#i can't find any good references i'm gonna blow something up

[semisentient-entity]

bruh none of my outfits in this specific time and region are historically accurate enough ┻━┻ ︵ ＼( °□° )／ ︵ ┻━┻

[morrigan-sims]

women of the fifth crusade

I'm still going strong on my P:WotR obsession, so take some sim-ified versions of my PC Reda, Ember (& Soot!!), Seelah, and Arueshalae.

(Reference art for the 3 NPCs plus my ramblings under the cut.)

Ember's turned out by far the best and is nearly perfect, but I don't think any of them are bad per se. I couldn't find a hair that was perfect for Arueshalae, and something about Seelah's face shape / facial features is bugging me, but I can't figure out exactly what it is. Reda's not perfect either but I don't really have a reference pic for her, so this is the best I can do, seeing as I can't really visualize things in my head at all.

I was gonna make Woljif and Queen Galfrey too, if not also Camellia and Sosiel, but I ran out of steam. I'll probably make them eventually, though. I also want to make full edits of them. (Maybe tarot card edits?!?!) I wish I that I could do Lann justice in the sims, but given his appearance that's more or less impossible. Which is sad, since Reda married him in my gameplay.

For people who aren't familiar with the game, here's a quick rundown with minimal spoilers:

Ember: child/teenage witch who nearly got burned at the stake, but still wholeheartedly believes that anyone and everyone can be good, even demons. Tries to convince a Demon Lord that she can redeem herself. Absolute sweetheart, must be protected at all costs, but also can be slightly terrifying.

Seelah: human paladin who started out as an orphan thief. Saw a paladin die saving people and decided to devote her life to the Crusade. Calls herself dumb and good for nothing, carrying immense amounts of guilt and refuses to acknowledge her successes.

Arueshalae: succubus ranger who turned her back on the Abyss, leaving behind an abusive relationship in the process. (Heavily implied former sex worker, also.) Wants to do good. Gets excited about gaining the ability to dream, seeing it as a sign that she's losing her evil for good.

Oh, and Reda is turning into an angel, hence the wings and halo. (Both of which she actually has in-game at this point.)

I can't express my love for this game. In some ways I like it better than bg3. If you've finished bg3 and you're looking for something else to play, give P:WotR a try, I beg you. It's SO GOOD. The graphics aren't as beautiful as bg3, and there's not nearly as much character customization, but the story is amazing, the NPCs are awesome, and the gameplay is very interesting!! The Mythic Path system blows me away and I wish more games had something like it. Also, if you wish bg3 was longer, you're in luck! P:WotR goes all the way to level 20 (technically level 30 if you count the 10 mythic levels), and a completionist playthrough could take you 200 hours. Also, there's I think 7 or 8 basic difficulty settings, plus the ability to customize literally every setting under the sun. If you're a fan of the real-time combat in something like Dragon Age, that's an option too. I am on my knees begging people to play this game, but I'll shut up for now.

[hot-soop]

don't let me tempt you / ch.1

pairing: angel!seokjin x angel!f.reader ⇢ au: Good Omens universe (none of the characters or the plot are mentioned so this fic can be read without knowing anything of Good Omens) ⇢ genre: forbidden romance, friends 2 lovers, comedy(?), fluff, eventual smut (not in this chapter) ⇢ summary: Seokjin is temporarily banished from Heaven and you're not all that good at paperwork. ⇢ chapter wc: 4.5k ⇢ rating: fic rating is explicit/18+ for eventual smut; chapter rating is 16 & up bc they're the equivalent of ken dolls rn, but minors please DNI anyway. This isn't for you. ⇢ chapter warnings: LOTS of religious imagery bc this is set in the Good Omens universe and there's gonna be a bunch of biblical references, but please remember that this isn't meant to be accurate. Author is an atheist. Author did next to no research on calendars that pre-date the Georgian one bc she is lazy and can't do maths. Swearing. If there's any tags you think I'm missing, please let me know - I'd hate to be the cause of any upset or discomfort <3 ⇢ a/n: thank u to my beloveds @the-boy-meets-evil and @ugh-yoongi for reading this over and thinking my babies are cute. thank u to my angel @effortandmore for your encouragement! Ur all cute too. Ily

1106 BC

Time in 1106 BC follows some kind of construct that the author has not deemed necessary to research, but if the Georgian calendar (or indeed days of the week) had been invented, the day our story begins would be in mid April, on a Tuesday, around 3pm. 

The weather in Heaven is, as you would expect, perfect. The company is not.

“Sorry to bring you in here like this,” you say, as the thirteenth angel of the day takes a seat on the other side of your desk.

There’s a spiel to this. Angels have a tendency to lean towards the dramatic, so you’ve learned the ways of ‘softening the blow’, as the humans call it. Doling out God’s punishments wasn’t your preferred assignment, but it’s the role that was dropped in your lap after you quit the last - and you’re not in a position to refuse Her again. Here goes another. 

