#he's basically another child for Claire to take care of

[fearsomeandwretched]

Ppl who act baffled when you mention Phil Dunphy was a bad husband scare me

[farleighlover]

farleigh angst is so a need like reader is his gf n he cant communicate well or express himself cause hes scared LIKEKEEE (this nga toxic but only cuz he dk how to love right 🫵🤣)

i was THINKIGNG farleigh who always uses sex as apologies getting into an argument with his gf (us !!) and shes so pissed that she says something about it, like “do you wanna fuck so you can stop—” wtv wtv, right? RIGHTTT? like something where she basically just shades his neediness for sex n everything… and he legit looks like a child getting scolded, saying no n everything, trying so hard to tell her that he wants her to hold him but he cant, so he just tried to tug at her hands and all </3

₊⊹ “numbingly obsessed.”

| farleigh start x fem!reader

w.c.: 2.6k

a/n: IM BACK thank you for this glorious request i love you !!!!!!!!! mwah mwah mwah nsbfjsjndjdjd sorry for not posting in sooooo long, i have pieces in the works so do not worry i also know i did mix up the request a little so sorry :(. and @firemenenthusiast take this

masterlist here …

you knew you and farleigh wouldn’t last.

you knew deep down your relationship with him went to shit. constantly arguing, yelling, just everything.

yet here you were, in his bed, sore from yesterday’s stupid decisions. it was like a never ending cycle. you and him get into an argument, he storms out of your dorm, then when it’s night you always hear the same knock and each thing leads to another, every time.

farleigh has already left a while ago, leaving no trace other than the drawer with his extra pack of cigarettes opened. he always left without leaving anything because at this time of age, you two don’t have the time for that anymore. or in other words, don’t care to make the effort for each other anymore.

you make your way to the courtyard where farleigh was with felix and some other popular jackass guys. the tension from the argument you two had yesterday was still heavy in the air as you both didn’t come to a conclusion with farleigh calling you a whore from how you dressed and “talked” to guys. you two went back and forth yesterday, and even now, it was obvious by his expression that he wasn’t going to drop it any time soon.

you went up to him. “hey.” you intertwined your fingers with his as he glanced down to see your face, then giving your fingers a little squeeze and kissing your head before he went back to talking. even the tiniest bit of affection still brought butterflies from the pit of your stomach.

it also reminds you of what you two had before farleigh turned into a second replica of himself, forgetting details of him when he turned popular. before, he was sweet and a loving person, and you know it’s basic words to describe him but it purely fit the old him. you two were secure and enveloped in love endlessly, always doing some cliché lovers thing, for example, you two wore stupid silly matching “bff” necklaces from claire’s because for the life of him, couldn’t find a girlfriend and boyfriend one. you teased him when he told you this, saying “it’s claire’s, baby. i wouldn’t be surprised.” he scoffed and laughed it off.

farleigh persuaded you to wear your part of the heart. he was so excited and so proud of himself as he made you drumroll and overdo it for the reveal, and when he finally pulled it out of the bag, he was all giggles and smiled as he went over to help put your necklace on. there were struggles here and there, farleigh cursing at the “stupid bitchy hook” he would call, but when he eventually got it on, he smiled and giggled before hugging and kissing you in joy.

because farleigh cherished you and paraded you around, showing everybody that you were his and he was yours, you two became the star couple of oxford from how in love you both were. he went heavy on displaying affection, peppering you kisses, holding your hand, always having to be close to you and touch a part of you, like the lace of your skirt or the fabric of your sleeve, to remind himself that you’re still there. one of your favorite times is halloween, because whenever farleigh needs a kiss mark for his costume, he’ll run to you with your signature lipstick (which must i add, had to be waterproof because he didn’t want it to come off from him sweating) and bend down to your level so your kiss mark was on his cheek. most times, he didn’t even need a kiss mark. he just wants a kiss from you displayed.

but the popularity got to him, and it’s like he was a different person. he stopped leaving you morning kisses, he stopped buying you flowers often, he just decided to stop caring as much. and now, farleigh constantly argued. always grumpy about something and he took it out on you. you know that farleigh has a hard time expressing how he feels, so the only way he apologizes his actions is through sex. you knew that farleigh feared losing you.

you snapped out of your thoughts as farleigh smushed his cigarette butt into the grass. you look up at him before hugging him a slight tighter. even after everything, you still loved him a lot. the feelings you have felt since the beginning have always stayed blooming alive in you. he gazed down before he kissed your head and gave you a pat on the shoulder.

you shared first period english with farleigh. you both always sat next and close to each other, no matter how upset you two were at each other. throughout class as you tried to focus on the professor, you could always sense farleigh staring at you and taking note of every inch and every nook of you. he has a small habit of doing that which makes your heart flutter every time, until farleigh gets yelled at. “mr. start, instead of analyzing your girlfriend so much, what about analyzing the text in your hands? just a suggestion.”

a few kids laughed quietly at the professor's remark which makes farleigh scoff and a thin rosy layer spreads across his cheeks. he always looked adorable when he got flustered. you let out a little giggle and pitched his arm, making the corners of his mouth tug into a sweet smile before swatting you away before the professor told you two to quit it. you both immediately stopped, and after a little, you and him glanced at each other and tried to hold in your laugh. in small moments like this, even after everything, you still knew that farleigh was the same lovestruck boy from the start.

it was later in the night. everybody was in the pub. you sat on farleigh’s lap with an arm around his neck as he kept you close with his hand on your hip, drawing little shapes on your bare skin. the tension still remained and worsened when farleigh got drunk.

“your girl’s showing a bit of skin, farleigh.” some guy shot out.

“i know. she’s being a bit of a whore lately.”

you immediately felt your cheeks flush as you glared at farleigh, widening your eyes as all he did was shrug his shoulders. what the fuck did he just call you? you scoffed in disbelief before pushing him off and made past people and leaving. why would he just embarrass you like that? your heels clicked against the concrete as you shoved open the doors.

the shock of coldness from outside hit you greatly. you hugged yourself, trying to create some warmth as you originally arrived to the pub with farleigh’s jacket, but fuck that. you didn’t truly need him, right? you two lost the spark the relationship held a long time ago. you were fed up with every ounce of bullshit he brought when he came over. every argument, every insult he said to you, the complaining, why would you take any more from him?

you sat in your dorm, reading a book as you tried to stop thinking about what he called you at the pub. the clock was about to strike the second hour you’ve been at your dorm, when a knock was at your door.

you already knew who it was. the farleigh start, coming to ask for “forgiveness" which the story always ended the same in bed. but now, you had enough of his shit.

you went and answered the door, obviously pissed. farleigh groaned and did a quick eye roll when he saw your expression. “listen baby, i’m sorry okay? is that what you wanted to hear?”

you scoffed. “i’m sorry my ass. you can do better.” farleigh got more impatient by the second. “can you let me in at least?” a small bite was present in his voice which somehow instead of making you feel small and the burn in your throat, you stood your ground. “farleigh, i fucking deserve an apology. you humiliated me in front of everybody. why the fuck would you do that?” the anger was shown in your voice.

farleigh glared, him getting increasingly annoyed. “so that’s what all of this is about? chill the fuck out, everybody was drunk. nobody will remember it tomorrow.” he let out a small sigh and crept his hands onto your hips, drawing himself closer to you. “baby c’mon… i’m sorry okay? let me show you…”

you instantly grabbed his hands away from your hips. “oh, you’re going to fuck me as your apology? like how you always do?” you were pissed. it felt like everything you kept in for months just snapped out.

farleigh’s eyes widened. he never seen you talk and act like this to him. “baby, i just—“ you immediately cut him off. “don’t fucking call me that! i’m not your “baby” farleigh, for fuck’s sake.” you spat.

“c’mon, i’m sorry okay?” his tone softened a little. farleigh always had a hard time expressing his feelings. he moved into your doorway, trying to get closer as you kept backing up. when both of you were in the dorm, he closed the door behind him, still keeping his eyes on you.

he took a deep breath before adding on. “i didn’t mean when i called you a whore, i was just mad from yesterday…” farleigh tried to hold your hand but you snatched it away. “i don’t fucking care! you always do this. you just come here and pick out a problem about me. you were never like that before. if you don’t want to be with me, then just say that!”

farleigh’s heart dropped and he was at a loss of words for a second at the thought of him losing you. “nononono, baby, c’mon—“ “no farleigh,” you snapped, the tone and sharpness in your voice made his eyes widened a little, not ever seeing you react like this. “you always pick out everything i do, having me under your grasp and forcing me to be all this and all that for you! for fuck’s sake, you don’t even have a true apology! what, “let me show you”? is that your excuse every time?”

farleigh sputtered out excuses, tears filling up his eyes. the guilt and shame burned heavy and deep into his chest. “no—! i’m sorry, please listen…” he started becoming more desperate, trying to hold your hand to feel the comfort you brought to him and also to try and get you to hear him out, but you’ve had enough. “no farleigh. you fucking listen!” he sits down in one of the chairs, trying to tug at your hands as he pouts a little and his eyes become glossy. “baby—“ you immediately cut him off. “don’t fucking call me that farleigh! i’ve had enough of your shit. you know, fuck this. we’re done. get out of my dorm.”

farleigh’s heart immediately broke. as you walked away, he stood up and went after you, a whimper leaving him. “n-no! please, can we just talk about this? i love you—“ you turned and faced him before shooting back. “no you don’t! you would’ve never treated me like this if you loved me farleigh! never!”

you could see in his eyes how his heart just crumbled from your words. he let out a sob, tears slipping down his cheeks. farleigh truly loved you and you knew that. but you knew that this isn’t what you deserved. it was like you trying to save a dying flame but farleigh kept blowing it out.

farleigh held your hand tightly, even though you tried to free yourself. he was scared that you’ll slip out of his grasp and he’ll lose you forever. he couldn’t let that happen. you were the only thing he loved in his life. he needed you. he wouldn’t know how he’d cope without you. he sobbed more, the tears flooding out of his eyes as he choked and coughed on his spit. “i’m sorry! i’m so sorry… i truly love you, i was just scared baby, please believe me…”

“bullshit farleigh! fucking bullshit!” tears filled your waterline, and soon they were slipping out of your eyes. farleigh couldn’t handle seeing you cry, the guilt and regret burning deeper and deeper into his chest. it hurt him to see you like this and the worst part was that he knew he was the whole reason behind it. “baby please… i’m sorry, i love you, i-i can’t lose you…” farleigh was losing it more and more, his tears and sobs becoming louder as he hiccuped and tried to keep you close. he could never commit. past then, he was so scared of you finding someone better or you getting annoyed of his clinginess, so he just kept pushing you away. but you were the thing he loved most. if he reached a low, you were always there and he always said the same thing, “i’m so lucky to have you.”

every moment was replaying in farleigh’s head. every single one. every english period with you, every date, even the arguments. he didn’t care if you were yelling at him, all he wanted was to be around you.

and now he was going to lose that forever. and that thought made him break. he was drowning in all the regret and shame that was weighing him down. he let out a wrecking sob before just shutting down. he couldn’t take it. all he wanted to do was make it up to you, for everything to stop and go back to what it was. every mistake, every time he hurt you, he only wished to take it back because in pure reality, you were genuinely the only person he had and trusted. but because of his stupidness, he wouldn’t have you anymore. he feared this day, and now his whole world was just coming down. you felt the grip on your hand slowly become looser as the crying just took over him. his hands covering his face as he whimpered and cried, trying to hide himself from everything that was happening. it honestly hurt you to see him like that. you’ve never seen him just crumble and that stung your heart.

he let go of your hand, trying to stop crying and find his words. he knew that no matter how much fighting or pleading he did, you would never take him back. he tried to make the last moments, well, last. he grasped out for your touch, just wanting you to hold him and just wanting to feel the warmth and comfort of your touch. “p-please…” he begged. his voice was hoarse and dry as he kept sobbing.

you never wanted more to just give in and hug him. to just forget about everything and only think about his heartbeat in your ear, or the feeling of you all wrapped up with him while you both fell asleep mid movie. but you couldn’t. you couldn’t just keep letting yourself go back to him. this was once and for all.

“no farleigh. leave my dorm now, please.” you could see how all hope drained from his face, but he knew that you’ve made your decision. he let out a quiet cry before whispering, “goodnight. i-i love you.” a small whine leaving his lips as he finished. he took a glimpse of you, just trying to remember you and the love you both once had. after a little, he went to your door and left, the quietness of the door clicking close, rather than all the times he slammed it after leaving your dorm with another argument. the sinking of the door and his presence gone left you with the silence and everything that just happened finally coming to your brain and heart. you just stared, a part of you just hoping he’ll come back and say something once more, just so you could hear him for the last time in a row, but it never came. you two were always and forever, going to be numbingly obsessed with each other.

