still be able to come to some of the shows on the east coast.

Chapter 7: Two months later. It’s two days before Claire’s wedding to Wylie, and she hears from him that the train crashed. He’s angry about losing money that he just invested and Claire keeps asking him if anyone is hurt. He finally tells her that six people died in a fire. Wylie tells Claire that she can’t go back to the circus, she left that behind and she belongs to him now. “I belong to nobody.” Claire leaves in search to find out if Jamie has died.

Chapter 8: Claire makes it to where the train car is. There’s still smoke from two days before and Claire finds Jenny who is crying. Claire thinks immediately that Jamie is dead, but Jenny is crying because one of the animals died. Claire cries with her and then asks about Jamie. Jenny tells her that all wounded men and women are at the hospital and so she takes her there. Claire finds Jamie and he’s badly wounded. Burns on his arms and legs. She sits with him and while he is asleep she tells him that she loves him and that she isn’t with Wylie anymore.

Chapter 9: Jamie starts to recover. He admits his feelings for Claire. He says they don’t have to get married just yet since they’re both young. He knows now that with a few of the train cars damaged, it’ll be weeks maybe months before they get back on the road. Jamie says that he wants to go to school and become a vet. Women aren’t allowed at school yet. They make plans to one day open up their own vet clinic.

Chapter 10: Once Jamie is out of the hospital, they walk back to the site of the crash. He tells Claire just how horrible it was. They both feel sad that this part of their lives is coming to an end. Jamie’s parents tell him that they will stay with the circus as long as they need. Jamie takes Claire back to the small hotel room and they make love for the first time with each other.

Epilogue: nine years later, Jamie has graduated from vet school and they have their first clinic open. They already have two children and live in the country, where Jamie travels to work. They have a whole farm of animals.  

[popculturebuffet]

Jake Reviews Stuff: Star Vs: Friendenemies

Happy pride all. I’m getting ahead of this one for a number of reasons:  1) It’s pride month and this episode is one of the most shiptastic things i’ve seen with two male characters since Robochris from bravest warriors. I mean it dosen’t quite reach “Creating a skull robot of your best friend because he won’t touch you a lot to make him jealous enough to do that” levels of romantic tension but it tries. 

2) My good friend @jess-the-vampire​ is a tomco shipper, and with things being rough for her I figure she could use this sooner rather than later. 3) Shows are actually coming back with Amphibia emerging from it’s year long odinsleep the same week Close Enough finally escapes from it’s dumpster after 10,000 years to conquer earth before it gets put back in there then escapes again and marries lord zedd.. I lost the metaphor the point is I want to keep Tom train, and other star arcs I have planned, moving at a steady clip. 

So with all of that yeah, i’m ready to go. No real exposition to dump again, come on let’s go after the cut!

We open with Marco at his laptop nervous about something and Star coming into his room tangled in christmas lights... so normal day at Casa Diaz.  Anyways Marco can’t help star out of her latest self made prison because he’s preording tickets to a Mackie Hand Film Festival. Mackie Hand is Marco’s faviorite martial artist and movie star, who died performing a stunt on himself.. accidentally.. did he give himself a death punch? Is this the same universe as regular show.. please say yes.  Anyway as is natural for Marco in the first two seasons as god apparently hates him, the tickets sell out instantly and he dosen’t get them, banging his head against his laptop as Star TRIES to comfort him , saying he might still be able to get them. Marco also says “Good things don’t happen to me”

I mean just look at Season 3. Anyways tom comes in licking a rainbow snowcone for no explained reason other than they wanted to make it obvious this was the Tomco episode. Tom asks to hang out and after Star, understandably at this point given you know, the horrible date where he tried to murder her best friend and the gaslighting a few weeks back, tells him a million times no, Tom explains he’s not here for her.. he’s here for Marco. Marco, given tom’s threatned to kill him twice now and tried to at least once, isn’t biting. Tom naturally has tickets to the festival as a trump card, and assumes that time he kidnapped marco and played him in ping pong for his freedom counts as a friend hang out, and geuinely apologizes for his behavior promising not to get angry. Really while as you probalby know we DO get the reveal later he was partly doing this whole thing to finish his anger managment... I do get the sense this apology, and a lot of this is GENUINE. We’ll get more into the why in a bit, but he does seem to genuinely want to bury the hatchet.  Marco pulls star aside and, given the last two times he saw Tom, the boy had some horrible scheme up his ripped sleeves, he understandably, and as it turns out correctly, thinks Tom is once again up to some sort of scheme, star is fully on board. I have. mixed feelings about this. On the one hand STar did forgive tom for the previous episodes mess and Ponyhead for much worse and it does set up the tiny plot curnel of corn that would grow into an entire corn field of her still having some friendly feelings toward tom. But it just feels weird, even with how cahotic star can be to have her flip flop from “Stop calling me” To “You should totlaly go on a date with the guy who harassed me and tried to kill you twice now. “. Especially since next time she has an episode with Tom, She’s fully resentful of him and a bit snarky and spends and episode, in part thanks to aformentioned magical severed ponyhead, suspicious of him playing games with her head again. We’ll get there soon obviously, i’m just saying it feels mildly off. 

So Marco decides, much like bart simpson that getting where he’s going’s worth it even if he has to ride with the devil himself and reluctantly agrees. We see the inside of Tom’s carriage for the first time, and see my good personal friend dead horse again on the outside, and it’s really nice.. lit by torches because mood lighting, but similar to his room it’s plushly decorated and even has two serious speakers and according to Tom 6 flatscreens. Damn I wish I had one of those.. that and I wouldn’t have to drive since I can’t due to my anxiety. Plus who wouldn’t want a firey horse skelton sidekick? Anyways Tom offers Marco cold cereal and Marco is frank with tom, pointing out he’s suddenly being nice to Marco after never being nice to him before and understandably isn’t sure he’s even a mackie hand fan but a bit of banter and trivia shows Marco that no, Tom really seems to be telling the truth.  Tom then confides in marco that he gets why Marco didn’t belivie him: Most people dont�� get past their preconcived perceptions of him. And here the series does flesh tom out a bit: Tom admits to not having many friends.. which frames the previous two episodes in a diffrent light. Sure his actions to Star are still very much not okay... but you at least see WHY he was so obessive about her: She was probably the first real friend he had that wasn’t a casual aquantince, his own family member, or a pet. Most Mewman kids his age probably weren’t too keen to hang out with what to them was a monster, rich or not, little raicst shits. And in the underworld most people probably just did whatever he asked because they were afraid of his temper or his parents fury, even if his parents are the nicest people in the underworld. So when he lost her, Tom didn’t know how to properly react and while his first attempt to win star back was genuine, it was marred by his refusal to adress his anger or control issues that likely lead to Star dumping him in the first place. While Star’s forgivness HERE is a bit werid, her willingness to give him another shot wasn’t: Tom was SEEMINGLY genuinely trying. He was in therapy, he’d been anger free for several days and most glowingly, when a stranger karate chopped his hand off in a misguided attempt to protect star.. he got upset but instnatlly went into his coping mechanisms.  The problem was as I covered in that review.. Tom didn’t WANT to change. That’s the thing about changing: you need to both know there is a problem and WANT to fix it. And even then, as we’ll see sometimes i’ts hard. I know, i’ve had my own personal issues i’ve had to change up as years went on. It’s a slippery slope you have to constnatly climb up. And BMB era tom.. just didn’t WANT to change he just wanted to do what he thought star wanted that would get her to take him back, and couldn’t understnad why she wouldn’t just listen to him and obey, two things not in star’s vocabulary for anyone much less her ex. 