“I hate to be the bearer of bad news but-”

“Let me guess,” the other angel interjects. “She’s demoting me?”

This is unusual. The angels know God’s wrath, but they’re usually surprised to find out when said wrath is directed toward them specifically. Not this one, he’s sitting there, arms crossed, foot tapping impatiently, waiting for you to rip off the bandaid. 

“Uhh. A temporary banishment actually.”

He stares at you. “It was only a little miracle.” 

“Three very large miracles, I’ll have you know. We’re not supposed to be bringing people back from the dead anymore.”

“Since when?” he asks, rather like a petulant human toddler. 

You frown. “Since protocol changed - didn’t you read the memo?” The angel shakes his head. “God’s decided to save those types of miracles for someone really special in-” You pause to check your watch “- a thousand years, give or take a century.” 

“Special how?” The angel asks, sitting up a little straighter. 

“You know we’re not told details of The Great Plan.” You flip the file shut. “Well, it seems like you know the issue at hand, and there’s little else to discuss-”

There’s a look of unease creeping over his assigned face that gives you pause. His fingertips drum on his knee. Too human for a heavenly body. “Are you alright?”

“She’s not- they’re not going to cut-”

“Oh! Goodness no,” you’re quick to reassure. “Oh no, you’d have to do something really awful for that, like, question her authority like Lucifer did.” His laugh comes out like a bark, and you’re confused because it wasn’t a joke. “No, but I am terribly sorry to say that you’re being sentenced to four-hundred years on Earth.”

He blinks twice. “Excuse me?”

“Four-hundred years - horrid, I know. But God does say the punishment must fit the deed-”

You’re interrupted again, this time by the kind of laughter that starts as disbelief and quickly has his shoulders shaking and tears rolling down his cheeks. Most unusual. 

“You’re telling me I get to spend near half a century on Earth?”

“What do you mean ‘get to’?” The thought of even spending ten years in such a place sends shivers right through your wings. “You won’t be able to return to heaven at all during that time. No correspondence with anyone, unless of course we contact you first.” He’s positively glowing and you can’t understand it. “You’ll have to live amongst humans-”

He’s standing now, moving to the screen and zooming in on earth. “Can I pick where?”

You move to stand next to him. He’s zoomed in so far, you can’t quite tell where it’s supposed to be. In truth, you spend very little time looking over God’s preferred planet, choosing instead to focus on the vastness of the universe in all its glory. You prefer the stars and the galaxies and all of their colours. 

“May I?”

“Sorry, I don’t understand.”

“Can I choose where to live? Will I have a role?” 

There’s nothing like this in the training manual. No one ever has these questions. They’re too busy crying, wailing for another chance to stay in heaven, let alone look excited as this one does. 

“I suppose you could,” you say slowly. “And no - there’s no role.” You wait for the penny to drop, but he doesn’t seem to get it. “Pointlessness is the point of this sentence.”

Wonder breaks out in his expression, and he turns back to the screen and zooms in on a peninsular you’ve never noticed before. “Can you drop me here?”

“Where’s here?”

“Gojoseon.”

“Why?” 

“Good people.” His smile spreads wide. “Good food.”

You gasp. “You’ve consumed their provisions? You’ve eaten?”

He looks at you in shock. “You haven’t?”

Of course you flaming haven’t! Even if you could stomach it - how in heaven would you get the opportunity to dine on Earth, what with all the work piling up in your pigeonhole and the lack of angels rights to paid time off, not to mention a union?

Your expression must say it all because he laughs again and says, “Well then visit me sometime, I’ll cook for you.” 

“You’re very peculiar.”

“Yes,” he says with a shrug. “I get that a lot.” 

You move back over to the desk to complete the rest of the paperwork while he stands there, still looking at the map with a satisfied smile.

After a few moments, he says, “I’ll need a name if I’m to live with humans.”

You find his given name at the top of the page. Soterasiel. 

“What’s wrong with the one you’ve got?”

He shrugs again. “Doesn’t quite roll off the tongue for everyone.”

“I hear John is rather popular these days,” you muse, still checking boxes. “And Abraham. Or what about Jos-”

“Seokjin.”

“Bless you.”

“No, I mean- Seokjin.” He moves to sit back down. You don’t quite like it, the way he walks, like he’s got a bravado he hasn’t done anything to earn - rather the opposite in fact, given his grievous error in judgement. “That’s my new name.” 

“Oh-” You glance up at him. “It suits you.”

Seokjin beams. He’s quiet for the next few moments, but you can sense his eagerness as he watches your fingertip move down the page. When all the documents are signed, you show him over to the chute, and he peers into it.

“This is the one-way?” 

You nod. “We’ll send someone to relieve you once your sentence is up.”

He steps inside without hesitation, and it’s almost too late. You've been itching with curiosity since you opened his file, so you blurt out exactly what you’re not supposed to ask.