.. taglist: @fuckshitslover @themoonchildwhofell @khxna @flipsconhelado @nataliesfirefly

[yanderismo]

I need to get this out. Okay (plus I'm using the translator. Sorry for any English mistakes! Or something confused😭)

Imagine a platonic yandere Leon Kennedy RE2 x Reader young zombie. (although that idea doesn't exactly sound yandere)

Reader was abandoned by her parents when the virus devastated the city, abandoned to become another one of those zombies. And well, she became a zombie, but a different zombie, she still has a human mind and can still reason (let's assume her appearance still looks like a human, that makes things easier).

When Reader found Leon, she was still bitter and sad about being abandoned. And of course, after Leon noticed the presence of a teenager, he would try to take her with him, after all the city is very dangerous for a young girl! (As far as Leon knows, the reader is human)

It was sad, because a stranger (Leon) is more worried about her than her parents ever were. Because of Leon's heart, he convinced Reader to try to survive together.

The fact that the reader is a zombie makes everything easier for Leon. Is there somewhere Leon needs to go but it's infested with zombies? No problem, the reader can do this for him, or even serve as a distraction, the other zombies won't attack her. The reader's ease in doing this makes Leon worried and suspicious of her. But let's assume that at this point the two have grown attached to each other and he lets it go (for now).

Additional: Reader literally growls when he sees Ada too close to Leon. Like, what are you bicht doing to the only person who cares about me grrrrr.

Fun addition: Ada also becomes a platonic Yandere for Reader

Too lazy to elaborate, but the ending is basically the Reader not wanting to leave town because it would probably become an experiment for the government, she was scared. And Leon insisting that he will protect her at all costs, that he will not abandon her regardless of what happens. And this moves Reader, the atmosphere is so anguished and fluffy. (This idea is much better in my head)

And Claire with Sherry by her side, it's like Leon: Oh, you adopted a child too?

Leon: Huh? what??

Reader with an extremely sad face like *I was abandoned by my parents*

Leon immediately corrected himself: Yes, I adopted her.

This is how I see Leon and Reader when they are together: font Google lol

[mossyivy]

CHRIS STANS RISE!!! WE NEED TO GIVE THAT MAN MORE LOVE AND ATTENTION!!! 😤

Domestic Chris…Because that’s my specialty. 🥹

I see Chris having three kids, two boys, one girl. He’d be the type of dad to push his boys so hard, always expecting the best of the best from them. His daughter as well, but not as harsh. I see them all pretty close in age, maybe 1-2 years apart for each kid.

He’d have his boys do all sorts of sports and activities. Football, baseball, basketball, tennis, track, cross country, you name it, they do it. Chris would also help them practice, especially in football and baseball. His daughter would probably do ballet, tennis, and be in the Girl Scouts with Cecilia, and maybe do drama with Violet as well.

Also, it’s very much cannon that Chris spoils his daughter 10X more than his boys. His little girl wants to go on a Sephora shopping trip? Take his card and go crazy. His boys want to go out with their friends? Here’s $25 for the both of you.

Chris is also such a loving husband. He’d buy you gifts “Just because”. Or if you mention a new designer purse online, it would mysteriously show up on the dining table to greet you when you woke up…With a handwritten note of course. You were very much a spoiled wife, but he didn’t care, you gave him three beautiful kids for god sakes, of course he’d buy you whatever you want.

If there was ever a time any of your boys were disrespectful to you while he was gone, (Because they know better than to mess with their mother while dad’s around.) He’d give them the “You don’t disrespect MY wife.” Talk. Ugh, 😣 give me a chance Chris…☹️

- Anon! 🎀

🎀 ANON I FUCKING LOVE YOU I'VE BEEN WANTING TO TALK ABOUT HIM BUT NO ONE REALLY DOES MUCH IN THE CHRIS TAG ANYMORE AND THAT PLUMMETS MY MOTIVATION!!!

But I'll scream with you anyday bb!!!

(I'm sorry this is so long I just couldn't help myself 😭)

Okay so I've had the idea that Chris met someone with a child from a previous relationship (Your first born son, Let's name him Oliver and call him Ollie for short! He's like 2 years older than Violet. He struggles a bit in school so they're in the same grade, along with his younger brother, after he was held back in 5th and 8th grade but that's okay! Everyone struggles!)

Ollie was like 2 when they first met. Your ex-husband was a HORRIBLE MAN, absolutely terrible to you and the only good thing he ever did was bless you with Ollie. That's it.

Chris and his wife met through work (let's be honest here, how tf else would he meet a woman? Chris is very much a workaholic.) His wife is basically the lead of the BSAA's dispatch response team (Basically what Hunnigan does at the FOS but the BSAA's version) and she's good at her job. Very strong willed and mouthy as a mf. Isn't scared to go back at anyone over the radio and definitely got into it with Chris once or twice before they officially met.

(catch me posting what happened when they met in person the first chance someone asks)

Anyway!!

After y'all start dating it doesn't take long before you introduce Chris to your son and Ollie is just OBSESSED with Chris. Like you've never seen this kid so excited to see another human being until Chris shows up. You two only started dating for a few months and Ollie already calls Chris dad. You try correcting him scared AF that Chris is gonna get freaked out but he's actually super chill with it. He's use to taking care of people, he basically raised Claire after their parents died but this little guy is much younger and a lot more fun and excitable than Claire was.

A few months into the relationship you find out you're pregnant. Chris is excited but also freaking out with how often he's gone. But everything works out and you end up having your second son, Christopher Jr but CJ for short.

You and Chris end up getting married not long after your first anniversary after the babies born. Not making a big deal out of anything just getting papers signed and having a little get together celebrating everything.

2 years go by, Ollie's in Kindergarten and CJ does daycare. You start getting horribly ill out of nowhere. So you go get checked out and oh God you're pregnant again...

(This would be the point in time where Leon starts bugging for another baby with his wife)

9 months of Chris being a nervous wreck fly by and the world meets your daughter, Talulla, Lulu for short.

Chris would be adamant on sticking the kids in after school activities once they're old enough. His boys would do sports and his baby girl in softball and girl scouts so she can hangout with her pseudo cousins. (Her being 2 years younger than Violet and 2 years older than Cecilia) Until her older cousin quits cause girl scouts are for babies (🙄)

Chris and his wife would be UBER COMPETITIVE when it came to cookie selling season. It's all out war between the Redfield's and Kennedy's every year.

I feel like Ollie would also really be musically gifted and play piano for the school choir and musicals. Lulu would Ed up wanting to do drama but be a stage hand or in the costume department. She's actually very shy.

CJ is basically Chris when he was a kid. Always doing stupid shit... Getting in trouble over the dumbest of things but looking out for others. (Definitely beat up that kid who was picking on Violet when they were 7.)

You're getting calls from the school at least once a month because CJ got in trouble for either getting into an argument with a teacher over rules or another kid tried something stupid.

[luna-nigthshade-wood]

The perfect gift

The perfect gift, everyone thinks, is the minimal gift that Dean deserves in his birthday after all the years he spent taking care of everyone and saving the world, and his family is willing to find. Aka, the ducklings+ Cas try to find the perfect gift for Dean

The perfect gift, Jack decides as he puts different pans and pots in the kitchen counter, is this. And he can’t help but be excited when Dean smiles at him as he takes a bite of his-slightly-more-charred-than-brown burnt pancakes. The excitement doesn’t stop even when he has to help Dean cleaned the kitchen and burnt pans.

The perfect gift, Bobby-John believes as he struggles to find the design he wants, is this. And he feels cheerful as Dean hugs the teddy bear he designed with its soft and brown fur, dressed in a plaid t-shirt that smells like the apples and cinnamon of the pies that Dean likes so much. Bobby-John gets even more cheerful when Dean hugs him too.

The perfect gift, Kaia ponders as she struggles to find it, is this. And the gleeful look on Dean´s face as he opens the box and finds a collection of well-loved Vonnegut books is worth it. And Dean and her will later get engrossed in a conversation about the real classics, while Claire calls them nerds, and that will be even more worth it.

The perfect gift, Jesse rules as he browses the aisles of the store, is this. And the childlike wonder that Dean gets as he finds his favorite comic books from when he was a child makes Jesse´s chest swell up with pride. And later, Dean and him will see the comics and try to recreate the sillier moves, and they will laugh like loons.

The perfect gift, Alex hopes as she tries to untangle the wool, is this. And the way Dean´s eyes light up as she presents him the bracelet with the good luck pendant makes her thankful to be here sharing this moment. And afterwards, Alex will hug Dean, and the hunter will promise to always be there for them.

The perfect gift, Krissy wonders as she steps inside the music store, is this. And the way that Dean caresses the polished wood of the guitar she gifts him, as he starts playing some tunes, makes her smile something fierce. And once the party has dwindled down, Dean will track her down and teach her some basic tunes, and her smile will be the brightest

The perfect gift, Patience reflects as she wipes the paint from her hands, is this. And the delicate way that Dean handles the portrait she made of their whole family as if he was handling a Picasso, is a balm to her soul. And later Dean will build the picture a frame before finding the best place to hang it at the Bunker, and they will both smile every time they see it.

The perfect gift, Ben exclaims as he clicks in his computer, is this. And the little fist bumped, Dean makes when he opens the box to find the tickets to the baseball game makes him do a little fist bump himself. Later on, Dean will take an old glove and a baseball ball and their little play will devolve in an all time war with his siblings and family, and he will cackle at the chaos.

The perfect gift, Claire trusts as she finishes the final touches of her gift, is this. And the delicateness that Dean has as he pulls the new polished and repaired dagger out of the box, makes Claire smile despite herself. Afterwards, Dean will ask her how she was able to make this and Claire will smile cryptically towards Cas, but won’t say anything, after all she is the one that went through all the trouble of recreating the angel´s blade.

The perfect gift, Emma contemplates as she tries to take the glue out of her hands, is this. And the brightness of Dean´s smile as he careful looks at every photo of the scrapbook she made, bright her heart and her days. After, Dean will pull out and old trunk full of memories and pictures and they will start another scrapbook together, and she will feel the happiest person on the world

The perfect gifts, Sam shuffles as he tries to get them all through the door, is this. And the way that Dean almost falls in his haste to get to the pie table is a reward by itself. Later, Sam and Dean will go out and sit in the trunk of the Impala as when they were kids just watching the stars and they will both forever be grateful of being brothers

The perfect gift, Cas is not sure what it is and then he remembers something small that Dean used to want when he was a child. It is in the way that Dean eyes start to wet as he slowly but surely takes the figure action he wanted all those years ago, and sometime soars inside Cas´ chest as Dean pulls him in a kiss. Dean will go to bed later that night and will cuddle with him, and that is the most perfect gift that Cas can ask.

The perfect gift, Dean thinks, is this right here. It is the sheepish look in Jack´s face as he presents his burned pancakes to him. It is in the proud eyes of Bobby-John after he presents the teddy bear to him. It is in the excitement that Kaia gets as she starts to discuss her favorite books with him. It is in Jesse´s laughs as they pretend to be Batman and Robin It is in the way Alex´s protectiveness ensues as he promises to never leave any of them alone. It is in the soft tunes that Krissy plays on the guitar as he teaches her some of the music they both love. It is in Patience´s art and painting that bring a smile to his face every time he sees them. It is in the hesitant but firm way Ben throws the ball as their little practice evolves into and all war (it is also in the chaos that ensues). It is in the way that Claire smirks as he wonders how was she was able to recreate such a master piece. It is in the happiness of Emma and her little quips as she tells him the story of every photo on the scrapbook. It is in the nervousness on Sam as he suggests they go to watch the stars as was their tradition when they were children (it is in the happiness he gets as they do just that). It is in the action figure that Cas carefully gifts Dean, and it is not even about the action figure, it is about the healing of his inner child and the thoughtfulness that Cas had when he searched for said gift.