So , much like I did, rather than blame himself for screwing things up, he just saw it as Marco being in the way and tried to fix that. And so he sunk to rock bottom.. but it didn’t fix their relationship and it took Marco having an honest conversation, as someone who was also very close to her and knew her well, to get him to see that Star wasn’t going to take him back unless she wanted it.. what he was doing was selfish and self destructive.. and Tom probably realized in that moment he had to stop. He let her go, and thus as I put al ot of emphasis on last time, made his first step to being better.  And to me that’s why this makes sense as his next step: While it’s partly to fufill a checklist... you get the sense he really DOES like marco on some level. They hung out, which I do feel tom did genuinely feel was like friends hanging out instead of you know the second highest stakes game of ping pong i’ve ever seen. 

The first if your curious. So while part of this is Tom just wanting to get through anger managment for likely his parent’s sake, part of it is also him genuinely wanting to be somebody’s buddy, anybody but a bumbling butler. It’s just being Tom, he dosen’t know HOW to make friends or get them to see past who he is surface wise; a spoiled angry boy and see the inside, a nice kid who just has no idea how to talk to people beyond a surface level or understand them and we’ll see that more both in this episode and as we go. Speaking of going back in the episode proper, two bros drive up and insult Tom’s carriage also wondering if he’s going to his grandpa’s funeral. Fuck you both.. both on general principal and becaause his grandpapapapapapaaaaaaaaaaaa is alive and magnificent. 

Satan bless you Relicor. Anyways, Tom is naturally pissed at this and Marco challenges them to a race.. but eases tom off actually following them as, since this isn’t a fast and the furious movie, the police immidelty arest them and we get the blessed image above. Let’s see that again.

NOGODWHY

Not right but it’ll have to do I fear what may happen if I try again.  ONE BALLON DICK GIRAFFE LATER, our boys are on a high, as Tom finds there are things more fun than obletarating people. #tomhaskilledmultiplepeopleandisstillthebestboy. Marco is reminded of a song from his faviorite band Love Sentence, and Tom, suprisingy given his My Chemical Romance with a splash of metal astetic, is not only a huge fan but has a giant Helga Patiaki esque shrine to them complete with a cd player with shuffle. Fancy. 

We then get a wonderful, shiptastic montage of the two just hanging out, hanging out with a white tiger. Having themselves a party. And given the song itself, sung by 98 Degrees and horrible realtiy show Newleywed’s alumnus Nick Lachey, even says “we used to be enimies but now we have chemistry” yeah I think this is intentional and they are a good ship. Are they my prefered ships for the characters? No tha’ts kelly and flame princess... the last one was recent and I love a good crossover ship sue me. But I do headcanon both as still Bi and still find the ship great, it’s just not my main one. 

However the good times can’t last as it is film time... but Tom refuses to let marco leave befor eblowing his top off... dude that’s not how you build a suppportive relationship, you know this by now. Turns out the white tiger I haven’t mentioned to now is actually Brian, vocied my boy Stephen Root who apparently just.. lives at DIsney’s animation studios now as he has a tendency to show up in every other animated disney show. You may know him from Gravity Falls as Bud Gleeful, THe Mayor from Amphibia, or , in non disney voice work, Bill Dautrive. Turns out as I haven’t even tried to hide, Tom was in the final stage of his anger managment class and to get out of it had had to spend 3 hours with the person he hated most. As I said I do think part of it was GENUINE on tom’s part, that he was trying to be what he thought friends were... it’s just he didn’t get that Marco, if grumblinignly, probably STILL would’ve agreed if he were honest.  However.. it’s still a step up. While i’ts still a scheme, and his LAST on the show.. it’s more benign after the last two; Instead of being harmful his scheme this time is just “Bribe my worst enemy into hanging out with me and get out of anger managment” it’s still not quite right, but compared to the things he’s done with star, it’s an improvment and a sign he is changing despite himself. He could’ve just kidnapped marco again and forced him to spend the three hours.. granted this might’ve just been Brian saying, obviously no tha tdosen’t count, but still, instead he tried being nice and giving an apology. Even if it was for personal gain on some level, Marco’s words clearly got to him and he’s now trying genuinely unselfish tactics. It’s also notable since he spent the three hours with marco, and at least half an hour of awkarndess before it got all fun, WITHOUT getting angry or falling back on old stratgies and only beefing it at the end because, as i’ve established, he dosen’t get people.  So naturally tom gets mad.. while it is a sign he’s getting better he dosen’t do his trademark horrifying demonic EXPLOSION of rage... he’s still being petulant and sore over his failure is mad at marco for pritoritzing the tickets nad destroys them. Marco naturally calls him out, angry over him manipulating him to get some badge , as he puts it, calls him a jerk and a liar, accurate and the worst part to marco? “I WAS DUMB ENOUGH TO FALL FOR IT”

Credit where it’s due while I may not LIKE adam mcarthur as a person...as a voice actor he is excellent and his delivery here is perfect as you do get the pain in Marco’s voice as he genuinely ahd grown to care for tom. Wethere it was friendship or wanting to make out... probably wanting to make out, you get the pain in his voice. Tom admits the love sentence hting wasn’t a lie.. but too little too late.. whcih is marco’s second faviorite love sentence song and leads to another moment of shippy goodness. Seriously I see why this ship exploded in popularity after this. Also I will say both Adam and Rider have damn pretty voices.  So Tom does what any romantic lead faced with a third act breakup would do.. say a demonic chant and bring Mackie Hand back from the dead. This is also the first time we see just how fucking powerful tom is. Before we’ve seen him summon his carriage and immolate some stuff and easily reattach a hand.. but this is the first time that we see he’s every pit as powerful as star, who probably could raise the dead she just dosen’t want to. Granted I don’t know why this sort of undead stuff hasn’t been used on say, Moons assitnated mother, but presumibly anti-monster stigma combined with the fact that we don’t know HOW she died or how much was left, and are probably better off that way solve that. It goes a long way to explain why Tom’s family are allies instead of the conquered like most monsters: They have equal , if far diffrent and spookier, magic power and are the only kingdom with this trump card besides the butterfly kingdom. 

So as we close Marco tries to use Mackie to get in, the usher dosen’t buy it and a fight insues, but Marco and Tom patch things up, Tom becoming a fan of Mackie now he’s seen what the guy can do and Marco forgiving tom since, evne if his actions were still a bit greasy, he immidetly did his best to try and fix what he broke. The two are friends again despite them both saying they hate each other... but they clearly mean it playfully. The End.  Final Thoughts: After the Slog that was last episode this one is a fan faviorite for a reason... well okay 2 reasons. One...

And two.. it’s excellent. I feel bad it took me years to see this one, but it’s one of season 2′s finest. It’s funny, has great character stuff for both boys, introduces a new ship that’s fantastic and a great new dynamic between Tom and Marco that would carry for the rest of the show. It also beliviebly advances Tom’s character arc: He’s TRYING a bit but he’s still got a bit of the scheming and selfishness that defined his earlier outings, but it’s telling that after this episode, and hurting marco, he stops. This episode REALLY gets him to change that and for the better.  Sadly Tom would only make one more apperance this season in Naysaya, an episode I will cover when I cover Jackie and Marco at some point, but has him show up for a cameo when it turns out the episodes antagonist, a curse that takes the form of a sentient head that spills the target’s worst secrets and insecurities when they try to ask someone they like out, is Tom’s fault from back when he was a baddie, and Tom genuinely apologizes and tells him how to vanquish it, if ribs marco a bit since he cast that curse presumibly sometime between BMB and MCC and is delighed and suprised that Marco seriously hadn’t asked anyone out in that time. But it’s a nice bit that shows their not only still friends but Tom is genuinely sorry for some of his earlier behavior. We’ll see more of that as we go and more of tom trying to be better.. he’s made up with Marco, next time we come back to tomtrospective, we’ll see how it goes with Star. 