“Why did you do it?”

Seokjin tilts his head, confused.

“Why did you bring those humans back from the dead?” you clarify.

His eyes soften. “They’re my favourites.” 

There’s a pregnant pause as you regard him. You don’t understand. Favourites? Angels aren’t supposed to have favourites. Angels aren’t supposed to be anything like him. Maybe you haven’t met enough to speak on the matter.

“Come visit me, won’t you? I get the impression you’ll like it down there.”

And before you can scoff at the very idea of visiting a banished (albeit temporarily) angel on earth, the chute opens up below him and he’s gone.

It’s difficult to get back to work after all that. All day there are punishments to give out in God’s name, but thankfully they’re nothing as extreme as that one. You get through a few sanctions, several warnings filed, and a strongly worded letter to the Department of Animals to remind them to stop creating wasps (apparently earth has enough) and then (at what would usually be known as 6pm), like clockwork, Turiel enters your office. 

He’s another one you can’t get a read on, but in an entirely different way. He came up the ranks quickly, and became your boss without the necessary qualifications within a single century. He’s kind of course, but he’s a Watcher, so naturally he watches everything. Being watched makes you uncomfortable. 

“How is everything?”

“Wonderful, thank you.”

“What happened with the banishment this morning?”

“With Seok- Soterasiel? He took it rather well.” Turiel stares at you, and you clear your throat to fill the awkward quiet. “Seemed quite happy about it, actually.”

Turiel frowns. “That’s odd.”

“Yes, quite.”

“We should watch that one,” he says, already making his way out. “Oh- you remembered to strip his miracles, correct?”

Strip his- why in heaven would you do that? It seems horribly cruel enough just to leave them there, let alone take their ability to do anything worthwhile. 

“Sorry?”

Turiel stops on the spot and turns, frown deepening further. “Tell me you saw the memo from Metatron? We’re to strip any and all banishments of their miracles going forward. Too many mishaps and too many angel turned demon that still have their powers.”

If you had any blood in your face it would surely drain. No, you haven’t seen any blasted memo. The pigeonhole is stuffed to burst and it’s something you’ve been meaning to work through, you truly have, but there’s so little time in the day and- and- heavens, he’s still staring at you. Tell him the truth. Tell him you didn’t take Seokjin’s miracles. They’d overlook one error, especially as it’s the first offence. Surely?

“No need to worry,” you hear yourself say, voice unnaturally high. “Of course I did.” 

Turiel blinks, smiles with relief, and shuts the door behind him as he leaves.

For the first time in your existence, you’re tempted to curse. 

879 BC

6:43pm. Patchy rain showers through til 8.

Seokjin’s home looks like nothing. A shack at best. It’s hardly worthy of the name home but you still need his sodding permission to cross the threshold, so you knock and wait, huddling as close to the door as possible to keep dry. As the rain pelts your back you bitterly wonder why angels have to wait at the threshold for permission to enter. It’s utterly beyond you, surely such a restraint could be reserved for those who are up to no good?

(You pointedly ignore the little voice saying that you are actually up to no good.)

“Oh my God,” Seokjin says when he opens the door (if it weren’t for the threshold force you’d keel over) and your nose wrinkles automatically at the blasphemy. “It’s you.”

“May I come in?” you say, too busy watching for Watchers in your peripherals to take in the sight of the angel in front of you. It would be terrible to be caught now, after the web of lies you weaved in order to get an hour off work. 

“Why?” he asks, suspicion lacing his voice. “You’re not bringing me back early are you?”

“Oh heavens no,” you say, starting to feel a little desperate, pushing the wet hair from your eyes. “I forgot something in your documents, a quick signature and I’ll be off in a jiffy.”

“You forgot something?”

“Yes-” 

“And you decided two hundred and twenty-seven years later was the right time to fix that?”

“Time slips away when you’re working!” 

Seokjin rolls his eyes. “Your lot really need to unionise.”

“Shh!” you hiss. “Let me in, please?”

“Alright, alright,” he says, stepping aside. “Come on in. Take your shoes off at the door.”

“I don’t have shoes,” you say as you push past him. A little miracle as soon as you’re out of the rain has you dry and warm again. What a pity, you think, that Seokjin will have to live without these little perks for the rest of his banishment. The sympathy you feel for him catches you unawares.  “What are shoes?”

Seokjin smiles. “Thought you were a watcher?”

Part Cherubim part Virtue actually, but you won’t be telling Seokjin that. That’s between you and God. You bustle past him inside the shack and you can finally relax. All protocols are being broken right now, but with the teeny tiny miracle that you performed earlier, only you and Seokjin will know about this clandestine meeting.  

Seokjin’s home is much nicer on the inside. Rather homely. And clean. And it smells good. What is that smell? 

“I just made some tea, would you like a cup?” 

Drinking? Apparently you can’t hide your expression because Seokjin's responding smile is mirthful. “Haven’t changed much, have you?”