The perfect gift, Dean is sure, is this moment, it is being alive, surrounded by his love ones, and he wouldn’t change them for all the presents in the world

AO3

[mlobsters]

supernatural s10e9 the things we left behind (w. andrew dabb)

all right so i think this is the one i knew was lurking ahead of us, again thought there'd be more mark-related buildup before we got here

deleted a rambling paragraph about thinking the show is out of ideas, yet another troubled teen

he never laughs like this, reminds me of the scene when sam gets glitterbombed by the clowns in s7e14 also written by dabb (and loflin) (i included a clip of that scene because it was so cute). sam's always so confused/concerned when dean's laughing that much (but i mean it rarely happens on screen so i'm concerned too this time around)

but i'm glad he relaxed and enjoyed it too. and that dean was so into the grilled cheese sam made for him. but like, could they find a more uncomfortable place to sit to chill and watch tv? maybe on the cold concrete dungeon floor next time? were the men of letters anti-couch?

how many plotlines are we gonna jam in. dean and sam's business, claire and cas, rowena and crowley

claire novak / big little lies - kathryn newton as abigail carlson

she's so pretty and i like the styling they did for her

CLAIRE You’ve changed. The Castiel I met? He was crappy. Like super stuck-up and a dick and you just wanted to punch him in his stupid angel face. CASTIEL I don’t think I was THAT bad. CLAIRE You totally were. And now you’re just … I don’t know. Nicer. And kind of a doof. No offense.

no lies detected

DEAN Cas, listen to me. There’s some stuff you just got to let go. Okay? The people you let down, the ones you can’t save … You got to forget about them. For your own good. CASTIEL Is that what you do? DEAN That’s the opposite of what I do. But I ain’t exactly a role model.

mhm

working the wet kitten heart eyes overtime

DEAN Cas, I need you to promise me something. CASTIEL Of course. DEAN If I do go dark side, you got to take me out. CASTIEL What do you mean? DEAN Knife me. Smite me. Throw me into the freakin’ sun, whatever. And don’t let Sam get in the way, because he’ll try. I can’t go down that road again, man. I can’t be that thing again.

don't like it

didn't we do creeper dad with orphans in a house schtick already? god what even was that episode about. ugh. was that paige? whatever her actual name was. okay, yes, krissy. s8e18 my post where i mentioned cult vibes. (i searched for cult in my blog. no dice. so damned frustrating because i link to my shit all the time and i know the words i used and it doesn't even help. rrrgh tumblr pLEASE fucking fix this)

is the mark making dean extra hungry?

DEAN Whoa, hey, Miley Cyrus. Settle. CLAIRE Eat me, Hasselhoff.

ooh (fully justified) burn

the exact last thing dean needs to hear

i dunno, man. yeah, the whole business with angels swooping in and taking how many people away from their families? a very valid problem that they just ignored basically. so now we're gonna have a big moral reckoning over it via this kid? just feels. forced

ruth connell (rowena) is listed at 5'2" but she seems smaller than that. maybe it's these full length nearly hobble skirts they have her in

mark sheppard just seems to bring out the best in everyone, quite compelling scene here between crowley and rowena (esp considering i'm hard pressed to care). and well, a character likely just as wily as he is, good match to play around with

CASTIEL I thought I could make it up to her. SAM I don’t think you can. I mean, Jimmy was her father, and to some people, that’s … that’s everything, you know? CASTIEL No, I don’t. I never knew my father. He was distant, to say the least. What about you? Did you love your father? DEAN With everything I had. SAM Yeah. Yeah. I mean, it wasn’t always easy, but yeah. DEAN I mean, look. John Winchester’s not going to win any “Number One Dad” awards, you know? But you know… damn if he wasn’t there when we needed him.

right, you know i have major beef with john over the child neglect. i can't let it go. like, he was there when you needed him? when exactly? like all those times canonically we saw you calling him and he didn't show up? dean's dying in the hospital? (nevermind the not being there for their childhood that we see onscreen) i just. no :p

DEAN Somehow, we convince him to let us go. So, we all go. We all, you know, see all the sights, and uh, ride the subway, eat too much pizza. The whole nine. Well, by about midnight, Sam and Dad are zonked, and I figure… Screw it. I’m going to CBGB.

love sam's face listening to dean's story. i don't think we've had a long stories like this before? it's cute. like jackles and padalecki telling a story at con :p

CASTIEL I know. It’s where The Ramones and Blondie got their start. DEAN Right. SAM Wow. Anyways, he was WAY underage at the time.

--

DEAN Then this girls walks up and she says “Hey, why don’t you come over and sit down with me and my friends at our table?” All right! SAM Yeah, and they get him drunk. First time. DEAN But not fun drunk. I’m not quite sure what was in that stuff, but the room starts to spin, and I feel like I’m going to puke … forever.

dad saved him from being roofied? i don't see how else that could be understood. fucking weird.

DEAN Yeah, and you know what he got for that? Me whining about how much he embarrassed me. Me telling him that I hated him. But then he stopped and turned around and he looked at me and he said, “Son, you don’t like me? That’s fine. It’s not my job to be liked.” SAM “It’s my job to raise you right.”

Y'ALL. i had to cover my mouth and if my kids weren't sleeping i would have screamed. ARE YOU KIDDING ME. whew

per usual i could do without the attempted rape.

SAM Tell me you had to do this. DEAN I didn’t … I didn’t mean to. SAM No. Tell me it was them or you!

well, there it is. i truly don't know where we go from here

[effrvsnt107]

absolutely yes to your answer!

alec definitely had some sort of hero complex going on with claire, he was her rescuer, knight in shining armour. also obviously alec doesn't see this (i don't remember him doing so) but claire flipping the table like the hulk was a dead giveaway. another thing that struck me was how claire switched so fast (brilliantly acted) from the helpless scared damsel to  a very spiteful and mean person whenever things didn't go her way as also another glaringly red flag. it's not surprising how when we see the truth of sandbrook and find out one death was uninentional, but the youngest was. orchestrated by claire and it's sickening the way she lulled pippa into a false sense of security and manipulated her, preying on her feelings and pretending to care - sound familiar? i also don't think it's a coincidence that the girl claire and lee killed was the youngest and the same child hardy pulled out of the water. the child who made him think of his own.  another scene i always think about as an example of claire doing that switching thing was when they were at the house and she suddenly started talking fast and waspishly at alec telling him to leave and she didn't need his help, and the camera kind of cascades up and down his body close to her face and she is raising her hands like she's gonna touch him but never does. it's so...layers i say! i feel like hardy never directly answers the "did you sleep with claire" line because the answer is that he might as well have. he's crossed every other boundary. it's crazy because when i first watched, i did not trust clarie and knew she was lying when she claimed lee drugged her. speaking of lee, lee comes across the hard man but when his vulnerability slips out i felt upon rewatching that he was trying to communicate to hardy that claire was not as innocent as she looked.

tess hardy is quite the character and i wish they didn't cut the bit where hardy is with her by the water - the affair is clearly well underway because you would have thought she was his colleague in that scene.

Sorry for the late response! I agree entirely with everything you said, and with some snippers of the Broadchurch season 2 novel (a collection of short stories), I can give you screenshots to back up everything you said. I was planning go like in depth but these snippets just sum up anything i could have said.

The story for Alec I’m lifting is set the day before Danny’s murder and Ellie coming back.

Here is a little paragraph detailing the saviour complex

That feeling of being her “self appointed protector” as they put it absolutely did a number on him. Not only that, but he wanted to be (kind of) her captor, because while he phrases as wanting to do nice things for her, he and Claire both know it’s so he can have an extra slither of control over her to find out more about Sandbrook.

When I was reading this, I was thinking that if you change the characters to anyone else, this would look like a textbook example of financial abusive. I bring this up because last time you said about the allegations Claire made about being assaulted by him, and that while Ellie doesn’t believe he would ever do anything like that, she wants to take it seriously. And this makes me think no wonder. I would say he is justified in doing this, after all she is manipulating him and did kill a child knowingly, I also just want to put this here and see what you make of it.

Onto Claire and her manipulation!

“Never the same woman twice” is what really got me. It’s very evident she can switch on a dime and she is doing everything in her power to manipulate Alec. She is basically trying everything and seeing what makes him tick and what makes him fall into her demands. Also the line about “long been mystified by females” took me out and that has nothing to do with Claire at all.

Ah, the classic, baby yourself so that Hardy sees you as younger and vulnerable so he won’t get mad. He references this later in the story but I can’t find the exact quote right now.

To be honest, this is making me even more confused about the stance of their relationship. Like while I am very on the side ‘Alec didn’t fuck Claire’ why was the line “How long has it been since a woman looked after him like this? How long has it been since a woman touched him?” If not to confuse me on the stance.

The fact that is going through his mind. For the first time in a long time, he is the vulnerable one here. He is the one being looked after and this makes him uncomfortable because she shouldn’t.

Honestly though, Eve Myles was so brilliant in conveying Claire and her switch’s.

Also, your thoughts about Tess, absolutely. Through another short story, like you said, the affair was well underway. In fact, her and Dave were shagging in the back of his car in the middle of the search for Pippa and her cousin. The same day Alec pulled Pippa out of the water. The story also mentioned how she felt felt contempt towards him for not being able to see the fact she was having an affair or that she was growing distant.

Cutting out that scene was just tragic because it was so good and could have showed so much of both her contempt and her distance but also his tunnel vision because he just didn’t notice. I wish they gave us a couple more scenes with Tess honestly, because even with seeing him all pathetic and wanting her back, I didn’t know why. There’s a deleted scene where he calls her “love” which gives it anyway, but I want more scenes of them together! I want to see why they worked in the first place!

Something I really just want to point out as well (but what we touched on last time) was him underestimating women. He never thought that Tess would be affected by his absence (although the cheating and subsequent loss of Sandbrook wasn’t in any way his fault), he never thought Claire was capable of murder (he did think she was hiding something though) and he didn’t think Ellie was good at her job, saying “If she wasn’t good enough, that’s her problem.”

Each time he was proved wrong.

Alec Hardy could only ever be a man.

When you finish season 2 let me know because I want to hear your thoughts when you do!

[otnesse]

Not just fandom problems either. We had something similar occur with Dragon Ball via the character General Blue. Long story short, after Bulma and Krillin find the pirate treasure, General Blue (who was stalking them to find both the dragon ball and the treasure) reveals himself by getting out of the water. Bulma gets smitten by his bishonen features and starts flirting with him and they basically deduce he's gay due to him not being receptive towards her advances to say the very least. And this gets reinforced when he refuses to fall for Bulma's attempt at a honeypot trap to save Krillin (well, save mostly herself, but she WAS trying to save Krillin as well). To be fair, having Blue react to Bulma's flirting in such a manner that's more expected for young boys who have yet to outgrow their cooties stage doesn't exactly help his case, but Bulma WAS being somewhat crass in her flirting (I'd react the same way as him [well, save for MAYBE calling her disgusting, since I am attracted to the opposite sex] if she did that to me, and I'm actually ATTRACTED to her).

The anime was a bit better in that regard where we at least got evidence in filler towards General Blue actually HAVING an interest in the same sex. Whether it was an actual improvement or not is up to interpretation because said guy he crushed on was Obotchaman who... well, let's just say his size and demeanor can easily be mistaken for a child.

Personally it's fandom, or in this case, fandumb's stupid take that gets me REALLY annoyed at horndog characters, makes us straight people look bad (that's also one reason I'm not particularly fond of Brock ESPECIALLY after his return from the Orange Islands. At least in Kanto, he DID train Ash a few times, so he had THAT going for him, not to mention helped out Charmander when it needed it. He's pretty much the only OG character I really wasn't fond of for the most part.).

In case you need pictures or videos of what I'm getting at:

Here's the color version of the latter two, directly translated from Japanese (would post the color version of the first, but... well, let's just say Bulma basically called Blue something off-color that rhymes with "hag"):

And finally, the scenes from the anime itself. At least the English dub (which doesn't directly state Blue's orientation):

And this is the scene regarding Obotchaman (viewer disgression is advised):

To be fair regarding the last one, his derisively calling him "shorty" would imply he merely mistook him for a dwarfen man rather than a child, but still...

Either way, to get back to the topic at hand, this was from an actual manga/anime, and not just fandom, but what was actually conveyed in-story. And while I definitely don't care one way or another about his orientation in itself (certainly beats how Claire Bennet, Willow, Ice Man, and Alex Danvers got "outed" in their respective series where it was abrupt and had them clearly being interested in the opposite sex. Made worse with Ice Man where it was arguably a reverse version of conversion therapy that Jean Grey inadvertently performed on him.), it does get annoying that us heterosexual men must act like horndogs to any girl we meet lest we be automatically deemed gay even if we're just disturbed at the manner in which the girl flirted (and let's face it, in reality, I'm pretty sure most heterosexual guys would be disturbed at the manner in which Bulma flirted if they were in Blue's shoes).

Fandom Problem #5374:

"This character didn't ogle this other character of the opposite sex or make a comment that suggests they are attracted to them so they must be gay!" or, just here me out, they have some self control and characters don't have to act like horndogs to show they are straight or they could be ace. Just a penny for your thoughts.

[asoulofatlantis]

Alright, I still have some time before I have to drive my mother to work, so I might as well go back to my golden child for a little longer...

Altine here basically speaks for all the people that love and care about Rean ^^’ NEVER trust Rean when it comes to sacrificing himself.