Coming up besides the obvious, as Pride Winds down I’ll have my first steven unvierse coverage, one of the first openly gay couples in western animation, and some asexula pride as we take our first look at Bojack Horseman..’s loveable rommate todd. Until we meet again, stay safe, black lives matter and later days. 

[gh0stiegirlie]

Shitty Cooking — Katsuki Bakugou x Reader

Synopsis: You’re terribly shit at cooking; So bad, that you’re banned from cooking at U.A. all together. And when Bakugou sees your pathetic attempt to cook ramen one night, he can’t help but intervene.

Length: 4.8k words

A/n: Oop-- I’m aware I’m working on a series rn, but this idea popped in my head and was too cute not to write!

You know you’re not a great cook, but you weren’t aware you were ‘fill the dorms with smoke and set off all the fire alarms un U.A.’ type bad until hundreds of kids were soaring down the halls (some recklessly using their the quirks to literally soar through the air) towards an exit. 

“Oh shit,” you whisper, struck with total astonishment of the chaos surrounding you; and fearing the consequences for instigating it. “I’m fucked.”

“Y/n, what are you doing? Come here!” Iida calls from behind you. He clears his throat before bellowing, “Everyone from Class 1-A, this is your class rep. Come line up in an orderly fashion to exit the building!” With a groan you jog over to Iida, some boys sluggishly falling in line behind you.

Before Iida guides your class down the stairs, the fire alarms cut off.

“Huh. Must’ve been a false alarm.” Kirishima says.

“I feel bad for whatever sorry bastard pulled that alarm.” Katsuki Bakugou grumbles from behind you. 

“Yeah! Aizawa is probably going to expel them!” Kirishima agrees. You pull at the neck of your uniform, suddenly feeling feverish. Mr. Aizawa wouldn’t expel you for something this stupidly accidental… Right?

“You know, I hope he does! I’m pissed off too! I was in the middle of charging up my--” Kaminari is cut off my Kirishima elbowing him in the stomach.

“No one wants to know, bro. Trust me.” 

“Alright, class 1-A,” Aizawa announces as he enters the room. He’s dressed in his usual all-black attire, but the purple bags under his eyes and disheveled hair implies he’s more exhausted than usual. “Since-- for some reason --this class is involved in everything bad that happens to this school, I assume it was one of you that pulled that false alarm, either as a mindless prank or on accident. Either way, it woke me up from my nap.” With hands folded neatly behind his back, he patiently paces in front of you and your lined up classmates. In his black, formless drapes, he looks like a demon hovering around the room, waiting to select the poor soul he’ll drag down to hell. Or in this case, the principal’s office. “Tell me who pulled the alarm or you will all be expelled.”

The class erupts in a chorus of whines, but you remain silent.

“Well, who was near a fire alarm?” Tsuyu asks, tapping her chin with her forefinger.

“Bakugou and I were playing video games together!” Kirishima announces, wrapping an arm proudly around his friend.

 “Get. Off. of me.” Bakugou snarls.

“Uhh-O-Oh! It could’ve been me! The weights in the gym are close to the fire alarm… I could’ve accidentally pulled it!” Deku confesses, having an unfortunate tendency to blame himself for everything. Uraraka gently places a hand on his shoulder.

“It wasn’t you,” she assures him. 

“The smoke was spilling from this area. Was someone in the kitchen?” Aizawa deadpans, strolling over to the students to briefly analyze them. When he walks past you, you stiffen. You wince at your foolishness and dart your eyes to the ground, hoping he didn’t notice. He stops to face you. “Where were you, Y/n?”

Shit.

“Huh. Now that I think about it, I did see Y/n in the kitchen when the fire alarms went off!” Iida boldly states. He gasps and points a finger at you. “Y/n, it was you!

Bitch!

 Aizawa sighs, turning towards the dorm exit. “Y/n, you’re banned from using the kitchen. Forever. To ensure you don’t wake me from a nap again.”

You bury your face in your hands to hide your embarrassment, but that doesn’t stop the class from laughing at your expense.

“Heyyy, don’t look so down! I can cook for you for now on!” Mina exclaims, excitedly shaking your arm.

You pry away her grip from your arm. “I’d prefer to survive on vending machine snacks,” you insist before storming off to your dorm.

It’s late at night when your stomach begins to growl. You stroll over to your snack cabinet, only to gasp in horror when it’s empty. Your stomach begs for food. 

You know what you have to do.

At 11 pm, you stick your head out of your door. All the lights in the hall are off, though the full moon illuminates the hallway by shining through the windows. The only sound on the entire floor is the faint squeaks the ground emits as you tiptoe to the commons. 

Normally, the common area is alive with students of all ages dining and socializing. The room now lays completely still, and witnessing its desolation in the dead of night is eerie. But more importantly, the kitchen appears undisturbed.  

You strategically plan your path to the kitchen, knowing the area between the commons and kitchen holds the creakiest floorboards in the dorms. After planning your route you advance, only hopping on one floorboard that cries out. 

You pump your fists when you make it to the cabinets, satisfied with your success.

You grab a pot and place it under the sink, keeping the water dripping at its lowest setting slowly until its full, not wanting to risk waking anyone. Then, you grab two eggs and carefully drop them into the water. As soon as you turn on the stove to boil the eggs, the liquid begins to bubble and pop, shooting scaling droplets in your direction. Immediately following this, smoke rises from the pot. 

“Not again! How does this keep happening?!” you whisper cry, covering your eyes with your hands and shaking your head vehemently. “Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck!” You peek through your fingers at the flames and try to think about how you can solve this. 

But apparently, you don’t have too. Someone pushes you out of the way and turns off the stove, before swiftly dumping the contents of the pot into the sink. And just like that, the fire is out. And you’re saved.

When the smoke clears and you turn to thank the prince who rescued you, your eyes widen. 

 Fuck.

Katsuki Bakugou’s blood-red eyes dig into your heart like two sharp knives. He holds his hands in a defensive stance, preparing to shoot explosions at you. For being your ‘prince’, he’s acting more like an angry troll.

It’s been two weeks. There’s no way he’ll remember you’re banned from cooking, right?

“What the hell where you doing!” he whisper yells. “Aren’t you the bastard whos banned from cooking because you almost burnt down the damn school?”

“Uhh…” 

You try to think of something clever. 

“No…?”

Bakugou leans against the sink and folds his arms. The same eyes that once glared daggers into you now look your body up and down. You suddenly feel embarrassed for only wearing a long t-shirt with tight mini shorts. You tug at your shirt self-consciously. 

“You’re more of an idiot than I thought, huh?” he scoffs, digging around the cabinets for another pot. “What were you trying to make.” He doesn’t model it as a question, instead poses it as an annoyed statement. Like he is now in debt to assist you, even though he’s the one who saved you.

You don’t reply, finding yourself at a loss for words. Bakugou points the new pot at you accusingly. “Well?” he snaps.