“I suppose not, no.”

There’s no time to dilly dally like this. If you’re not back in the office soon, there’ll be questions you won’t know how to answer without twisting the truth. An angel can’t be going around telling lies. It’s uncouth. 

Seokjin busies himself at the table while you unroll the documents. The scroll is horribly long, but eventually you find the line you missed all those years ago. You cough to get his attention, and he looks up and takes the scroll from your outstretched hand. 

But then he starts to read. Oh goodness gracious. You hadn’t expected that. He seemed the sort that wouldn’t get hung up on the details, that would trust an angel (one like yourself in particular) implicitly. It’s offensive, actually, that he doesn’t trust that you’re not trying to pull the wool over his eyes, even though that might be exactly what you were trying to do. Are you not trustworthy? Are you not angelic?

Seokjin frowns. Uh oh. 

“You’re taking my miracles?”

“Uh-”

“Why?”

“Well- uh. It’s protocol, you see.”

Seokjin stares. The silence is palpable.

“You fucked up.”

You gasp. “Don’t curse!”

“You did!” he says, eyes wild. “You fucked up when you sent me down here!”

There’s heat creeping up your neck.

“It really doesn’t need to be such a big to-do,” you splutter. “Just sign the form, and I’ll be on my way and then you’ll be back in Heaven in no time at all!”

“But I won’t have my miracles?”

“You’ll get them back on your return!” 

“What if I need them?”

“You won’t.”

“I’ve needed them a lot, actually,” Seokjin insists. “You’ve no idea how many sticky situations I’ve been in thanks to all the creatures our Heavenly Mother made!”

“Oh!” you exclaim. “Have you seen a tiger yet? Those are my favourite.”

Seokjin looks like he might slap you.

The door opens.

“Seokjinie-hyung! We’re back!”

We? Who’s we?

We are three men, one short, one tall, and one somewhere in the middle. 

The room is very suddenly too small and too quiet as all of you stare at each other. 

The small one’s eyes, wide and curious, dart between you and Seokjin. 

“Who’s this, Seokjin hyung?”

“Uh-” you say.

“Uhh-” says Seokjin.

You can’t think of a human name. Not a single, blasted one comes to mind. Of course, humans know angels exist, but you can’t go around telling everyone who you are when you’re not exactly here on official business. Their mouths blabber too much. Word on Earth gets around faster than in Heaven.

“This is-”

“Oh my God-” the somewhere-in-the-middle one exclaims, while you grimace. “You’re that angel hyung told us about!”

You turn to glare at Seokjin, who is all of sudden very interested in the wood grain on the table. His ears are strawberry red. Strawberries were one of your ideas, you’d know that colour anywhere.

“You told them?” you say, incredulously. “What were you thinking?”

Seokjin sighs. “They’re not going to say anything.”

“Yeah!” the small one says. “Don’t worry, we’ve kept Seokijn hyung’s secret for two cent-”

He’s cut off by a loud cough from the tall one, but you’re not stupid. Humans aren’t supposed to be alive that long anymore, not since The Great Flood when God finally got sick of Noah and his bothersome family - that was one of the few memos you read. 

“Seokjin-” you say slowly. He’s pointedly looking everywhere else but your face. “Are these the same humans you told me about during our first meeting?”

The small one grins. “Oh hyung, I knew you loved us more than you let on.”

Two centuries they’ve been alive - at least. Oh Goodness. You need to report it, but how could you without telling them you didn’t do your job properly. 

“You don’t need to say anything to Heaven,” Seokjin says. “What they don’t know doesn’t hurt them.”

“The protocol-” you start, but you’re cut off by a groan.

“Fuck the protocol! Don’t you want to think for yourself for once? Didn’t She give us free will for a reason?”

“She gave them free will, not us!” you reason. “We’re to do as we’re told!”

“Why? What for?”

“The Great Plan!”

“The Great Plan-” he parrots in the most condescending tone. “-is supposed to be ineffable. If we knew what was in it, we wouldn’t have a choice. If I didn’t have free will, I wouldn’t have been able to turn them into vampires.”

You frown, confused. Vampires weren’t in the handbook, but then you never could keep up. “What’s a vampire?”

Seokjin swallows thickly. “Uh. Nevermind that. The point is, if this wasn’t in The Great Plan, if it wasn’t written, would I have even been able to do it?”

The thought gives you pause. He’s got a point, actually. The Archangels talk often of fate and destiny and what She wrote. No one knows the plan, of course, and it can change at Her will, but the whole point of this charade is that you’re all to trust in God’s Plan, regardless of what happens.

There’s a long moment of silence. The three men- or rather, vampires- are still just standing there watching the two of you argue. 

The small one finally breaks the tension and introduces himself. “I’m Jimin,” he says.