You really only have to blame yourself Mister! How can you offer Musse to treat her to a Meal and not assume she would make a hot date out of it? ^^’

Do not act all embarrassed! We all know that this is a dream come true for you, especially given how neither CS3 nor CS4 gave you that opportunity. So don’t play pretend and instead enjoy it while your girlfriend is stuck in Crossbell XD

This boy can just not help it XD Seriously, there are certain girl/woman in the game, who I feel will always get a certain special treatment from him, no matter if or who he is in a relationship with. Claire is high on that list. I feel like despite everything he never got fully over his crush on her and he probably never fully will...

The following cutscenes just take to long for me to continue playing right now. So it is time for yet another break.

[skygazer0516]

Titanic: A New Life pt. 5

TRIGGER WARNING-DOMESTIC VIOLENCE

Everything started out as a bright white blur. Just white light and colorful objects that Claire knew had to be furniture and wall fixtures. She couldn’t help herself from raising her hand to shield her sensitive eyes. In a matter of seconds, the blurs in the light took shape, and she could see clearly. Oh, thank God. She thought to herself. She was in a white room with pictures of the town surrounding a wooden crucifix on the wall. Bradley was sitting in the red chair that was for patients' loved ones tucked away in the far corner of the room. The doctor was a very tall, good-looking gentleman with red hair that had been pomaded into a nice, combed back position. Although he looked like he could take down a bear, his green eyes were gentle and inviting. Beside him was a female that was short skinny and dressed in a simple white nurse's gown that had yet to have any blood or sign of work on it. 

“Take it slow. Here, look at my fingers. How many am I holding up?” The doctor asked while holding up two fingers. A gesture that made Claire feel like a child playing a stupid playground game but she promptly responded with the correct number. 

“Good, now if you would please follow the light.” He took a small torch out of his clean white coat. With a click of a button the torch came to life. The doctor then slowly moved it from side to side and from up to down motions. The light was still a little too much, so Claire squinted slightly but followed the motion without a problem.  

“Excellent, now just stare straight ahead for me.” He said while moving the light repeatedly to the center of her eye to the area just outside of her vision. He nodded approvingly and repeated the process with the other eye. To which he gave another approving nod. He started asking her basic easy questions. “What is your name?” “How old are you?” “What month were you born?” “Who is the king of Great Britian?” “Who is the Prime Minister?” 

Claire answered all the questions, “Claire Laraunt. I am twenty-six. I was born in July. George the Fifth.” These were easy although the Prime Minister question took her a second. Not because of the pain messing with her memory but because she had never really cared about politics. But after a second she spoke, “Is it H. H. Asquith?” she asked unsurely. The doctor nodded with a smile. 

“Everything seems clear. Your eye movement is intact, and your pupillary response is excellent. All-in-all you are very lucky. Not very many people could take a fall like yours and survive.”  

Not being sure what the story was, she asked what had happened. 

“You took a rather nasty fall down the stairs according to your husband who found you. Your eye is severely bruised, probably hit the banister cannonball decoration at the bottom of the stairs; which would account for being out cold when found. You have a couple fractured ribs and extensive bruising on your right side. Your arms are bruised from hitting the stairs. With your permission ma’am I would like to recheck your legs now that you are awake.” The doctor explained. Claire nodded, giving him permission. 

The doctor lifted the lower half of the blanket gently folding it back to reveal Claire’s knees all the way down to her feet. He hit the lower tendon of her knees to check the reflexes, which made her her foot bounce. He squeezed each leg to check for a pain response, to which there was none. Then he ran a pen on the bottom of her feet. “Can you feel the pen Mrs. Laraunt?”  

“I can.” She said happily. Thank God. Other than the pain in her head and her side she was truly happy that she wasn’t dead and could feel the pen going up her foot. 

“Excellent, your nervous system is responding well to touch and stimuli, so I don’t believe there is any permanent damage. However, I would still take it easy for a little while for your ribs to heal. No heavy lifting for at least three weeks. I will prescribe you something for your pain and send you home. Studies show people recuperate faster at home than stuck at the hospital.”  

“Thank you, Doctor... Um may I have your name please.” Claire asked him shyly. She might not be rich was she was still a lady after all. And manners dictated that you address someone properly. 

“Sure, it’s McClintock, Alastair McClintock.” he said proudly. 

“Well thank you Dr. McClintock.” showing her gratitude. 

“Nurse Hannon, please go fill this prescription for me and get her discharged papers worked up.” He said, handing the slip to her as they walked out of the room. 

Please do not leave. Please stay or let me stay. Please do not send me back there. Her thoughts were pleading but a smile remained on her face. 

“Good girl. You didn’t say anything. Finally, a smart act.” Bradley was cold but couldn’t help showing a little bit of pride in how well she could hide the truth. “After all this time you have learned to keep your mouth shut and play along. Now get out of that bed and get dressed. While you were sleeping, I went home and got your petticoats, a corset and your blue dress. Your make-up kit there on the table. Get dressed and cover up that eye. I do not want nasty looks on the way home.” He had risen and made his way to her bedside. Each word was a sent fear through her being because even though they were in a hospital all Bradley would have to do is say she passed out and they would believe him.   

Claire got up from the bed and took off the hospital gown she was wearing. She saw the bruises on her arm. She tried to twist to see her ribs but turning and twisting like that was too painful. She would wait to see them tonight when she dressed for bed. She got dressed receiving no help from Bradley. She put on her combination underwear, then her corset. The corset was front laced though tugging the strings made her want to scream. She swallowed the scream and left the corset just tight enough to look presentable but loose enough for her to breathe with less pain. He had forgotten stockings, she didn’t mind. This meant that she wouldn’t have to bend over to put them on. She slipped the petticoat on and tied the drawstrings together. Once that was done, she stepped into the blue day dress that snapped together just on the other side of the lace that ran down the middle of the gown. 

Claire was dreading putting on her make-up. Will it hurt more this time? What am I going to look like? Will I have to pile it on? Claire sat down and opened the lid.  Attached to the underside was a descent sized oval mirror. Big enough for touch-up jobs but not to see her whole face at once. Taking out the boxes top tray there lay a silver handheld mirror. Claire pulled this out and braced herself for what she might see. 1... 2... 3! Claire turned the handle in her hand and saw what she looked like. Her lip was a little swollen and bruised eye went from the inside of her nose around her eye and halfway across the top side of her cheek. Now came a routine that Claire knew too well by heart.  

Claire was used to hiding bruises at this point, but this time was different. The bruises had usually been small spots on her cheek bones, but the lip and the eye were going to take all of her know how. Claire took out her makeup brush and started the eloquent dance of painting her face. Starting with basic powder she covered her face. Then she brushed on the foundation. This lightened the black eye somewhat, so she applied more powder and foundation. Better, not perfect but it would have to do. Her blue eyeshadow almost made it disappear, almost. Claire didn’t like applying her lipstick with the usual twist and apply. She preferred to use a brush to get the sharp corners and the cupid bow right. Her long brown hair was too mangled and knotted for a proper updo, so Claire styled it down with half of the top section pinned back by an antique comb with roses ordaining the top. A trinket that had belonged in her family since the 18th century. She was ready to face the streets of Southhampton. 

There was a slight knock on the door and Doctor McClintock came back in. “I have your discharge papers Mrs. Laraunt. I also have this.” He reached out and handed her a small blue bottle. “This is Laudanum. I want you to take three times a day or as needed for pain management.” McClintock explained. 

“Thank you doctor. But may I ask, how do I take it. Do I sip straight from the bottle or mix it in my drink.” Claire asked puzzlingly. 

“That is a great question. You sip it straight from the bottle.” McClintock plainly. “Now be careful. Be careful because it will cause drowsiness and dizziness. You have this bottle and here is a prescription for two more bottles that you can have filled by your pharmacist.” After handing the prescriptions to Bradly, Dr. McClintock nodded at them both and left them alone. 

“Finish getting your stuff together. I’ll go get us a carriage for the ride home.” Bradley was calm. Claire had played her part well and kept her mouth shut. He left the room collected and poised, a true gentleman. “Why can he not be that way all the time,” She thought. He was always rough around the edges, but it got worse when his mother died. Maybe it’s my fault. I did give him a cold dinner and that is what set him off. But how was I supposed to know that he would get home so late. Claire’s thoughts raced as she packed up the rest of her makeup. With box in hand, she headed towards the door, took a deep breath, composed herself and left the room. 

[libraford]

The short version: We had a serial thief at the flower shop. She’s retired recently and I think that due to Covid she really means it this time. 

The long version? hoooo boy, here we go.

This story, and others, are viewable on Tablo

There are rules and there are rules.

In dealing with shoplifting in retail, there are rules on how one engages with a thief. The handbook, if there were one, would consist of a single word. 

Don't. 

Don't pursue, don't interrogate, don't accuse. Let them take the merchandise, let them get away. Let them return the Cricut machine for an equivalent amount on a gift card to be exchanged once again for drugs. 

Let them. 

There is no handbook on how to handle Flower Thieves. Prior to working in a flower shop, I never thought that this was a problem. 

Life is surprising. 

 I'm sure some of you have figured that out by now. 

The Flower Thief is notorious, and she has a system. There are days when you simply know that she's going to be in. 

"Break the heads off the flowers before you throw them away," Grandpa will say. "She's going to be here tonight, I think." 

And sure enough, she would be. At 6:45, a quarter til we close- the Thief would announce her arrival. Loudly. 

"Heeeeey, baaaaaaby!" 

The very first time I encountered the Flower Thief, she came in through the back door. 

"Oh Hiiiii, Darlin'- ain't seen your face around here: you must be NEW! I'm Wren, you know- like the bird? Well, Kyle and I have an agreement that I come and work for y'all sometimes. You should take out this trash, it stinks to high heaven. Anyways, nice talkin' to ya, see ya later." 

I may only be a little bit psychic, but I've spent enough time around liars to know insincerity when I see it. Kyle, at the time, was the manager of our store and I have it on record that he's tried to throw her out of the building once or twice. 

While I was taking out the trash, her pile of purchase became so tall it towered over her. I watched Clark massively undercharge her for the sake of getting her to go away. 

She has a pattern.

She comes in during the design classes because she knows that when there's twenty people in the store, there's not enough people to watch her and make sure she's not stealing. "There's a class today," she asks as if it's not literally every Tuesday. "Don't worry I know you all wanna get out of here on time." 

The Flower Thief announces her presence in a grand way and then makes her way to the back to grab a trash bag or an empty box and then proceeds to bury any spare parts she finds in the cooler in the trash bag, hiding them under the things that she's actually buying. 

After that, she checks the garbage cans for things we might have thrown away that will last another three days and stuffs them underneath her other ill-gotten goods. 

Just when you think she's finished, she'll go through her pile of flowers and say: "You know what? I don't need this eucalyptus." And she'll go back into the cooler with it, stuff it in her purse, and walk back to the register. 

And when she's all done being sneaky, she asks one of us to come ring her out. 

This is the part that no one wants to do. Because ringing out the Flower Thief means haggling with the Flower Thief. 

"Oh baaby, you know I don't pay those prices." 

"Oh baaaby, I only pay $19 for roses." 

"Oh baaaaaaaaaby, those carnations were on special." 

She'll talk you down to under $100 with a sob story: 

"Oh baaaaby, you know I'm donating this spray to the family. It's for that woman you know- you know the one. She got herself murdered a couple nights ago? Two children and she was pregnant too! Pregnant! Can you believe it? Who murders someone with child? What's the world coming to? So I need a good discount to make sure we treat this family right because they got a looooong road ahead of them." 

"Oh baaaaaaby, you know this one's for that car crash over on Cleveland Avenue? I hear he was taking care of his dying father himself, so it's such a shame for him to go first like that." 

"Oh baaaaaaaaaaaaaaby, this is for that little boy that shot himself, isn't that sad?" 

Thank you, Sister Mary Loquacious. 

And you nod because you don't want to come off as an uncaring sociopath. And while you're nodding and adjusting the price for her sad, sad consequence and mulling over how good she is for donating to these people in their time of need, she steals some greens from the trash can and sticks them in her bag. 

She hands you crisp $100 bills. You check them and she makes jokes about how she printed them this morning. They're legit. Counterfeiting isn't why she went to prison. 

What she went to prison for was drug trafficking. 

"Do you need some help," you ask, trying to be a good citizen. 

"Oh no, I got it," she insists. "I'll make it in two trips. I'm stronger than I look!" 

And don't you dare get caught looking to see what she put in the bag or she will give you one hell of a lecture. 

By the time all of this has passed, the class will be over and there will two minutes left in the work day. She's spent thirty-seven minutes in the store. Your register is unbalanced because now you don't have enough small bills to balance it and only have one $100 bill to get you through tomorrow. 