“Well-- I, uh--” you start, swallowing hard before continuing, “I was trying to make spicy ramen with soft boiled eggs.” You explain while fiddling with your fingers. You don’t know why, but you find it difficult to make eye contact with the boy while he’s wearing a fitted tank. His biceps bulge out of the tight top, exhibiting the strength that’s normally kept hidden under a loose uniform top. You desire to devour him over any ramen. But this is Katuski fucking Bakugou, so you try desperately to keep your eyes at bay by distracting them with your twiddling hands. 

Bakugou laughs. You know he’s merely humored by how pathetic you are, and is probably thinking about how much better he is than you simply because he can cook(any win is a win for Bakugou), but it sends butterflies fluttering around your stomach none the less. 

“I’ve been able to make that since compulsory school. You’re just a dumbass.” he brags, grabbing two more eggs and throwing them into the flooded pot. You ignore his attitude to instead focus on the dripping container.

“Hey, isn’t that a bit too much--”

“Do you want my help or not?” he growls, and you decide not to question is methods. He switches on the stove. “What’s the recipe?”

You hand him your phone. As he scans the recipe, you can’t help but study the way his lips move around the words he mumbles to himself. Every action he makes is always so big, and brash and aggressive, that watching his lips calmly form breathless words is alluring.

“...scallions, togarashi, and nori.” he finishes, before setting your phone down on the counter and turning towards you. You switch your attention from his rosy lips to his vermillion eyes. “Now, I can trust you to grab the ginger, miso, and sambal oelek, right?” he teases. “I would ask you to grab the soy sauce and vinegar, but I’m not sure if you can tell the two apart.” he continues taunting you, but as embarrassed as you are, you enjoy this friendly banter. “I don’t know if you even know what sesame oil is.” 

You roll your eyes and mumble “I do know the difference…”, but leave out the fact that you really don’t know what sesame oil is. 

You push yourself onto the tips of your toes to reach for the cabinet, leaning your core against the counter for extra support. As you stretch to reach your ingredients, your oversized t-shirt hitches up your thighs and exposes the tight athletic shorts underneath. Bakugou doesn’t let the sight distract him from collecting the oils, but takes a brief moment to appreciate it.

Once you’ve snatched the ingredients off the shelves, you proudly display them to Bakugou. His approving grunt leaves you feeling accomplished.

“Now go over there,” he juts his chin out near the pot, “I’ll start cutting the scallions, onions, and nori while you sauce the pan.”

You grab the pan and head over a separate portion of the counter to sauce it, avoiding the stove at all costs. After a few minutes you look over at Bakugou, who is vehemently slicing through vegetables in a way that impresses you as much as it terrifies you. You make sure to note Bakugou is frighteningly excellent with a kitchen knife, and to avoid pissing him off whenever he’s in the kitchen. 

Bakugou gestures for you to accompany him at the stove, to which you obey without thought. The warmth of his body involuntarily draws you to him. You’re like a moth to a flame.

Bakugou takes the pot with the boiled eggs off the stove so you can replace it with the sauced pan. His bicep rubs against your shoulder as he pours the sliced veggies into the pan, heating your whole arm. You want to feel his heat in your hand, on your thighs, on your lips--

Bakugou distracts you from your thoughts once he pulls away. “I’ll boil the noodles and cut the eggs. Grab the sauces.” 

You nod and rotate back to the cabinets, where once again you strain yourself to reach the condiments on the high shelf, your shirt hikes up your ass, and Bakugou briefly (though for a bit longer this time) enjoys the view. 

By the time you’re done grabbing the herbs, Bakugou has completed his task. He debates asking you to grab the bowls, yearning to see your ass in those tight shorts one last time, but decides he’s objectified you enough for one night and grabs them himself. 

“The recipe says to wait ten minutes,” he informs you, leaning against the countertop. You hop up on the kitchen island and begin to swing your legs. Bakugou’s eyes nonchalantly eat up the sight of your bare thighs, storing the way they look for later. 

Bakugou crosses his arms and clicks his tongue before asking, “How are you so bad at cooking?” he furrows his brows with a huff. “I know you’re not a complete idiot-- you placed one below me on the final. So how are you so stupid?”

You shrug. “I dunno. I’ve never really been interested in cooking.” You bashfully pull your eyes away from his to gaze up at the ceiling. (even though you can’t see anything). “There are so many more interesting things I can do than learn how to cook.”

“So you’re going to be a pro-hero who can kick villain ass, but lose a fight to a damn hard-boiled egg? That’s pathetic!” 

A hysterical laugh escapes your lips, and you quickly slap your hand over your mouth to muffle the sound. Your other hand tightly grips the edge of the table as you rock back and forth. 

Hell yeah, he got you to laugh. The corners of Bakugous mouth twitch into a smile, to which he immediately curves into a smirk. But he can’t hide the faint blush on his cheeks.

“Shut up, dumbass. People are sleeping,” he moves closer to you so he can playfully hit your frantically kicking legs. This time, he can’t help it when his smirk turns into a smile.

“I’m---Sorry---” you spit out between chuckles, “It’s just--- so true.”

After a few more minutes of increasingly angry shushes from Bakugou, you calm down.

“Wow Bakugou, I didn’t know you were funny,” you tease.

“What do you mean?! I’m hilarious!” he fumes, making you break out into laughter again.

“Now you’re the one who needs to chill.” You playfully shove his arm. But your hand lingers on his toned bicep a little too long, leaving a dusty blush on your cheeks when you pull away. “Honestly, you are funny. Just your anger kinda intimidates people to the point they’re too scared to laugh.” 

Bakugou tries to hide how tense he is by puffing out his chest under his crossed arms while bellowing “Good! They should be scared!” He’s always himself around extra’s because he doesn’t care what they think. He just wants them to recognize he’s better than them, and they all do. But you’re… Not like the other extra’s. When others look at him, waves of heat wash over his body, which eventually turns into red hot anger. But every time your doe eyes meet his, his face grows hot and he feels far from angry. He doesn’t want to yell at you, he wants to have a genuine conversation. Then when he initiates, he starts overthinking everything he says and does. Did he say something dumb? Did he hurt your feelings? Did he look good? Maybe he should’ve brushed his hair today-- 

You brush a stray hair behind your ear, fluttering your eyelashes at the boy. Your e/c eyes twinkle under the moonlight in a way that makes Bakugou stomach do backflips. He could give less of a damn bout the ramen. Because right now, he’s hungry for you.

As if destined to ruin the only emotional connection Bakugou has ever felt, the timer dings. 

Bakugou grabs a set of tongs and puts two servings of noodles into his bowl, and gives you one.

“How come I get less?” you sulk as he pours the sauce/veggie mixture on top of your noodles. 

“Because you weren’t the one working out for five hours!” he snaps out his emotionally authentic state to explain this in his infamously aggressive tone. Emotions are for simps desperate to get their dick wet, and he’s a fucking badass with ambition. He doesn’t have time for that shit. He sprinkles togarashi on the noodles for a final spicy touch. “I was actually doing shit while you and all the other sissies were in bed.”

You watch him walk away in disappointment. You had grown hopeful there was a spark between you two. That maybe he’d made you dinner because he finally developed genuine feelings for another person, or at least because found you interesting. But now, he’s walking away to eat in the solitude of his room. You guess you shouldn’t have expected him to fall in love with you after one brief conversation.

You hang your head as you grab your bowl, and then lumber behind Bakugou on his way to the dorms.