You nod, and give your name. He repeats it, butchering the pronunciation, but of course you expected that. Humans have never quite managed to get their tongue around it. You muse for a moment if you should give yourself a more human name, like Seokjin, but your thoughts are interrupted by the large one. 

“I’m Namjoon,” he says, and points to the last one, who gives a tentative wave. “This is Taehyung.”

You nod again, and start to feel a little ridiculous.

Okay, so the plan needs to be adjusted. You can’t take away Seokjin’s miracles without getting him to undo whatever he did to the human-vampires. 

“How long have you all been alive?” 

Namjoon glances at Seokjin, who nods. “Around three hundred years.”

“Okay,” you say. “And do you plan on dying any time soon?”

The three of them stare at you. “It’s not something we’d considered, no,” whispers Jimin. 

“Right,” you say, and then turn to Seokjin. “You need to fix this, make them human again. I’ve got to go, they’ll be looking for me, but I’ll be back soon to check in on you so you’d better have done it by then.”

Seokjin’s Adam's apple bobs in his throat. It’s… somewhat pleasant to look at.

“Pleasure to meet you everyone,” you say tightly to Seokjin’s friends. “Enjoy the rest of your lives.”

You catch their confused expressions shift into something horrified before you appear back at your desk in Heaven. It leaves you befuddled. That was a perfectly pleasant first interaction with humans that are aware of your celestial-ness - you’re not quite sure what they could be so bothered about.

827 BC

Early Autumn. 8:12am. Current Earthly conditions: foggy

It’s another fifty years or so before you can catch a break long enough to get back down to Earth. The shack has improved drastically - quite the pleasant looking home in fact. There’s flower boxes on the windowsills that are covered in a light morning dew, but the plants seem hardy. Purples and yellows. Dainty looking little things. You wonder what they might be. 

The door opens as you bend to smell them, and you look up to find the angel wrapped up in the largest item of clothing you’ve ever seen for something that just seems to be used for a neck. It’s ever so bright. Mismatched colours and patterns that don’t seem to line up. One end of it drags along the floor. Seokjin doesn’t appear too pleased to see you. 

“What are you wearing?” you ask, amused.

“Taehyung made me a scarf.”

“It’s very big.”

Seokjin glares.

“Did you really come to ruin my life so early in the morning?”

You roll your eyes. “You’re immortal. I hardly doubt this little blip will destroy you. More like God would if you don’t pull it together.”

“I could say the same about you.”

He’s got you there. But as you hold his gaze something in the air shifts, and he reluctantly lets you in. This time you take his offer of a cup of tea. You take a tentative sip, and it warms your belly in such an unexpected way. The weight of the cup is heavy in your hand, and the warmth of it seeps into your palm. It’s rather nice. 

You sit at the same table he had fifty-something years ago. There’s a few more marks in the woodwork by now. 

“Shall we get it over with then?” he says. “Where do I need to sign?”

You stop his hastiness with a gentle touch to his arm. He stares at your hand.

 “Did you get everything in order first?” you ask.

Seokjin coughs. “Yes, of course.” 

His ears are strawberry red again. The colour really is pretty, you’re glad you chose it. You’re glad you see it in other things, even if they are the tips of this angel’s ears. 

“They’re dead?”

“Not yet,” he says, lips twisting bitterly around the words. “They’re living out the rest of their lives. You might get a chance to see them, if you stay awhile. They said they’d be popping by later.”

“Oh,” you say, surprised. “Well, I suppose that’s something. You know, I am really sorry about that. I thought about it after my last visit, and I think I understand now why you’d want to keep your friends around for longer.” 

“Feeling lonely up there?” he asks, voice gentler than usual.

“No!” You snort with (only slightly put on) derision. “Of course not. Too busy for such a thing as loneliness.”

He chuckles. “Maybe I wasn’t busy enough then.”

You ignore what feels like a thimbleful of sadness dropping into your stomach.

Seokjin does most of the talking while you drink your tea. He talks about what he does down here - cooking mostly, but also a little pottery. He’s been training under a man called Yoongi. Says he made the cups you’re holding, and you inspect them. They’re quite ugly, thick and uneven- and you’re about to say as such, but Seokjin looks proud, so you smile and tell him he did very well, and that you like the colour of the clay. You wish you could bottle the way he beams.

All too soon the tea is finished, and Seokjin signs the document. It’s done. His eyes still shine, if a little less bright now. 

“What now?” he asks.

You suck in a breath. “Your miracles are in trust until your return to Heaven. Until then you can live as a human. More or less.”

His eyes snap up. “I’m still immortal, right?”

“Oh of course,” you say with a laugh. “You think they’d go through all this trouble just to risk you being eaten by a giraffe?”

“Do you know anything about Earth?” Seokjin says it like you’re an idiot. “At all?”

You’re tempted to roll your eyes. “I know plenty-”

“Name one thing,” he interrupts, crossing his arms and looking at you with an almost amused expression. 