And that's why there are rules. 

On occasion, a new person will break the rules not knowing that there's rules. One such occasion was when Clair decided to be helpful. 

"You know what? I don't need this eucalyptus," Wren said. 

"Oh! I'll put it back for you," Clair suggested. And before Wren could protest, it was out of Wren's hands and nowhere near her purse. 

It was mentioned to Sage, who only worked for us one summer, that Wren had failed to pay for something and she immediately chased her out into the street. 

Wren drives very fast. 

If you cross her too many times, she'll make sure you never forget it. One day, she stomped her way in through the front door, angry. 

"You ain't treated me better than a damn THIEF," screamed the Flower Thief. 

Grandpa, who was helping Blue make a wedding bouquet at the time, departed from the desk. "Beg pardon?"

"A thief! You been treating me like a thief ever since they made you manager and I'm sick of it! I see you bringing in your henchmen, following me in the cooler, chasing me down the street. Treat me with some damn respect." 

Words were exchanged. They were not kind. We thought we'd seen the end of her. 

But she was back one week later, doing the same damn thing. 

So now there are rules. 

If you make something and there's an excess of flowers left over from the pack, you have to make something out of the leftovers or she'll pick through them and stuff them in her bag. 

If you cannot make something out of them, you must throw them out. 

If you throw them out, you must break the heads off first. 

The trash cans must be emptied every night before 5:00. 

We do not keep trash bags in plain sight. 

Break down all empty boxes, or she will use them in place of trash bags. 

Do not leave any food or drink where she can find it. 

Do not leave any half-used rolls of floral tape where she can find it. 

Do not let her know anything about you- lest she use it against you. 

If you speak of a Thief, you summon a Thief- speak quietly, and never her name or you invite trouble. 

The basic rules one makes when dealing with pests. Or fairy-folk.

There are rules and there are rules and there are rules. 

If you want to keep a pest away, you make these sorts of rules. But if you want to get rid of a pest indefinitely, you have to remove their food source. And Wren's food source was her discount. 

You start exercising your right to say 'no' to a customer in small ways. 

She saw a bunch of carnations in the trash and said: 

"Oh baby, these are still good! I'll take them off your hands for you!" 

"They've been sitting without water for hours." 

"They're still good!" 

"They were out in the sun." 

"Oh baby, I've been working with flowers for 40 years and I know that these will still be fine for a couple of days!" She picks a bunch of them out of the trash and shoves it in my face. "See, it's still stiff- it's still good!" 

"Okay," I said. And before I could stop myself: "Full price."

Her eyes just about popped out of her skull. If it were just a little bit colder, I would have been able to see steam coming out of her ears. 

We stared at each other for about a minute, waiting for the other to flinch. She took the bunch away from my face and threw them back into the trash. While she was in the cooler, I took the liberty of snapping the heads off of them and burying them further into the garbage. 

And so began a war between the flower shop and the Flower Thief.

She came in: every single night. And each night, she got me. 

Again.

"Oh no, baby! These carns are supposed to be 39 cents a stem. I can bring up the email." 

"Sure." She brings up the email. "I see that they are 39 cents but... this was for Saturday." 

"Yea, and I bought those carns on Saturday and you charged me full price!" 

"Saturday." 

"Yeah." 

"You didn't buy these on Saturday. You bought them Friday." 

"Well I didn't know that they'd be on sale, so I need them for that price because I didn't know they'd be on sale." 

"The sales are one-day only. I can't adjust a sale from Friday to reflect Saturday's sale... on Sunday." 

She made a noise that reminds me somewhat of a cement mixer. 

 And again.

"I got a bad banner last time, can you print me a new one?" She shows me the banner in question. It's white. The 't' and the 'h' in 'mother' ran together. 

"Sure." 

"Okay, I need it to say 'Beloved Mother' and I want it in pink." 

"Sure." 

I print it. I ring her up $5. 

"Oh baaaaaaby, no, that one should be free." 

"Grandpa said- banners start at $5." 

"Oh, but you sold me a bad one last time." 

"We haven't sold you a banner in three weeks. How long have y'all had that body sitting in your cooler?" 

She grumbled, and paid. 

 And again. 

"I swear you been workin' every night this week! You must be tired," she said, nerves plain in her voice. "When do you get a day off?" 

"When the work is done." 

"That ain't what I'm askin'. When's your next day off, baby?"

"I stop working when the work is done, Wren." 

She narrows her eyes, which is a fun change from them bugging out of her skull like a fruit fly. "You don't ever get any days off?" 

"When the work stops, I rest."

 And again. 

"I'll be in and out, I know y'all want to get out of here on time," she said- announcing her presence to the entire class. She piled her stuff across the register counter and Grandpa began ringing her up. 

"Oh baby..." 

"No. We're doing away with the discounts." 

There are twenty people in the workshop for the class and Grandpa doesn't want to make a scene. She pulls her into the back, and I choose to make my instructions louder to mask the sound of them yelling. 

"So you're going to take your hypericum berries and you're going to cut the stem to about ten inches-" 

"How can you do this to me?" 

"And you're going to slowly fill the vase with these berries to kind of set the shape of the arrangement." 

"After all these years and this is how you treat me?" 

"Fun fact- you might know hypericum berries as their more common name: St John's Wort! St. John's Wort has been used as a medication for depression prior to modern medicine." You see- I, too, have taken notes from the Chattering Order.

"You can't do this to me," Wren said, stamping her feet like a toddler.

"But I wouldn't recommend eating them. However, they do smell somewhat like baked brown sugar." 

Stamp, stamp, stamp. 

Wren threw herself into the cooler and began putting a bulk of her flowers back. 

"This is robbery," I heard her say to Grandpa at the register. 

"Is it now?" 

 And again. 

She came in and immediately reached for a half-empty box of oasis bricks (the green sponge material that we use to hold flowers.) She said few words to me, few at all. She talked to Carrie about how she was going out to the country for awhile, to take care of her nephew's property. She needed to stock up. And oh- don't worry about it, she knows what she's doing. She's part of The Family.

She is in no manner of speaking, a member of The Family that owns this shop. Not even a third cousin. 

I saw her beeline for a rose I'd set in the trash. I picked it up, opened my mouth, and bit the head off of it. She stood in the middle of the workshop, absolutely stunned. 

Rose petals have the vague texture of arugula, by the way. Slightly sweeter, though. Tough to swallow in one go. 

She ran back into the cooler and didn't talk to me. 

I began taking down numbers. 

27 bricks of oasis. One pack of roses. Ten calla lilies. 1/2 pack of assorted greens. 

I punched the numbers in to the register. As if sensing something was amiss, she emerged from the cooler. 

"$54? What do I have that's $54?" 

"The oasis. They're $2 each." 

"Oh no baaaaaby, they're $1." 

"I can text Grandpa and ask her." 

"... that won't be necessary. Why are you charging me $22.50 for roses? You know my prices by now!" 

"22.50 is the price for a pack of roses." 

"22.50 is everybody prices." 

"Welcome to 'everybody.'" 

"I ain't paid a price increase in 7 years!" 

"The price of milk went up, Wren. So does everything else." 

She was seeing red, I knew it. There's a vein in her forehead that pops out when she's angry and it's the same shape as the river that runs through my home town. She sized me up, as if wondering if she could take me. 

I'm 256 pounds of 4H beef, and I have a knife. Try me. 

"I'm gonna call Kyle on this." 

"Do it." A lifetime of retail has made me immune to 'I'd like to speak to the manager.' 

She grumbled and put things back. Carrie offered to watch her, I held up my hand. 

"Can you do something for me  on these carns? They're the last pack in there and they're lookin' kinda ratty." 

"9.50." 

"9.50's the regular price." 

"Regular price is $14." 

"No it ain't." 

"Is today. You're taking our last pack and we need those for funerals." 

She put them back. 

She gave me a credit card. It seemed fake, but it ran. Every time I see here, she's got a different card. Did she print this one this morning, too? At least she stopped trying to sell me on Bitcoin. As you can see, it made her incredibly wealthy. 

She gathered her things and left. "Guess I'm getting the rest of my flowers from KROGER!" 

There are things you want to say. Like... I hope they enjoy your company just as much as we do. Or: Haven't graced them with your presence in awhile, huh? But at the time, it was better just to watch her leave with her minuscule bunch of flowers. I get a choice in where I loan my voice. 

Not here. 

Is it over? Nah. She'll be back for another round. But one day she'll finally retire in the way that she's always threatened to. And then? Then it can be as over as it ever will be. 

It is shocking to come from a history of retail, where you're not allowed to even hint at the idea of a customer being wrong, where you have to override every single price change to get the scores up, where you have to just let them steal your things and pull the wool over your eyes... 

... to flat-out telling someone 'no.' 

"No." 

It's such a great word. 

There are rules and there are rules. 

And there are thieves that the rules are made for. 

And there are words like 'no.' 

And all those things are magic in very human ways. 

[douxie-casperan]

Rise of the Titans and the assassination Hisirdoux Casperan’s character development

I’ve been ranting so much since Wednesday morning that I finally condensed by thoughts of WHY this one subject keeps setting me off namely the utterly diabolical way they handled Douxie and Archie’s relationship in Rise of the Titans and how it wasn’t just enough to hit him with the nerf bat.

Please note I’m at the point where I literally cannot tell the difference between Aaron headcanons, Teny headcanons and my own they are all mixed together in the blender that does funky things. I also apologise for typo/weird wording it’s half 1 in the morning and I’d rather sleep than edit.

~

If asked to sum up Hisirdoux Casperan there are certainly several things that come to mind:

Sees the value in people as a whole and will find do anything if there is a chance of help someone out

Prefers tactics that disable/banish rather than kill an enemy yet willing and able to pull the trigger if circumstances become forced

While not academically inclined he is very capable of thinking on his feet and outside the box calling back to his time on the streets where a split-second decision making is the difference between being caught and not

Terrible at planning he’ll be in there figuring it out as he goes along which is what makes the previous point so vital to literally how he goes through life

A natural charmer that would let him talk his way out of trouble 9/10 providing a perfect cover for his distrustful nature and reluctance to be touched by random people

Very down to earth, humble and never one to brag unless outright sassing someone

Will bang out some hot tunes at the drop of a hat, his love of music has never wavered once since he caught the bug despite instrument hopping ironically becoming a jack of all trades much like his magic style

The earliest memories he can recall are him as a young boy lost in the woods where he was for an unknown amount of time before his soon to be familiar finds him amongst the roots covered in dirt and drying tears, there is nothing before that. Unbeknownst to him is the colour of his magic matches the blue of a lost mother’s eyes and the song that haunts his nightmares as much as fire could well be hers though there is no way to be sure. From that moment on Archibald, shortened to Archie, would become his entire world and their friendship only becoming closer during the years they prowled Camelot together trying to keep themselves in one piece until the fateful day Douxie tricks the wrong person leading him straight into the path of the famous wizard Merlin Ambrosius.

It's no real secret that Merlin is a very closed off person who keeps his emotions as well guarded as his secrets, prefers the style of negative reinforcement over positive encouragement and is a very strict perfectionist in his. At this point in his life he can be very easily described as a disaster that is genuinely doing his best with every little mistake held of his head and his future self when brought back to that time period is belittled by Lancelot (Errand boy) and Arthur (Boy) too meaning it’s hardly a wonder his confidence was very fragile revelling in the times where he could do things without being told off for it. With Morgana largely ignoring him too (Though personally I like to think as he got older she’d occasionally take an interest until the blistering arguments with their master started to talk over daily life) a certain disguised dragon would have remained a lifeline and give that physical affection he craved much like being told he’d done well never seemed able to earn.

With Killahead he’d lose that home and family he made leaving just the two of them behind struggling to figure out their place in the world that had abandoned them.

There wouldn’t have been the words for it back then but the way he had been treated prior was outright abusive instilling very bad habits into Douxie yet by irony he was always willing to give people the benefit of the doubt and help those in trouble without thinking earning a reputation as the Shepard of Fire. He refused to become like him seeking to be better, perhaps not as a wizard (Even though he was learning new charms and spells along the way) but certainly as a person. Despite everything he suffers through or witnesses in the intervening years, the loss of friends and kindling of far newer ones he never loses his good heart 

That said is it any wonder that after rightfully sassing Merlin for resurfacing, ignoring his existence despite being in the same town and only visiting him to run a finding errand that all the confidence he’d managed to build completely from scratch after Camelot wavered causing him to fall back solely into trying impressing his old Master who was acting like his humble apprentice must have coasted the past few centuries who himself fell back into old habits of belittling? It’s only when Merlin started to truly listen and acknowledge that this was not the same Moppet he once knew after Excalibur was fixed that their relationship finally started to become more like equals. After the defeat of Janus the changeling that broke into the castle he touched Douxie’s shoulder with a genuine smile and for a second he simply didn’t know what to do because the old man never did this before his brain kicked into gear and realised he’d finally earned that one thing he’d been so desperate for his entire life: That in Merlin’s eyes he could be more than a failure who only caused problems for the closest thing to a father figure he’d ever had, never solved them.