Except, Bakugou takes an unexpected turn toward the communal dining hall. And you giddily follow.

You practically skip to the seat across from Bakugou, though quickly hide your glee when he looks up at you. The lack of utter resentment in his eyes warms your heart. 

The first bite of your meal is euphoric. It’s so good that while you’re eating, your stomach growls for more.

“Bakugou, this is like, amazing!” you scarf down noodles in between words. “How did I not know you were a great cook?!”

“Eat slower dumbass or you’ll choke!” Bakugou chides, before clicking his tongue against the roof of his mouth to make a “tch” sound. “You should’ve expected it. I’m pretty good at most things.” he concentrates on his noodles when he quickly adds “But uh… Thanks, I guess.” 

During the past half hour, you and Bakugou have interacted more than you could have conceived in your worst nightmares, yet he’s treated you amiably. Of course, there were the occasional digs thrown at your asinine cooking skills, but he was never truly hostile. Bakugou never keeps his thoughts hidden from everyone; It’s known he’s always straightforward, even when it’s not appropriate. But, this is different from his brutal honesty. He’s allowing you to pass through the barricade of hostile flames, those same flames that shrivel up and spit out anyone else who even tries to so much as walk by him, and entering the area where his fire kindles. He’s letting you peek through the cracks of his ruthless facade so you can see that he’s human, not a walking bomb. 

While normally he parades his gifts, he’s humbly made dinner for you without the expectation that you suffocate him with compliments. He always holds his head with pride, yet brought himself down to earth so he could thank you.

You smile coyly into your ramen. “Hey, how come you decided to help me?”

“I was hungry.” Bakugou deadpans, but his rosy cheeks tell another story. He drops his chopsticks to look at you, a taunting glint in his eyes. “Plus, you were close to burning down the entire school. Again.”

You roll your eyes. “Just wait! Next time I try to cook, I’ll do fine!”

“If you ever feel like cooking again-- Don’t. You’re shit.” Bakugou swallows a few noodles and digs his chopsticks in the bowl, searching for another. Though really, he’s just using his delicious food as an excuse to not meet your eyes. “Just ask me. Because next time you step into a kitchen, you’ll be lucky to make it out alive.” 

“Maybe you should just teach me how to cook!” you giggle into your chopsticks. 

“Maybe,” Bakugou echoes, but he doesn’t mind cooking for you again. He wants to.  

“You should show me some of your recipes!” you poke Bakugou’s cheek with one of your chopsticks, and he snarls.

“Only to watch you fuck it up?” he laughs. “Yeah, right. I’ll do the cooking for now,” he concludes before the two of you fall into a comfortable silence.

You never thought you would ever feel tranquil next to Bakugou, but his presence in this room feels like holding a torch in the night. His mere demeanor makes you feel safe. You feel protected. 

You’ve watched Bakugou fight before and he’s an absolute maniac. But you want him to be a maniac for you. You want to watch him fight for you. You want to continue these midnight escapades. You want him to cook for you every night after he gets back from the gym. 

You want Bakugou. You need him.

Fuck. 

You have a crush on Katsuki Bakugou. 

“Hey, let me wash your bowl for you.” you offer when you both finish. “Cmon, it’s the least I can do.” Reluctantly, Bakugou hands you his dish. “I won’t let you down, chef.” You assure him with a wink. 

Your wink completely throws Bakugou off. He watches your ass bounce as you strut away in shock. Only once you reach the sink does he finally have enough control over his blush (and boner) to approach you. 

“See! I can do something!” you gesture at the spotless bowls. 

“Yeah. It’s something.” Bakugou smirks. “Something any dumbass can figure out how to do.”

You gently jab his side with your elbow. “Cmon, give me a little credit!

Bakugou rolls his eyes. “Fine. It’s impressive... For a dumbass.” 

You ignore the demeaning nickname. “Thank you!” you beam.

When you don’t receive an answer, you become nervous that you were too boring for him, and he’s lost interest in you. When you look at him, he’s rubbing his eyes to keep them from locking shut. That’s when your own exhaustion hits you, and your eyelids begin to droop. A yawn escapes your lips and echoes throughout the kitchen. 

“Is it past your bedtime?” he snickers, even though he’s visibly more exhausted than you.

“Shut up.” you yawn again. “Y’know, every time our class does something fun, you’re always the first one asleep. You’re like a baby.” You roll your shoulders before stretching your arms. “It’s lame.” 

Bakugou scratches his head mindlessly. “I have more important things to do than hang out with you extra’s” he retorts.

“Yeah, like sleeping? How exciting.”

“Sleeping is more fun than hanging out with lame-ass extra’s.” 

You push out your bottom lip and cross your arms. “Hey! I’m not boring.” You pout.

Bakugou laughs. He actually laughs. His vermillion eyes twinkle and his tight-lipped smirk expands into two full rows of teeth. His broad shoulders bob and when he shakes his head, his blond mane bounces. An animated smile spreads across your face, so wide it exposes your fine lines and under-eye creases. But you can’t help it. You want to be the person that tames Bakuogou to the point he feels comfortable laughing. You want to be the reason he finally smiles as he falls asleep.

“You’re not boring. You’re just an idiot.” Bakugou snickers.

You yawn in reply, and Bakugou rolls his eyes, “Cmon, idiot. We’re going to bed.” 

Bakugou guides you to your room with his hand on your lower back. He doesn’t touch you, only hovers, but you can feel the heat dispersing from his palms. His warmth draws you in, only to fully envelope you when you rest your head on his bicep. He doesn’t object and continues escorting you to your dorm. 

“How did you know this room was mine?” you ask, casually leaning into Bakugous palm so his hand finally touches you. He flinches at the contact but doesn’t pull away.

“The room competition.”

“I remember you were being super lame and sleeping. So how do know, stalker?” 

Bakugou currently is too drained to address your name-calling, but he’ll address it when he gets back at you another time. “Yeah, well, Sparky was ecstatic to be in your room and filled me in on every detail I missed. Including your dorm number.”

You scrunch your nose and stick out your tongue. “Ew! What a perv!” you chirp.

“That’s what you get for letting Denki-dumbass in your room.” 

When you giggle at Bakugou, he smiles softly back before averting his eyes to the ground. He clears his throat and shifts his weight.

You’re making Katsuki Bakugou nervous!

And you love it. You want Bakugou to feel conflicted around you, for his emotions to overwhelm him so much that the forbidden praises resting at the bottom of his throat, those kind words he would never confess to anyone, to shoot out at you. You want to watch him awkwardly recover from the unprecedented compliment he aimed at you, and listen to his guttural mumblings as he makes a feeble attempt to regain superior ground. 

He silently turns away, but you grab his wrist and tug him back. You hastily kiss his cheek, leaving both of you blushing deeply.

Then, Bakugou leans down to kisses you. 

The kiss starts slow and sleepy, but Bakugou isn’t into that type of shit. He’s not into the type of kiss that bores you while simultaneously leaving you begging for more, so he pulls you closer to deepen and speed up the kiss.

Kissing him is like licking a sugary caramel apple. You’ve never met a boy who tastes this good-- alas, you’ve never actually kissed one, either. But there’s no way every boy is like this. You open your mouth so his tongue can intertwine with yours.

His tongue is slippery, his lips are spitty, and he bites your lip to point you know wake up with sores, but you enjoy every second you spend breathing in his heat. You can feel the temperature rising as you snake your hands into his hair and press against his chest.

 Are you making out with Bakugou at midnight?