You draw your shoulders back. You’ll give him three. “It weighs five point nine-seven septillion kilograms.”

Seokjin blinks three times fast. You must’ve caught him off guard with your knowledge. Good.

“It’s made up of thirty-two point one percent iron, fifteen point one percent silic-”

“Alright,” Seokjin says, lips twisting into a small smile. “I get it. You don’t need to prove yourself.”

You grin, ever so pleased with yourself, and Seokjin laughs.

“You’re cute.”

“What?”

“Cute,” he repeats. “It’s a compliment.”

“Oh,” you say, wondering why reciting facts from the Earth’s handbook would warrant a compliment on your character. “Okay…” You look down at your mug and see it’s empty and you’re struck with a surprising pang of disappointment. The tea was really rather good, it’s something of a pity as you realise you won’t be able to make it the same back in Heaven.

“Well, I’d better get going. Paperwork to do. Miracles to take.”

“Of course,” says Seokjin, and stands to see you off. “If you visit again will you let me know in advance?”

“Why?”

“I’ll make dinner.”

You smile without thinking. “I don’t eat, Seokjin.”

“You know,” he says, in a very matter of fact tone. “Despite the fact that every time we meet you’re taking away something of mine, I’m growing quite fond of our meetings.”

You blink. 

His eyes are so big and gentle and- “Let me know- okay?” he says with earnest.

“Okay,” you promise, already wondering when you could possibly get away long enough to watch Seokjin eat dinner.

“Would you like to take some flowers with you?” he asks suddenly. “I saw you smelling them.”

“Oh! Ye-” you start, and then you think better of it. So you plaster on a smile and say “No, that’s quite alright, I can whip some of my own up in no time at all.”

Seokjin nods. He looks like he’s going to say something else, but time is getting on and you’re not used to these odd goodbye rituals the humans (and this angel in particular) seem so fond of, so with a flash of a smile you’re back in Heaven. Seokjin and his lovely brown eyes remain on Earth. 

Your office looks so bland in comparison to Seokjin's home.

It takes a second to notice that the cup he gave you is still in your hand, remnants of the sweet tea drying on the bottom. You briefly consider going back down, just to hand it over and say goodbye properly, but in walks Turiel to squash any ideas you have about leaving your post again.

“Great, you’re finally back,” he says, dumping a stack of files on your desk. “We’re swamped.”

“What happened?” you exclaim. You’re barely able to see him over the pile. 

“Some bright spark in Organisms made a new virus. Let it loose in Greece without proper authorisation, killed half of them,” he says with a frustrated sigh. “The higher ups are fretting because one of the dead ones was supposed to be a prophet.”

Oh dear.

Turiel leaves without display. No time for pleasantries like offerings of tea and flowers up here. You sigh, dejected. 

Being around Seokjin makes you wistful for things you didn’t know you wanted. You set the mug on your desk, turning it to and fro so you get a view of the prettier side- and with the smallest of miracles, there grows delicate flowers, in purple and yellow.

[shyficwriter]

Temporary Home : Chapter 26

Guardians of the Galaxy fanfic | Reader x Guardians (With Yondu and Kraglin!)

Summary: When your order for spider repellent finally comes you have to go into town to get it, but what happens when your solo trip turns into you bringing not one, but three, of the Guardians with you into town?

Previous Chapter here | Next Chapter Here Or click here to: Start From Beginning

Author’s Note: For my records this chapter ends on day 76 of the Guardians living with reader. Enjoy!

Word Count: 6,992

There was only just enough time for you to register the color blue in the dim light before your would-be punching victim grabbed your wrist to block the blow and in one fluid motion had you spun facing away from them with your arm pinned behind your back. Soon followed the same gruff voice, which you now realized to be Yondu's, saying, "Alright, easy now-"

The two of you stood there for a moment with him pinning your arm firmly behind your back, your breath coming in quick bursts as your heart threatened to launch itself from your chest.

He spoke again. "For yer benefit I'm gonna assume that ya didn't mean that," he was clearly referring to you nearly sucker punching him, "-which is the only reason you're still standing. Now, if I let you go are ya gonna behave?"

Wordlessly, you nod.

"Alright then. I'm gonna let you go and you can explain yourself."

He released your arm and you slowly turn to face him, your gaze not quite meeting his. "Sorry." you say quietly. Then, slightly more loudly, "Did you need something?"

"Well, I was a little curious as to why ya just ran out the house like that, but now I kinda wanna know why ya just tried to knock my block off."

Your face began to grow hot. You had been in such a hurry you hadn't noticed anyone else on your way out. Then again, you hadn't been looking too hard either. Furthermore, what could you say? That you were running away from some spiders? You didn't think you could bring yourself to admit it.

"I- um," your gaze fell to the ground, "Did anyone else see?" you asked, declining to answer why you just swung at him. Again, what would even say?