A staff will be earned, history would be set back on trap by banishing Morgana tag teaming with Archie because they know one another inside and out, as promised he’d get the kids back to the present but soon after things would go badly wrong. They’d lose Jim and because of his very nature he’d make a gamble to try and get him back because that life is worth trying for just for in a moment of surprising selflessness Merlin would be sacrificed to save him. The only constant in his life apart from Archie would apologise, openly express pride and how the greatest thing he’d ever done was saving this orphan, call him son for the first and final time before turning into ash in his arms. There would be no time to grieve for things will barrel into the crescendo of Douxie sacrificing his own life to buy everyone time to escape because if they did that everything he’d ever done would be worth it with one last whispered goodbye.

(Zoe sees him fall, so does Archie – His heart would break if he was conscious just like theirs does when his body crumples into the ground)

On the very fringes of the Light Realm he is gifted one more conversation with Merlin in a truly heart-breaking sequence (THANKS TENY) where they can just talk without any fear of consequence or politics and just be completely honest. Douxie is allowed to stand equal to Merlin, to have the hug he’d needed since he was a child and be allowed to simply let go of every pretense and cry his heart out because this can never happen again. He’s allowed to say goodbye to both his master and Morgana who had both shaped so very much of his life but like the painting he’d always remained firmly in the long shadows of until that moment.

When Hisirdoux Casperan finally leaves Wizards if we just accidently deliberately put the shawarma back in along with checking in with Zoe before departure, it is with having learned to live during his wandering years but this is the point of true freedom because he can finally escape into his own light with Archie by his side to keep Nari out of the hands of those that would see the world harmed. It won’t be easy but it feels possible somehow even with the knowledge everything is simply running on borrowed time.

Then Rise of the Titans happens.

At first everything is genuinely fine! No more running, they engineer a solution shut the Order’s magic down to make them a lot less dangerous and potentially at least incapacitate them until they can come up with a longer-term solution but all the best laid plans and all that. Douxie’s quick thinking stops the train from crushing any of the people below and it’s a very him style move to switch places with Nari to stall for time because for some reason the plot disabled Claire from portaling her or any of the threatened people/heroes to safety. He openly sasses the Order despite knowing the consequences will be bad for him because once again he’s managed to trick them, buy time that at the other end isn’t even slightly utilised until he’s forced back into his own body in excruciating pain. Archie immediately mobs him with comfort just as he has done every single time the wizard is distressed or collapsed with exhaustion without thinking because that is what their bond is like, incredibly close and far more than the Soul Bond mark that connects them together. They’re very alike in that regard, you have to earn the right to touch while equally knowing exactly what form the other needs the most in that precise moment in a way very few others could.

Bar the moment of figuring out that an illusion is in place to hide where the Order is opening the Genesis Seals and the brief insistence on reconnecting with Nari somehow Douxie manages to forget everything that makes him who he is after this point choosing to stand in the background being very no thoughts head empty or can only use the most basic spells of his youthful days not the seasoned master wizard he should be. Nomura is treated like an innocent slip rather than an outright death he did absolutely nothing to prevent (Not to mention the stupid daytime thing) nor seems to care particularly about afterwards yet with Nari’s he’s allowed to openly grieve in a gorgeously animated visual showing how he’d failed to keep her safe despite everything. He did nothing to help here either mind despite allowing himself to be tortured in the same piece of media to keep her safe, just watched another loss happen right in front of his eyes in his conga long line of them.

Then there’s Archie, oh god then there was Archie.

The dragon who even here he’d been shown to have an incredibly close bond with him decides you know what sod that tell him goodbye I’m going to make a joke about having a kingdom now dad and me are trapped in here forever. Douxie on his part looked sad for all of three seconds saying that he hoped he’s happy like it's a pet that wandered out into the world one day and never came back instead of a lifelong companion that has been there for as long as he can remember. He was now completely alone in the world since Zoe was also written out entirely and because every bit of his background had been forgotten about it somehow meant nothing. This wasn’t “I know you miss him, I know you need to grieve but you are running out of time” moment like things had been with Charlie, this was “cool shapeshifting dragon cat is now stuck in a plot hole that’s a shame” with zero pay off or any of the genuine reaction that should have been there or hell even trying to Ohana him back that very second because it never should have happened in the first place. Then even this wasn’t enough somehow, they managed to de-power Douxie even further into uselessness bar the (Admittedly nifty!) sticky feet stunt, the one who fought Skrael and Bellroc to a stalemate was shunted aside with barely a thought and his head would somehow get even emptier.

The one person who knew the danger of time magic the most stood by and said nothing.

The one person who would suffer the most by a reset because the lynchpin to his issues would be asleep if you got it wrong and should have drilled it into Jim’s head the best time to aim for stood by and said nothing.

The one person who had just suffered the loss of his familiar, best friend and only family along with the almost sister like Nari stood by and said nothing.

Then to add further insult to injury the caption when Douxie and Archie is shown says Some go their entire lives living an existence of quiet desperation because every drop of his character growth, his ability to finally start addressing his trauma instilled back in the 12th century, the staff he longed for was instead openly mocked by going “Aww he got his cat friend back how nice!” Everything he’d rightfully earned and had now would be unable to progress until certain criteria are met because it hinges entirely on the Trollhunter going to Merlin’s tomb and there’s only so much your support network of two (One if she’s written out) can do, the root of the majority of his issues all stem from one man.

And this folks is why I’ve been going on multiple rants about Douxie in particular, everyone was hit with the out of character bat to some degree in this film but when they came for him they didn’t just stop after they took his legs out because they wanted him to suffer from something he’s never had any control over to begin with all over again. Abuse survivors deserve better, these characters deserve better and we as viewers deserve far far better writing than we were forced to endure.

[therealvinelle]

I know this is like taking a bat to the beehive but... I really wanna hear your opinions on the whole... Imprinting thing

(Note before we go any further: this meta is written purely about the shapeshifting aspect of the Quileute characters, I don’t at all get into the racism in Twilight or any kind of social commentary. This is a purely watsonian meta. Others in this fandom have already addressed the racial dynamics at play, far more eloquently and knowledgeably than me. If I say something in here that’s in any way offensive, that’s not my intention and I’m open to criticism.)

Ooh imprinting.

I touch upon it here, basically I hate it.

The imprinting is part of this theme where the shapeshifters lose their free will and autonomy, and I find it tragic, cruel, and unnecessary.

First of, the fact that they have to phase at all.

They’re made warriors to protect their tribe. There’s no choice involved, only genetics and magic irrevocably changing their lives, and at a ridiculously young age, too. Sam is the oldest of them, and he is 19.

Violence is an inherent part of what they become. Their purpose is to protect the tribe, by fighting vampires. Not only is this insanely dangerous (we see Jake get so injured by a single vampire that he’s bedridden for weeks), but if they succeed, they will have killed. In the singularly brutal manner of tearing apart and burning someone who looks a lot like a human, who talks and might beg for their life, at that. And I remind you, most of these shapeshifters are literal children. They might not see vampires as people, but all the same, killing one can’t be good for their mental wellbeing. (Thought: Perhaps an argument can be made for Laurent’s death having a part in the turn Jake’s personality took? Some, though not many, of the symptoms for PTSD do fit. I don’t know enough about PTSD to pursue this train of thought, but it occurred to me just now, in particular he becomes quite aggressive and prone to outbursts after that incident, so into a parenthesis it goes)

Not to mention how inhumane that responsibility is. Vampires in the Twilight-verse are terrifying, and the shapeshifters might have the power to fight them. But (and this is where I plug one of my all-time favorite animes, Puella Magi Madoka Magica, as it asks the question “Is it okay to sacrifice yourself for others?” because that’s... well there’s a parallel to be made to the shapeshifters. It’s on Netflix!) does that mean they should? Is it really their responsibility? Again- they’re kids!

Then there’s the time Sam lost control, and accidentally mauled the girl he loved. And it’s so cruel to both him and Emily. Sam never chose to have to control himself in the first place, he never chose shapeshifting. He didn’t choose to imprint on Emily either, and he didn’t choose to lose control that day. At no point in the series of events that led to Emily being mauled did Sam have any real choice, and yet he will shoulder the guilt for what happened for the rest of his life.

These kids get superpowers, and several of them seem to enjoy being shapeshifters, but the fact remains that they now carry this huge responsibility to protect their families and homes, doing so is incredibly dangerous, they lose out on their regular lives, and they can’t opt out of it.

This all sucks, but then we get to the fact that they are deprived of their free will, as their alpha can issue an order they physically can’t break. The alpha becomes alpha because of bloodlines, not because of a democratic election. Jake got a mockery of a choice in that he could choose to become alpha himself, or let Sam continue, which was really just choosing between a rock and a hard place. There is no limitation to what this order can be, from “don’t say X to person Y” to “let’s kill someone you love”. Jake has to struggle to break that last one, and he’s only successful because of the bloodline thing letting him become his own alpha.

Oh, and there’s the massive invasion of privacy when they have a hive mind. Cool concept, less cool to have it be reality. Leah is the poster child for how a hive mind can backfire, and they can’t opt out of this.

I’m not good at gifs, but the shapeshifters just make me think of that gif of someone flicking a lightswitch on and off, “WELCOME TO HELL!”. Of course, Twilight in general is a pit of despair for everybody, so I suppose that gif really is... well it sums up all of canon.

So, we have these kids aged 19 or younger, as of Breaking Dawn they skew as young as thirteen, their lives are turned upside down by something they can’t opt out of, they must shoulder this huge responsibility to protect their homes and families from the terrifying threat of vampires, and on top of all of that, they must obey orders that are so irresistible, they can compel them to harm someone they care for.

With all of that in mind, you’d think that the shapeshifters had enough on their plate. That through all of this they would at least retain their selves, and be able to look forward to a future where they could stop phasing, and go on to live normal, human, lives.

Yeah, NOT IF THEY IMPRINT.

I’ll just quote Jake’s description:

Everything inside me came undone as I stared at the tiny porcelain face of the halfvampire, half-human baby. All the lines that held me to my life were sliced apart in swift cuts, like clipping the strings to a bunch of balloons. Everything that made me who I was—my love for the dead girl upstairs, my love for my father, my loyalty to my new pack, the love for my other brothers, my hatred for my enemies, my home, my name, my self—disconnected from me in that second—snip, snip, snip—and floated up into space. 

I was not left drifting. A new string held me where I was. 

Not one string, but a million. Not strings, but steel cables. A million steel cables all tying me to one thing—to the very center of the universe. 

I could see that now—how the universe swirled around this one point. I’d never seen the symmetry of the universe before, but now it was plain. 

The gravity of the earth no longer tied me to the place where I stood. (Breaking Dawn, page 237)

Everything that made me who I was disconnected from me.

Jake’s love for his father, his home, his very own self, it’s all gone now. And while I have thoughts on the authenticity of this imprint, whether it was organic, the description above is apparently how imprinting feels. It’s along the lines of what Sam, Jared, and Paul all describe.

I don’t think I can put into words just how devastating I find imprinting, I think the above quotation speaks for itself. And as with all other shapeshifter things, there is no choice involved.

We see its devastating effects in the Emily, Sam, and Leah debacle. Sam and Leah were serious together, so much so that they were engaged. Sam had fallen for and chosen to be with Leah. Perhaps they would have broken up eventually, but Leah was still the choice he made. Then he imprints on Emily, and all that is for naught. He had to break up with Leah, who if she hadn’t phased never would have learned why, Emily and Leah’s relationship is ruined, and Emily must forever live with the knowledge that if Sam had his free will intact he would be with another woman.

Then there’s Jared and Kim. Kim crushed on Jared, but Jared never noticed her. The fact that they were in the same class is damning: if a boy is attracted to a girl, he's gonna notice her. Jared never did.

Quil imprints on Claire, who is a toddler. That’s just a recipe for misery and disaster all around.

And I’ve only touched the shapeshifter side of things. They lose their autonomy and freedom, but the imprintées draw the short straw too. They’re now responsible for this other person’s happiness. Sure, having someone who’ll be whatever you need them to be sounds nice (well, it sounds horrifying, but I’m playing ball) on paper, but you can’t opt out of them being like that. The imprintée can’t say “Sorry, not interested,” and she certainly can’t shut the imprinter out of her life, not without irrevocably ruining the imprinter’s life. The imprinter needs her. She’s the center of his earth now, but she didn’t choose to be.