 Yes, you are. And you love it.

 The kiss ends far too soon. You want to kiss him until you’ve sucked all the sweetness off of his lips. You want to remain in his grasp forever. 

“G’night, Y/n.” he whispers in your ear, his warm breath sending chills down your spine.

With that, he shoves his hands deep into the pocket of his sweatpants and trudges to his dorm. 

You wake up to a sharp pain on your neck. You groggily stumble to your mirror, your mouth falling agape at the sight of a hickey.

When the fuck did Bakugou even do that?!

You gingerly apply pressure to the love mark wit your fingers, and it stings. 

Then it hits you why he did this. 

It’s a territorial mark. 

Your scoff. He’s claiming you before even asking you on a date. 

That’s fucking Katsuki Bakugou for you. But, honestly, the thought of him putting his ownership of you on display like a prized trophy, boasting how you belong to him makes you feel weak. 

You don’t want to seem like a slut, but you also don’t  hide Bakugous marking. It’ll convey the message that not only are you his, but that you are the girl he let his heart out of its cage for. 

When you pass the ‘Bakusquads’ table, it’s empty, except for a plate steaming chocolate chip pancakes that sit across from him. 

Your favorite.

You hesitantly sit down in front of Bakugou, who briefly admires his work on your neck before merely greeting you with a grunt.

You’re in awe of the fluffy, chocolatey pancakes preceding you. There’s a waterfall of syrup trickling off the sides, with a single slice of butter perked on the top pancake, like a cherry on top of an ice cream sundae.“Did you… Make these for me?” You use the fork he grabbed you to dig in. It never even crossed your mind that Bakugou held the capacity to be this thoughtful. But not only did he make you three heavenly pancakes, he brought you utensils, and even set them down with proper etiquette. Fork on the left, knife and spoon on the right.

“Yeah. Since you can’t cook for shit.” he croaks. “I don’t want you poisoning yourself.”

“Awww Bakugou? Do you care about me?” It’s obvious he does, but he would be caught dead before he admitted it.

 “Eat shit.”

“If you wanted to eat shit, you should’ve let me make breakfast.” You quirk an eyebrow, biting your lip to suppress a smile.

Bakugou gruffly responds. “You have a point, idiot.” 

You take another bite of your pancakes and moan into the fork. “Bakugou, for real, you are amazing at cooking.”

 He rolls his eyes. “I know. I don’t need you to tell me.”

You giggle to yourself, deciding it’s best to leave grumpy morning Bakugou alone. “Okay big guy, I’ll back off with the compliments. But I’m not fucking with you. I really mean it.”

There’s a brief pause. “Thanks, asshole,” he mumbles, keeping his head down so you can’t see the deep blush on his cheeks.

A long, comfortable silence, reminiscent of the one last night, ensues. Halfway through your meal, you set down your fork. You straighten your posture and exhale weightily, gaining Bakugous attention. 

 “Hey, Bakugou? Do you… Umm, would you wanna go on a date?” Even though it’s obvious he likes you, your voice quivers as you speak.

“Sure, idiot.” Bakugous voice barely wavers, but he still plasters a cheeky look on his face to cover it up. “But I’ll cook.”

[vanosslirious]

BBS Dialogue Prompts. #69

BBS Dialogue/Sentence Starter Prompts. [12]

VANOSSGAMING

I swear to God if you die.

Yeah, fuck those guys.

I like how it abruptly stops.

Didn’t you say this was really, really interesting and a lot of fun?

Alright, boys, let’s continue this mission.

I like how the boss isn’t wearing pants.

Dude, that guy’s strong.

We figured out nothing so far.

Is it unlocked?

We can’t die to a boss that has no pants.

That’s crazy, that’s my password to every single social media account that I have.

This is where I can eat my popcorn.

Look alive, stay alive.

I don’t know where to go.

Why are these fucking assholes jumping?

Hey, you fucks.

Protect the eggs!

This is so primal.

Look at these fucking idiots.

I never done this before, I’m scared.

MR SARK

That’s what you have to do.

We’ll keep the door open.

This is her room.

The batteries fell out…

Do you want to see something scary?

They should be glowing green.

I’m taking pictures of all of this because we get paid.

We’re at a crossroads, here.

If your flashlights start flashing, get in a room and hide.

Now we have to witness the ghost event.

MOO SNUCKEL

So, we have to find some bolt cutters.

I’m only here for the pumpkins.

Within the first ten seconds...

I don’t think we should have activated that.

Sike.

Calm down.

I can’t, it won’t let me.

I’m going to die.

The guy just said something...I don’t know what he said.

It’s called a pumpkin.

TERRORISER

It’s a mix of blue and green, you fucks.

I genuinely feel bad.

We can definitely assume he’s dead.

I fucking know he’d do it.

I’m going to find this bitch.

He’s in our spot.

We’re going to kill him with a baseball bat!

She’s in the water, kill her!

Hey, this is totally normal.

Not at the same time.

I AM WILDCAT

It’s scary spooky.

That was really cool for half a second, good job.

Let’s escort our zombie.

That’s what I was trying to tell you guys.

That’s a full squad.

Get me in the fucking car!

Don’t let him hit me once.

Let me drive.

Get me out of this fucking place!

Oh! I cracked him.

FOURZER0SEVEN

I feel like people might take that in the wrong way.

I’m so proud of you.

He looks fucking clueless.

There was so much panic.

Fuck you all!

I’m coming, boys.

Is he in the roof?

How far do you think we can jump?

They dropped some good shit.

I’m scared, bro!

BASICALLYIDOWRK

Lock the doors so he can’t leave.

We are grown ass men.

He has to be the killer, he has to be the fucking killer.

He can’t get a kill.

That was so bad.

Get him off of me.

I’m alive!

We need shotguns!

Oh shit, he’s on the roof.

That’s a full fucking squad.

DAITHI DE NOGLA

No pizza for you, bitch.

It’s just us and the donuts now, guys.

Guess he wasn’t that hungry.

It was pretty obvious.

I think he’s eating the pizza.

It looks like I’m gonna fucking get cut here, it’s probably gonna be me...never mind.

I think he’s figuring it out.

What a story, dude.

This is real bad.

What if it’s one of us though?

H2ODELIRIOUS

I’m dead, I’m dead, I’m dead.

I don’t want to die like this, guys.

Guys, I’m leaving, I’m leaving, fuck this.

There’s actually no more, we’re good.

I have no idea.

You also have a Molotov.

Look on the couch.

Guys, this is the way.

There’s pills everywhere.

I got buried alive.

BIGJIGGLYPANDA

Oh my Gosh, she’s vicious.

Big fucking shocker.

I don’t know, man, it’s freaking me out.

I hope you miss it.

This is exactly what people pay for.

Totally worth it.

That’s not how that works.

Alright, you’re helping me out tonight.

I was kind of hoping there was another one in there.

It’s my turn...

KRYOZ

Literally in the name, guys, grow the fuck up.

Are you sure?

We’re going to die.

Ah, it’s moving.

It’s cool at night with the laser.

You’re lame.

I think it’s a fucking mess you have to deal with.

Stop, I just want to go across.

Yeah, I think I made it.

No, dude, that’s anarchy.

SMII7Y

What are you going to do now?

No, that’s not how I wanted it back.

Someone stop that man.

What is this?

We need to stop him, that’s not helping.

I wasn’t serious, by the way.

What the fuck are you packing, boy?

Just let it go through.

Now you just gotta win.