Yondu let a short laugh out his nose. "Nah, pretty sure I was the only one. Surprised you didn't see me, I was right there in the hall." After a beat he spoke again, "Now come on. Out with it."

Unsure if he still meant why you ran out, or why you about hit him, you reply, "Nothing. What do you care for?" Crossing your arms over your chest, you continue to look anywhere but towards him.

"Just curious. People usually don't run out of a place like that unless something's wrong. Thought I'd investigate to make sure you weren't chasing after something or need backup. Then I find ya hiding behind the shed and ya just tried to knock my block off and so now I figure something must be goin' on with ya."

"I don't want to talk about it," you say sullenly, your face growing hotter.

"Why? It can't be any worse than any of what you've already told me."

Finally meeting his gaze you offer nothing more than a glare.

He rolled his eyes with a smirk. "Alright. Don't tell me then. I also won't tell you about that spider crawling in your hair either."

It had just been a joke- just some good-natured ribbing- but it didn't take long to he realized he fucked up.

No sooner than those words left his lips you reacted very badly, jumping out of your skin and immediately batting at your hair to get the alleged spider off of you. Then you half-collapse onto the wall of the shed and begin quietly sobbing.

He simply stared at you a moment, too stunned to speak. Something was very wrong. It was finally clear you weren't just being moody- but fuck- what should he do?

"Um, hey now..." he said awkwardly, eyes wide.

You didn't respond. Just continued to sob, unable to stop, your cries muffled behind your hands.

"Come on now- I didn't mean anythin' by it," Yondu tried again.

Still, you didn't acknowledge him.

He debated if he should try and nudge you or something, or if that might result in you swinging at him again. Damn. He hated seeing people cry. He needed it to stop. But what should he do? Walk away? Shake some sense into you?

Eventually he rolled his eyes and sighed before saying, "Aw hell, come here-" as he grabbed you and pulled you into a tight bear hug.

Apparently it worked. The shock of it all- combined with the fact he practically knocked the wind out of you- startled you into silence mid-sob.

"What... are you doing?" you asked after several moments, confusion evident in your voice.

"Had to make ya stop somehow, and slapping ya just seemed kinda mean seein' as ya were already crying." There was an edge of humor to his voice that almost made you crack a smile yourself. He spoke up again after a moment. "So, ya done now?"

You sniff and nodded your head the best you could despite being squished up against his chest.

"Alright. I'm gonna let ya go... again... and then I want ya to tell me what this is all about."

He could feel you slump in defeat, but let you go anyway.

Once free, you took a step back and looked at the ground, wrapping your arms around yourself.

"Well?"

"It's- I don't... I mean- ugh." You covered your face with your hands. You just didn't know how to say it, so eventually you settled for. "It was just a rough day."

"Just 'a rough day,' huh?"

You nod, still not looking at him.

Yondu frowned, but said, "Well, it ain't gonna get any better standing out here in the cold. Ya ain't even got any shoes on. Come on." He gestured you back in the house.

You finally look up at him, but instead of following, you stiffened.

Yondu furrowed his brow. "What?"

You again looked down in shame. "I-... I can't." you said quietly.

He raised an eyebrow and looked towards the house in confusion before turning back to you. "What do ya mean ya 'can't??'"

With a groan you look toward the sky. "If I tell you, you have to promise not to say a word to anyone else." Returning your gaze back to Yondu you finish with a, "Understand?"

Yondu chuckles shortly. "Sure, whatever ya say." Finally- maybe you'd finally tell him what this all was about.

It takes you a few moments, but you finally manage to get out a quiet, "There are spiders in my bed."

He raised an eyebrow, his face a mixture of confusion and amusement. "That's it? Ya found a spider in yer bed, and it sent ya runnin' for the hills?"

You frown at him, then mutter that there were, in fact, two spiders in your bed.

"Ah, two spiders. I see."

From the sound of his voice it was clear he was holding back a laugh, and you frown at him.

Yondu crossed his arms. "Well you'd oughtta know that I'd find that at least a little funny, considering..."

A sigh left your nose. Of course you knew he was referring to the fake spider you had hid in Peter's bed awhile back, and that Yondu had confiscated in an attempt to stop you and Peter from pranking each other. The irony wasn't lost on you either. Didn't make you any happier about your situation, though. "Not helping."

"Are ya asking?"

"What?" You raise an eyebrow.

"Are ya asking?" He says again, almost grinning. "Are ya asking me to help ya with yer little problem."

You stammered a bit, unsure what to say. Of course you weren't! Were you? Should you? Absolutely not- you weren't a child... and yet...

With a short laugh Yondu claps a hand on your shoulder and pushes you toward the house. "Understood. Ya need someone to come squish some creepy crawlies for ya."

You pull away. "No- No I never said that."

"Didn't need to." Yondu said with a grin. "It's all over yer face. Don't worry, I won't tell nobody... long as ya make it worth it."

You narrow your eyes at him. "What do you mean?"