Imprinting is a liferuiner for everyone involved.

Then we have the question of what imprinting is even for. I’m afraid I agree with Billy, that it’s for procreation. We see Sam, who was dating a woman about to phase (even if Leah isn’t infertile, she’s a warrior now. She can’t run in the woods and fight vampires, and gestate and nurse a child at the same time) conveniently imprint on her cousin, who as cousin to Leah is from a shifter bloodline. Claire, as Emily’s cousin, has those same genetics. Paul imprints on a woman from the Black family line. Jake is the outlier, but either Renesmée’s gift helped that imprinting along, or he imprinted because of the offspring they could potentially have (I firmly believe it’s the former because the latter... NOPE. Also, I can’t imagine whatever magic drives imprinting would want vampiric progeny for the future generations. Regardless of Renesmée’s person, her biology is wired to desire human blood. That’s exactly what Jake is supposed to protect people from. Bad match.).

I just.... ughhh. God, I hate imprinting so much, and on every level.

To me, everything about the shapeshifters is about free will, autonomy, and the loss thereof. And it would have been beautiful if their story was about reclaiming that, but it isn’t. None of this, with the exception of the alpha orders, is even acknowledged.

So, in summation, yes I hate imprinting, but it’s only the horror cherry on top of a very sad and problematic cake.

[tirsynni]

Okay, a little more Leon flailing and then I’ll stop. Honest.

...probably.

So we’re introduced to this guy as a rookie police officer, straight from the Police Academy. In the remake, it’s clear he’s terrified and has to keep giving himself pep talks and cracking bad jokes to keep his confidence up. It’s revealed that he was so scared of becoming infected that he thought of shooting himself to just end it. Yet he still does everything he can to protect Claire and Sherry, two absolute strangers, and is compassionate to every person he meets during that horrifying night.

What happens after that? He tells Claire to leave him and this small child in order to find her big brother. When the government finds them, he basically sacrifices himself to the government in order to protect Sherry. The first thing he does after that? Uses his new resources to find Claire, find Chris, and tell Chris that Claire is in danger and where to find her. Baby...

We see the stress build on him over the years. He loses friends. He loses allies. He is forced to shoot people he cares about. He’s betrayed, scarred, faces monsters again and again. It is strongly implied in Damnation that he has considered suicide, and in Damnation and Vendetta, we see him finding solace in a bottle.

Yet he remains, in my opinion, one of the toughest and most compassionate characters in the series. He never stops trying to protect the innocent. Hell, he protects the not-so-innocent, including people who were just trying to kill him. When Claire feels guilty in Degeneration, he encourages her. When Buddy tries to commit suicide in Damnation, Leon stops him and tells him to keep fighting. When he encounters Chris in RE6, he tells him simply that he knows he’ll do the right thing and never stops trusting him. He is always quick to support and protect others, even if that person had betrayed him (Helena, Ada, etc.) or was just an enemy (ie, JD and Buddy in Damnation). 

He also keeps going. “...the option of taking our own lives no longer belongs to us... We have to keep living!” From Damnation and I feel like that speech, even if it is directed to another character, personifies him. Leon keeps going, keeps moving forward, keeps saving people, keeps making quips and jokes, keeps bolstering himself and others, and just refuses to falter, give up, or lose hope. We may see him stop to lick his wounds like in Vendetta, but when he’s needed, he literally throws himself into battle. Hell, even in RE4 when his worst fear becomes reality -- becoming infected -- he doesn’t stop moving, swearing to protect and save Ashley.

I love him for being a sassy character, but I love him most for being a broken character who never lets those cracked edges stop him and keeps going to protect others. This guy became a police officer literally to Protect and Serve, and even as a badass government agent, he has never stopped.

[toomanystoriessolittletime]

Going back home {Chapter 2}

Summary: Claire never thought she would be back in the town she grew up in. But after her fiancé broke off their engagement, leaving her 5 months pregnant and alone she found herself calling Frankie Morales in the middle of the night, one of her childhood friends who insisted that she booked the next flight out. Trying to fix her life with a little help from her friends she would find out soon that going back would be the best decision she ever made.

Pairing: Frankie Morales x Claire Beck

wordcount: 2k

Warnings: pregnancy hormones, pining

Masterlist

Series Masterlist

Taglist in reblog

Chapter 1 | Chapter 3

“You know your childhood home is for sale?” Claire sat on the patio next to Pope who had decided to catch up with her.

“Seriously?” she asked and he nodded.

“Yeah. It looks bad though.”

“Like every house in this area that’s currently on sale,” she rolled her eyes.

“Yeah there are not many people moving down here, though there seem to be getting more in the last few years.”

“I mean it’s beautiful here,” she let her eyes wander over the landscape. She had always loved it here. Whole summers were spent on the Morales ranch when she was younger. Could have to do with the fact that Pa’ Morales made the best BBQ ever.

“Yeah it is. Better for your girl to grow up here, than in the big city huh?” he asked. She looked at Pope. He had gotten older. The lines around his eyes deeper than before. He always loved to laugh.

“Yeah. Though I didn’t picture it like that. I…” she sighed, feeling silly for the tears in her eyes. Fucking hormones.

“Hey. It’s okay. You gonna be fine,” his hand came down on her knee, squeezing it in comfort.

“Yeah you all keep saying that but it’s not you who has to push a baby out of your vagina without the father being there. It’s not you who has the responsibility to take care of a helpless kid for the rest of your life. I just… why? Why does he get to decide to walk out of this? It’s my pill that apparently didn’t work but it was him fucking me without a condom. He should take the responsibility just as much as I have to. Fuck…” she let her head fall back.

“Fuck him,” she looked up, hearing Frankie’s voice.

“Fuck him. He’s an excuse of a man. You don’t walk away from the woman you love. From the woman who’s carrying your child. Fuck… I was going through rehab while Liz was pregnant and I didn’t walk out…” he kneeled down next to her. She sucked her bottom lip in.

“I just feel so… so…” she shook her head.

“I know. But you’re not alone. You got me,” he looked at her. He was planning on taking her out for lunch when he walked in.

“But it’s not your job to take care of me Frankie. You got your own family.”

“You are family,” Pope said, now standing behind Frankie. “And if you want us to kill him, just say the word,” he teased and she had to laugh at that before she looked at Frankie again.

“I told you. You don’t want a hormonal woman living with you,” she joked and Frankie chuckled.

“I can take living with a hormonal woman,” he reached up to brush away her tears.

“Now what do you say? Lunch?” he asked and she sighed before she nodded.

“I gotta head out. But i’ll bring the house offers I found over tonight, okay?” Pope asked and she nodded. He smiled, leaning down to kiss her cheek before he left.

“I mean it. You’re family. Don’t ever think you’re a burden or alone. We’re here for you. I am here for you, okay?” Frankie said. Claire breathed in deep and nodded.

“Gotta get used to people caring. I was pretty lonely the last few years I guess.”

“Yeah. Better get used to it quickly,” he winked before he helped her out of the seat.

“Gotta get dressed I guess,” she shrugged.

“And I gotta shower. I can smell myself.”

“Yeah. You stink,” she grinned before she walked past him, leaving Frankie head shaking on the patio.

“Lunch is on you,” he called after her and she gave him the finger, making him laugh before he followed her inside to take a shower.

“So what made you open up a gardening business of all things, Morales?” she asked, sitting in the old diner they used to spend so much time in when they were younger. It might be lunch time but she couldn’t wait to have her ordered pancakes.

Frankie shrugged.

“I like being outside, keeps my mind off things.”

“You any good?” Claire teased and Frankie huffed.

“Let’s just say if you need any gardening I won’t be able to help you before the end of the year,” he winked.

“Impressive. I’m happy for you. Even though I still wanna hear the story as to what exactly happened in the last two years…” she said quietly, hearing Frankie sigh.

“Only when you tell me your story.”

She sighed and smiled sadly.

“We have a lot to talk about huh?” she asked.

“Yeah. But in time. Now we gotta eat and then we got to head to the store. Still need some stuff for the BBQ.”

“Fuck how many people are coming to this BBQ? I only have like 5 friends left here and I already met 4 of them,” Clarie groaned, leaning over the shopping cart as Frankie loaded another six pack of beer in.

“Pope kinda invited everyone over he knows so you can get to know everyone.”

“Because I like hanging out with people so much?” she asked, letting her head hang, earning a chuckle from Frankie.

“You and me both. But they’re all okay. Promise,” he squeezed her shoulder in comfort and she smiled a little, bumping her shoulder against his as he came to stand next to her.

“So what else do we need?”

“I got everything. Anything you need?”

“Ice cream?” Claire asked after thinking about it. Frankie only nodded as he grabbed the cart from her and pushed it towards the freezers with the ice cream. Like he had done it a million times before he walked towards the freezer, picking up Claire’s favorite Mint & Chocolate Chip ice cream and threw it in the cart.

“Still your favorite?” he asked as he saw the surprise in her face. She only nodded, a small smile playing at her lips.

“But pick up the mango ice dream too. Been craving that lately,” she grinned and Frankie nodded only before he reached for the biggest container.

The car ride to Frankie’s was quiet, both of them hanging on to their thoughts. It was strange how they seemed to fall back into their old dynamic as if no time had passed. It made Claire aware of just how much time she had spent with him when she was younger.

“This house is for sale,” Frankie said quietly as he stopped in front of the house just down his road.

“Charming…” Claire made a face and Frankie laughed. With lots of imagination she could see herself living here. But not within the next 4 months. This would be harder than she thought it would be.

“Maybe I should have stayed in New York…” she groaned to herself, her head falling back against the seat. She felt a hand on her thigh, her head tilting towards Frankie, unable to see his eyes behind his dark aviators.

“It’s been one day since you got here. We gonna find a house for you,” he squeezed her thigh and she sighed before she looked out of the window again. Frankie felt a weird feeling wash over him, his eyes dropping to the swell of her belly, before he released his hand from her to bring it back to the steering wheel, driving the car the short distance to his farm. A part of him wondered if the choices he made earlier in his life could have prevented some of the stuff he had gone through. Maybe he should have at least tried to go to college. Maybe he would have had a job that wouldn’t have required him leaving for months at the time. Maybe he would have had the guts to tell Claire that he wanted to be more than friends before he left for basic training. But he had found out that she had slept with Santiago, shattering all kinds of hope he might have had, that there was something more between them. To this day he wasn’t sure if maybe there had been more all these years back. He had always been too scared to tell Claire, scared that this would ruin their friendship. A friendship he had missed in the last years. He had wasted years on sleeping with women he never called after until it was a woman, Liz, calling him to tell him that she was pregnant. And he tried to make it work, he really did. A part of him loved Liz, because she was the mother of his child. But that was nothing compared to how he felt when he looked at Claire.

“Is it okay if I take a nap? I’m dead on my feet,” Claire asked as he stopped the car. He blinked at her, so lost in his thoughts. She yawned and he found himself smiling at her.

“Of course. As long as you make your guacamole later?”

She laughed, shaking her head with an eye roll.

“Wake me in two hours?”

“You got it,” he got out of the car, opening the door for her, helping her out. He had noticed her struggling to get out of his truck before.

“Thank you Frankie,” she kissed his cheek before she turned around to walk towards the door. He looked after her until she disappeared inside the house, shaking his head to himself.

“Get it together, Morales,” he whispered to himself before he unloaded the car and got inside himself.

Claire was in the middle of explaining to Frankie how to open an Avocado without killing himself worked, when the door flew open and the Miller brother’s barged inside.

“You got problems with your pipes?” Ben grinned at Claire and she snorted.

“In your Dreams, Miller,” she seasoned the avocados. Frankie shook his head.

“Come on, I show you my pipes,” Frankie teased, making Ben gag while Claire laughed loudly.

“You okay Claire?” Will asked, sitting down at the kitchen island in front of her, after he put the steaks in the fridge. Claire sighed.

“Didn’t think it would be this hard, but Frankie’s a big help,” she smiled a little, tasting the guacamole she was making. She reached for more salt.

“Yeah, he’s awesome. But be gentle with him. The whole custody thing is still pretty fresh,” Will said quietly.

“He hasn’t talked to me about it.”

“He will, I’m sure he will. Just… I mean you probably know him better than I do…”

“I’m gonna take care of him. Promise,” she whispered with a soft smile and Will seemed relieved as he nodded at her.

“Miss Beck. Your pipe problem has been solved,” Ben announced coming back soaked through his shirt back into the kitchen. Claire tilted his head, nodding approvingly at the muscles she could see through his white shirt before she looked up into his eyes with a teasing grin.

“I’ll make sure to preach about your plumbing services, Mr. Miller,” she winked and could swear she saw him blush for a second.