Who coded this?

[drunklander]

Drunj!Der Yells About Outlander

Thoughts on Ep. 508

I mean, shame on me for allowing myself to get my hopes up that the show might have turned a corner last week. I should know better by now.

At least Young Ian’s back. And Marsali had a nice moment. And that’s about all I have to say about this episode that’s positive. I swear to fuck, this show hates Claire as much as the author of the books does. Where the fuck is the lead protagonist, show? Can she come back? Can she get a story line of her own that’s more than just a random scene every few episodes, please? And can Bree please be given something to fucking do that doesn’t involve Roger, Jemmy or rape? Does Fergus still even live on the Ridge?

But yeah, I guess let’s just all watch the episode twice so our dumb lady!brains can understand that Matt’s stupid silent movie gimmick was actually ~ArT~ and not, you know, a stupidly bad creative choice. Seriously, fuck that guy.

I can’t tell you how much idgaf about watching Roger teach. Also, Bree’s like his students’ age since she was in college too. So really all this bit is doing is to make me skeeved out about their age difference.

“Can you tell me why anyone would go to the trouble of burying one?” he said, condescendingly, like the doucherocket he is. Do not disrespect Young Ian like that, asshat.

“People live and die by their words.” *gestures to the beautiful shitposts on this hellsite* sure jan dot gif.

I already want to fastforward.

Would 100% rather sit through a lecture on suspension bridges than watch silent movies, tbh.

Hate the title card. Hate this whole gimmick.

Hate.

HAAAAATE.

Roger got hanged. Roger was dumb, Buck was an abusive and toxic fuckwad. But still, Roger got hanged and this is how we find out he’s alive and how he was saved?

It should be this big emotional moment. It should make me feel a thing in spite of myself. But nope! Gotta do this fucking silent movie thing. Which is hilariously terrible. And I laughed at it the whole time. In a mean and judgey fashion. What a craptastic creative choice. Whoever’s idea that was is a fucking idiot. *stares at a certain pompous af showrunner*

Ok but for real though, does LJG just like live in North Carolina now? Why is he always around, besides, you know, so we don’t forget he’s a character who exists.

For real though, he lives in Virginia and gets more screen time than fucking Fergus and Marsali who live fucking next door.

At least writing this recap is gonnna be quick and easy since they waste so much time re-showing the stupid silent movie footage.

Yes, I know, they’re trying to show Roger’s PTSD. Which involves flashbacks. And gradually turn it to color once he’s like come to terms with what happened and starts to move forward. But the execution is so bad that the whole arc is wasted because it’s just so poorly done.

Oh hey! A Claire and Bree scene! I love those. Except oh wait, it aggressively fails the Bechdel Test.

I JUST WANT THE FUCKING WOMEN ON THIS SHOW TO HAVE SOMETHING TO DO THAT’S COMPLETELY FUCKING SEPARATE FROM THE MEN. ARGH.

Jocasta singing at Murtz’s cairn is a reminder that everyone should check out MDK’s music.

And her wearing the necklace Murtz gave her makes the existence of show!Duncan even dumber. Like oh hey, new husband, don’t mind me, just mourning my dead boyfriend and wearing his jewelry. But it’s totally normal since my niece-in-law still wears her abusive ex-husband’s ring.

Sorry, show!Duncan, but a more pointless character was never included. Show!Duncan wins the prize for most BeCaUsE tHe BoOk dumbassery.

Repeatedly showing what’s basically a snuff film is...a choice.

LJG has no sense of personal space when it comes to the Frasers. And it’s fucking creepy.

Oh look, another scene where all Claire gets to do is comfort someone about a man.

*BANGS FIST ON TABLE* GIVE CLAIRE BEAUCHAMP THE STORY LINES SHE DESERVES.

Jemmy aged like 3 years in the 3 month time jump.

Ok, I totally get why Roger hadn’t spoken yet. But once he did, the seal was broken. Not talking after he yelled to stop Jemmy, even a little bit, is just a dick move. Not that he’d be magically better. But he like refuses to even take baby steps.

CAN WE PLEASE GET THROUGH AN EPISODE WITHOUT A MUSICAL INTERLUDE. I FUCKING HATE THE CLEMENTINE SONG.

GRANNIE CLAIRE AND GRANDA JAMIE ARE MY FAVE.

OMFG AN ARROW. THAT CLEARLY MEANS...YOUNG IANNNNN!!!!!

So glad he’s back. So fucking glad. Yes, it means one more character to dilute how much time we can spend with any given person, but it’s a character that I like so hopefully he takes away from some of the time given to ones I don’t like?

Aaand Roger can’t even bring himself to try to talk to the guy who gave himself up in his place. Fuck Roger.

Claire does a better job at first than Jamie at picking up the vibes Young Ian is putting off, but like, for two people who are supposed to be emotionally intelligence, neither of them do a good job at first of really *seeing* Ian.

John Bell is really good in this episode.

Omfg Marsali has tarot cards. She’s like leaning full on into being the white witch’s apprentice and I fucking love her so much.

Also, the Hanged Man card is representative of self-sacrifice and martyrdom rather than like being actually hanged as a punishment. But whatevs.

Ok I think the reason Jenny yelling at Jamie to snap out of it in S3 bugged me where this scene with Bree yelling at Roger doesn’t is because sibling dynamic is completely different than spouses where both of them have gone through something unimaginable.

That he can’t even say anything here. Or give her any kind of sign that he’s still in there is a dick move. He *can* speak. He knows that now. So does everyone else. He’s actively choosing not to. Even to say that he just needs more time to work through his shit. No one’s asking him to be a chatterbox and totally back to normal.

Young Ian just sitting there while everyone else does grace is literally me at every family holiday.

Oh look, a wild Fergus appeared!

Ok, I never got the surveying thing. Wouldn’t the land already be registered? Since they were given the paperwork and shit for it from the governor? I know there was some bit about it in the book about keeping it after the Revolution but like, who the fuck else are they registering it with that would make a difference? The gov’t is still the English gov’t?

“But there are things you keep hidden from others. You and Claire both.” Ok, can he please be talking about time travel? I mean, I know he’s talking about his wife and their miscarriages, but I just want someone else to know about time travel already please and thank you.

HOW THE FUCK IS MARSALI STILL PREGNANT?! SHE’S BEEN PREGNANT FOR LIKE A FUCKTON OF TIME.

Fuck yeah not-Catholic-anymore-Ian. No grace, talking about the creator in a way that isn’t explicitly the christian god. Good job, kid.

My parents called me to say happy easter and I had to be like, uh, you remember that I don’t celebrate that, right?

Happy Zombie!Jeebus Appreciation Day to all the still christian people. And happy chance to have fun with burner zoom accounts named Elijiah to the jewish folks.

Jokes aside, the scene with Young Ian and Marsali was really nice and Marsali remains a fucking saint. It’s nice that Young Ian has someone who like actually gets what it’s like to find a home in a group of strangers.

Oh Claire, think more highly of your assistant. Also, what a clunky fucking way to be like oh hey, one of the emo!bros is gonna try to off themselves.

Ok but with the paper airplane now too, can we please show Young Ian finding out about time travel? Please?

Ok, but Claire automatically jumping to Roger wanting to off himself with her herbs... It’s making me judge both of them a little that neither picked up on just how clearly Young Ian was suffering. Like come the fuck on, y’all. It wasn’t subtle.

Also, can we please have more Adso?

SOMEONE GIVE YOUNG IAN A HUG! NO, NOT YOU, ROGER! SOMEONE GOOD!

Yada yada yes they both have been through something shitty and call me a biased asshole, but I can’t bring myself to feel anything about Roger and I feel all the things about Young Ian.

So Roger won’t talk when his wife begs, but he’ll talk when someone calls him on his bullshit. Cool. Cool cool cool. Nice dude.

NO ONE WAS ASKING FOR THE OLD ROGER, YOU TWATWAFFLE. THEY WERE ASKING FOR *A* ROGER. INSTEAD OF A ZOMBIE.

Again, there’s more to that tarot card than a literal hanged man, but whatever, show.

Oh thank fuck the episode is finally over. Expectations are back down in the gutter for the rest of the season. Please pleasantly surprise me, show, but I will not make the mistake again of thinking you’re actually gonna be consistently good again.

[msbluebell]

One of my favorite scenes from the Blue Lions route is during the fight with Randolph. Up until that point, Dimitri has given Byleth the cold shoulder, but when you take out Randolph's forces and he says 'a total loss', I love how we get to hear Dimitri call Byleth 'professor' again, especially with such urgency, which shows that despite his sharp words, deep down, he still cares. I just feel that this scene, as small as it is, deserves more recognition.

I think, deep down, Dimitri never did stop caring about Byleth.

Dimitri’s psychology during the Blue Lion Route is fascinating to say the least. I probably could 100% write a term paper on it.There’s a lot to unpack there, and a lot to explore. I’ve actually talked to a friend who is a professional counselor about his psychology several times and we never run out of new things to discuss and break down.

I think the most fascinating and complex state of Dimitri’s psychology is when he’s feral.

It’s important to understand the “how” and “why” whenever we’re discussing something like this. “How” and “why” Dimitri became feral is just as important as “how” and “why” he decided to later atone, and it’s massively important for understanding Dimitri’s actions and how the things that happen to him tie to character development.

Dedue says it best, I think, Dimitri isn’t a person who doesn’t care about others, in fact, he cares too much.  

That’s the heart of the issue right there. Dimitri, no matter how abrasive, dismissive, or aggressive he acts, still cares deeply. He never once STOPPED caring, and if you play close enough attention and pick up on small details you can spot the signs that he’s hiding it behind a mask of indifference because of his self-loathing and madness.

Or maybe he doesn’t even realize he still cares.

I find it utterly fascinating. 

If you break down Dimitri’s whole mentality while he’s feral, you kind find a surprisingly organized and moral (kinda, as moral as you can be while being...that) philosophy. Say what you will, but at the bare bones, Dimitri keeps to his ideals. For a man who considers himself nothing more than just a beast, he take special care of who his targets are. 

He specifically only targets people he actively considers a threat. Thieves and bandits, who he explains are rats preying on the weak and defenseless, Imperial soldiers who are on the enemy side and have been hunting him for years, commanders of armies. He doesn’t target villagers, or anyone in the Church (one priest is even amazed that Dimitri, while feral, patted an orphan child on the head, showing clear signs of humanity). Maybe he would if they agitated him enough. Dimitri isn’t healthy at all. He’s suffering from severe after effects of isolation, delusions, self-imposed brainwashing, stress, etc. He’s a danger to himself and others, and poking him too much. But, at his core, despite all the madness and how far he’s fallen, Dimitri somehow keeps the heart of his ideals of justice and protecting the innocent. Oh, it’s twisted beyond belief, and it’s gone ugly, but it’s still there. It’s just buried under a looooooooooot of...that...

The point is, at his heart, Dimitri still cares. That’s exactly what got him into that state in the first place. His Survivor's Guilt was so strong that he manifested auditory and visual hallucinations over it. His whole reason for wanting to kill Edelgard is so that the dead can finally rest. Heck, we see him actively begging his hallucinations to wait a little longer for him to hunt her. He cares too much and it’s actively destroyed him.

The thing is, those same hallucinations of loved ones are the driving force behind his mental state when he’s feral. We see that they’ve actively been mocking him, heck, we hear him beg them not to look at him with scorn.

Now, we know that these are projections of Dimitri’s own mind, but as far as he’s concerned these are the real opinions and demands of those who have died while he survived. He’s basically emotionally abusing and brainwashing himself so much that he not only believes that he has not other purpose than seeking revenge on the dead’s behalf (this also isn’t helped by his lack of ability to defend himself. With Felix, for example, and I DO love Felix and think he’s right to be scared, but calling Dimitri a boar may have unintentionally reinforced the idea in his head for years even before the brainwashing. Felix, I know that was your way of trying to keep Dimitri from going too far, but bad move bro), but that he ultimately isn’t deserving of the life he’s living either. He’s so damaged at this point, by what’s basically self inflicted harm, that he can barely recognize anything else as mattering.

I’ve seen people who have said that they wanted to beat some sense into Dimitri. Fight the madness out of him, so to speak. I don’t blame them, Dimitri did some disgusting things during the Blue Lion Route. But fighting him wouldn’t have helped, arguing wouldn’t have helped. The problem isn’t that Dimitri doesn’t think he’s wrong, or doesn’t see that he’s a monster. He’s aware of that, completely. What Dimitri needed was to been shown that his life was worth more than being a pawn for revenge, the opposite of having the shit beat out of him, or being yelled at. Negative reinforcement wouldn’t have worked here. Hell, it would probably have only made the situation worse, and reinforced his own brainwashing that he is undeserving of life. I think that’s why Byleth in the game never beat him over the head, or yelled at him, they realized that. 

Dimitri loves too much, and you can’t beat love with hate. He has to be loved out of his state. He has to be shown that his life is worth something, both to other people, and to himself. That’s why Rodrigue’s sacrifice was so important to his development.

(God, there’s so much to say that I’m jumping all over the place, someone Halp Meh)

And, another, just as important, thing. 

I think he’s silently resentful of Byleth and the others for not being there for him when he needed the support the most.

When he sees Byleth again for the first time in five years, when he thinks they’re a ghost, he doesn’t sound as angry and grim at first. He just sounds tired. Tired, and sad, and full of regret. With Byleth dead, he knows he failed them, that they died while he lived. He just accepts their presence in his life as a ghost, acknowledging that they were here to haunt him.

But then it turns out Byleth was alive, and all that sadness and regret and mourning was for nothing. That they were alive the whole time. And, frankly, Byleth’s reasons for WHY they weren’t around kinda DOES sound like bullshit. “I was asleep” isn’t a very good answer in any other route either, heck, in Edelgard’s routes she thinks it’s an unfunny joke. But for Dimitri it seems to piss him off. He probably DOES believe Byleth, maybe, but it’s not an answer he’s happy with. Heck, he’s not happy with anyone after that.

One of the moments where he sounds like his old self, where he looses that anger in his voice, is when Dedue shows up and explains he was too injured to find Dimitri, which is a much more valid excuse and one that Dimitri seems to readily accept. He’s much warmer with Dedue than even Byleth’s return, and I 100% believe that part of the reason was because of Dedue’s not bullshit excuse.

So, yeah, I should actually focus on the ask now. Yes, that scene is great, fantastic even. There’s a bunch of just...tiny moments like that which show the real humanity beneath Dimitri’s thick layer of madness and...feral-ness? I love it. It’s one of the many moments that really make him feel multilayered. And tiny moments like that got me through the four months he was Feral for my Blue Lions playthrough.

Little moments like that are like taking your first gulp of air after being underwater for too long.