“Enough with the puns, we got a BBQ to prepare. Claire your shower is working,” Frankie emerged from the hallway, pulling a fresh shirt over his head and now it was Claire’s turn to blush before she became very invested in the guacamole in front of her while trying not to think about Frankie’s sunkissed skin on his chest, the little tummy or the dark trail of hair she most certainly didn’t want to lick.

She didn’t see Will’s knowing look before he got up from the seat to follow his brother outside.

Claire was so focused on the guacamole she only saw Frankie’s hand in the last second, slapping it away as he tried to steal a taste of the guacamole.

“Mean,” he pouted.

“Good things come to those who wait,” she grinned before she picked up the bowl to put it into the fridge, bending down to open the freezer for her mango ice cream. Frankie bit his lip as his eyes wandered down her body, averting his eyes before she turned around.

Fuck he wished that good things would be coming to those who waited.

Chapter 3

[postmodernmulticoloredcloak]

So I watched 10.09 recently, and it has that part where Dean tells a story about him basically being almost roofied as a teen, but somehow it ends up framed as the funny joke and yet another proof that John "did what he could", and I kind of hate this? And it's the same episode in which MoC!Dean killed guys that kidnapped and tried to rape Claire, and you'd think writers would've addressed the parallels and acknowledge that Dean could've been triggered by this situation. 1/2

2/2 But in the end, it's never addressed, and the whole situation is framed as the proof that Dean is evil now. And I'm not even sure what I am trying to say, but with that being the show's approach back in s10, I'm not surprised about the finale anymore. Guess we should've known?

That’s an excellent angle to look at the issue because the Mark of Cain arc is a clear example of how people with different experiences will see the same thing in wildly different ways. There’s this phase of season 10 where everyone is like “oh no Dean is Getting Worse” and when you look at what Dean is doing... you actually go “...good for him”.

Let’s give Caesar what belongs to Caesar. It’s not “the writers” in this case, it’s Dabb. Plenty of other writers don’t fall into this John apologism thing. Just look at how the episode before Lebanon, written by Buckner and Ross Leming, says that sometimes John would temporarily kick Dean out because he was “pissed at him” despite Dean always taking his side to mantain the peace. It almost seems like a statement to sprinkle some salt given what Dabb does in Lebanon, you know? Maybe not, but there is a tension between “John was shitty” writers and “John did his best” writers.

In hindsight, we gave Dabb too much of the benefit of the doubt. We were like, weeell, that’s supposed to be way the characters perceive the truth, which is distorted by the trauma... But now it’s obvious that he truly believed in the John-did-his-best version. He brought him back and got Mary back with him. No matter what happened to the finale, the network didn’t print those pictures of John and Mary to hang on Sam’s wall. He never took Dean’s abuse seriously and it shows.

The “anedocte” of Dean getting drugged and “saved” by John from being raped is obviously there to parallel him with Claire. Which works! It’s so weird because it’s like. You are soooo close to getting the point. Younger Dean was assaulted just like this teenage girl is assaulted and Dean saves her... but apparently John yelling at those people is a good way of dealing with the issue, while murdering child traffickers is an overraction thus bad.

That’s the problem, isn’t it? That Dean’s murder spree is framed as an overreaction. Sam is like “tell me you had to do this! tell me it was you or them!” - the answer to which (by the narrative) is obviously no, it wasn’t self defense, he just killed them because he could. He just murdered those men for no reason except he felt like being murdery. And the audience is supposed to be like “oh no! Dean is murdery for no reason except for murderiness! That’s bad!”.

But it’s a power fantasy, isn’t it? Going on a murder spree on rapists and traffickers. I bet any people who’s been violated like that has fantasized of doing the exact thing Dean does here. Killing them all.

Dean had the physical strength and skill to kill them all, why shouldn’t he kill them? (I mean, in real life I’m against private justice because I’m a fan of the state of law, but the Supernatural universe obviously works on different principles than the state of law. Again, it’s a fictional narrative that plays out as a fantasy for the audience, so.)

So what was Dabb’s intention? I’m afraid it’s the worst one. “John Winchester’s not going to win any Number One Dad awards, you know? But, you know, damn if he wasn’t there when we needed him”. What the fuck, Dabb? It’s been established since season 1 that John WASN’T there when they needed him. Which... I’m afraid... leads us to the Cas-Claire plot in the episode. Cas has fucked off with Jimmy’s body leaving Claire on her own. Parallels how John wasn’t going to win wny Number One Dad awards. But! Cas is there when Claire Really Needs Him i.e. when she’s about to be raped by older men. Parallels how John was there when Dean Really Needed Him i.e. when he was about to be raped by older men.

I think the point is to say, Cas kinda sucked because he took Claire’s dad away but hey! He’s actually a good figure for Claire because he gets there in time to prevent her from being raped. Just like (ew) John kinda sucked as a father because hunting and stuff, but hey! He’s actually a good figure for Dean because he got there in time to prevent him from being raped.

It’s pretty yucky. Literally NOBODY wanted a parallel between Cas and John. But he made one. And he made one to absolve Cas from the guilt he carried for what he did to Claire (Claire’s mother is a mother so who fucking cares about her. She’s basically a Blurry Wife(TM), she’s only a tool for Claire’s arc, Cas apparently only cares about the harm he did the child, not the wife, for some reason.) and to absolve Cas from his guilt it absolves John too. Don’t worry, being a parent is hard. You often screw up. But you can *looks at smudged writing on hand* prevent the kid from being raped by predatory adults and everything’s fine now.

It’s not really important if the child suffered hunger or whatever, the only important thing is that they don’t get raped, because that’s bad, everything else is just a little detail.

All Dabb got with that scene was to paint Sam as extremely unsympathetic because he’s no longer a child, he’s a full adult now and still thinks of that episode at the CBGB as a funny story. That’s not a good look. It almost makes you think that the writer himself saw it as a funny story. Lol teenage boy biting more than he can chew. But then why the Claire parallel? The Claire scene onviously is not supposed to be anything but horrific. I'll give Dabb the benefit of the doubt on this specific thing.

It’s weird, yes, because Dabb wrote Dark Side of the Moon where he establishes that John was a bad husband/father even before tragedy hit the family. But apparently that’s the “not going to win any Number One Dad awards” part, I suppose? I guess he intended to write John as this flawed, ~complex~ figure who was imperfect but still brave and whatever blah blah did his best blah blah. I’m all for flawed complicated characters but a horrible father is a horrible father. A rose by any other name... parental abuse is still parental abuse even if the poor guy was complicated and traumatized and did what he thought he had to do to prepare his sons for a violent world.

Also, the story frames Dean’s escapade as a teenager being stupid. “You know what he got for that? Me whining about how much he embarrassed me. Me telling him that I hated him. But then he stopped and turned around looked at me and said, Son, you don’t like me? That’s fine. It’s not my job to be liked.” “It’s my job to raise you right.” This seems straight from a novel about teenagers doing something stupid that they’re too young to realize that their parents are right to be against them doing. But this isn’t just... a parent walking into a bar to stop their child to drink alcohol. Dean literally describes feeling sick from something that was inside the alcohol.

Sure, it makes sense that he’d lash out to John because of the shame and shock. But the scene is... off. Are we supposed to see this as a typical teenage mistake? Are we supposed to read it as something as horrific as what happened to Claire, literally sold into rape? Or, worse, are we supposed to see what happened to Claire as a teenage mistake, ah silly teenager, blindly trusting shady people, no wonder you end up in a situation where you’d get raped if a father figure didn’t sweep in and save you. I hope that wasn’t the intent.

To get back to Dean’s Mark-of-Cain violence, the writers clearly didn’t intend it to come from the Darkness up to a certain point. It was supposed to an arc about your own inner darkness (consider the Charlie episode, a couple episodes later). Then they came up with the idea of The(TM) Darkness, the suppressed cosmic feminine. While it caused a bit of dissonance in the subtext, it doesn’t really change Dean’s narrative, because his inner darkness is the trauma, and his trauma is inherebtly tied to the “feminine” i.e. the parts of him that don’t fit seamlessly into the scheme of toxic masculinity values. That the violence that comes from the Mark of Cain comes from Dean himself and that’s it, or is connected to the Darkness, it doesn’t change what it means for Dean. Dean and Amara have parallel histories, the feminine principle locked away, the trauma the anger stems from.

In 10x09 we’re still in the Before The (TM) Darkness era, before the suppressed cosmic feminine. The Mark of Cain arc is still about... well, Cain. But the shift is the signal that someone looked at Dean’s arc and said... you know what? “Lucifer gave me this curse so now I’m demonic and murdery” is meh. “Toxic masculinity suppresses the feminine and it creates trauma which rage and violence comes from” is more interesting. I don’t know whose idea it was, but it was a good idea, and surely the idea came from seeing how Dean’s MoC narrative was unfolding.

Dean’s MoC narrative was unfolding in a certain way, in fact, because of a pretty simple reason. There’s a fundamental tension in Dean’s MoC arc. We want him to go murdery, but it’s also our main character, so we don’t want him to do really horrible things because he still needs to be relatable. The audience cannot hate him, so he must NOT do something entirely unforgivable. He still needs to be somewhat relatable, even when demonic or demonic-adjacent.

So he goes on a murder spree... but it’s rapists and child traffickers. He’s demon, but he kills a misogynistic dude that wanted his wife dead for cheating on him. He’s a demon, but beats up dudes that harass women. He does a slaughter, but they’re nazi. He’s off the deep end, but works a case of kidnapped and abused young women...

Speaking of which. 10x23, written by Jeremy Carver. Dean works a case where a girl was killed while dressed scantily and Dean makes some slut-shaming remarks, and we’re supposed to think “whoa Dean, that’s bad”. But later he confronts the girl’s father and what does he say?

I’m just doing my job, Mr. McKinley.

By suggesting my daughter was a slut?

I’ll admit that thought crossed my mind. Then I came here, and I smelled the deceit and the beatings and the shame that pervade this home.

You shut your face right now.

And you know what? I don’t blame Rose anymore. No wonder she put on that skank outfit and went out there looking for validation, right into the arms of the monster that killed her.

Back then the episode was super controversial and everyone hated the case because of the apparent slut-shaming but I loved it! Because it’s not about the girl. It’s about Dean. Dean doesn’t think that a girl gets killed because she dresses in a miniskirt so it’s her fault. Dean is projecting on himself and he’s not actually victim blaming the girl, he’s victim blaming himself. And when he absolves the girl by putting the blame on the father... well, subtextually he’s absolving himself by putting the blame on his father. On the deceit and the beatings and the shame that pervaded his own home. He’s textually not ready to absolve himself, of course, he summons Death to ask him to kill him later, but subtextually he’s on the right path.

Rose McKinley basically did the same mistake Dean did at the CBGB when he trusted some older people who offered him drinks and the same mistake Claire did when she trusted a man who sold her for money because he offered him a place and stability. She trusted the wrong people (in this case, vampires, which adds the whole subtext of vampires and sexuality) who took advantage of her. Except Rose had no one to save her. (Her friend, Crystal, gets rescued by Dean, even if he causes the other hunter Rudy to die in the process.)

Carver’s writing is pretty brutal. The girl made that mistake because was abused at home, so she was desperate for validation and that desperation drove her into the wrong hands. (Rose even has a brother who blames himself for bringing her sister to her future murderers, destructive sibling relationship check.) It doesn’t actually even matter if Dean guessed right about Rose’s family situation, because what matters is what it tells us about Dean. He basically relates to a dead abused girl. Actually all through the season Dean is paralleled to “skanks” “sluts” and sex workers. Obviously this happens kinda all through the show, the whole “the business is based on absent fathers” thing happened much earlier in the story, so it’s not new. But s10 draws a picture of female suffering - abuse, manipulation and death. Season 10 was difficult to go through. In hindsight, it was probably on purpose because it was supposed to be darkest hour of the feminine. Summed with some good old fashioned misogyny, but hey.

The Carver era was wonky but Carver wanted to free the feminine. (I believe that Mary’s comeback, while written by Dabb because of the showrunner shift, was planned before the showrunner shift.) We thought the Dabb era wanted the same, with Mary choosing life and Amara being independent and so on, but it evidently wasn’t the case. Not a single woman arrives at end of the story. It’s hardly ~Bucklemming or ~the network or ~covid because it starts before the very end.

I’m not saying that dead sluts are more feminist than living women, but if the women die or disappear anyway (and they did) I’d rather have an exploration of trauma than nothing. And I definitely prefer a dead slut narrative that calls out parental abuse than a narrative where women live but abuse gets the you-did-your-best treatment.

Whoops! I digressed! But feel free to ask for any clarification or send me any observation or thought.