"Oh, nuttin much... Let's just say you'll owe me a favor and we'll call it even."

"What... kind of favor?" you ask, hesitantly.

"Well that's for me to know when the time comes. Do ya want my help or not?"

By now most of your adrenaline was wearing off and you were starting to feel the cold. He was right, you couldn't just stay out here all night- especially without any shoes or jacket. However, at the same time you knew you couldn't go back inside to your bed if those spiders were still in it. Damn it. You knew you were going to have to take his offer.

"Fine. Just... don't make it obvious. Please." Eyes squinting, you search him for any signs that he intended to trick or embarrass you, but you couldn't quite read him.

He didn't answer you either, just motioned you towards the house with that half-grin.

Letting out a silent breath, you finally start to make your way back toward the house, hoping to get it over with a soon as possible.

Once inside it was quiet. It appeared that no one noticed at all that you had even left the house let alone what transpired outside. You didn't peek inside the sitting room door as you approached the staircase, but it seemed the TV had been shut off and you heard someone utter the words "draw four," which told you the others were possibly wrapped in game of cards, which at least let you know they were otherwise occupied.

Yondu and you quietly made your way upstairs to your room, and once there, you hesitated at the door. Yondu simply grinned and shook his head, but entered first anyway, you slowly following behind him after a quick glance around to make sure you were alone upstairs.

Once you were both in the room Yondu glanced over your slightly disheveled bed before nodding, seeing that two spiders were indeed still in your bed. Quietly, but not in a whisper, he says, "These here, I take it?"

You nod.

Shaking his head with an amused grin he got down to business. A sharp whistle pierced the air, summoning his arrow and spearing both of the giant feckers in one go before catching the weapon in his fist. He stood there, admiring his kill stuck upon his arrow.

"They bite?" he asked, curious as to why you harbored such animosity towards these little critters in particular.

You shake your head. "Not really," you answer. They could, but you knew they rarely did. Even if they did they weren't poisonous, for that matter.

"Then why is it ya hate them so bad for?"

You frown at him. You knew it was irrational, but that didn't matter. What mattered now is that they were gone.

Yondu didn't mind your lack of answer, and didn't have time to press the matter further as the sound of footsteps could be heard making their way quickly to the stairs from below before Peter could then be heard somewhat apprehensively calling up from the bottom.

"Um Yondu..." he called, letting a pause linger after as if he were unsure. "We heard a whistle- Like a really familiar whistle... I really hope no one's being threatened with an arrow up there... We noticed that it's just you and the Agent that aren't accounted for..."

"Quit yer worryin,' boy! I was just getting some target practice!" Yondu hollered back down.

"That doesn't exactly inspire confidence about what I just asked!" Peter called back up, sounding a little more worried now.

"Everything's fine," you think to answer back, forcing a laugh into your voice. "Looks like he just took out some spiders."

"Ok..." Peter responds. "If that changes let us know..."

"Come on now!" Yondu scolded, seemingly jokingly. "I'm insulted. Thinkin' I'd just go whippin' out my arrow and be terrorizin' a lady for no reason!"

"Don't give me that!" Peter called up. "I've seen what you do when you're bored!"

Yondu actually looked genuinely offended by that, and with another whistle his arrow took off again and it was seconds before Peter could be heard screaming like a little girl, quickly followed by him scolding Yondu that he 'could have at least cleaned the spider guts off it first!'

Admittedly you had to fight a grin, and Yondu was pleased to see it as he called back his arrow, Peter seemingly having retreated back to the sitting room to rejoin the others after yelling back a final, "Dickhead!" He either ignored, or had been given too much a fright to notice, that the arrow had come out of your bedroom.

The spiders were now gone off the tip of his arrow, but you chose to ignore it as he went to holster it. You could deal with the corpses later- you didn't mind so much if they were dead and you had a dustpan.

Yondu happened to glance over at the bed once his arrow was in its place and noticed he had sliced a clean cut in your bedsheets when he speared the spiders. He gestured to it and said with a half-apologetic chuckle, "Looks like we got a casualty."

You shook your head and told him not to worry about it, but stopped him just as he was turning to leave.

"Um, thank you," you mutter awkwardly, rubbing the back of your head.

He simply grinned back at you cockily and replied, "Just a simple transaction is all. Pleasure to be doing business." With that, he turned and left.

His footsteps sounded down the stairs and you turned to look at your bed before carefully reaching to gingerly pull back your blanket, momentarily wondering if you should have asked him to stay longer just in case you found more, but ultimately knowing you would have felt like even more of a child if you had.

Luckily you found no more, but you did completely strip your bed of it's sheets and remade it with fresh ones, throwing the ones the spiders had spoiled with their presence in your hamper to be washed in the morning. Again, you knew it was irrational, but there was no way you'd be able to bring yourself to sleep in that bed with sheets you knew recently had spiders crawling in them.

This also meant you now needed to go upstairs to the attic to fetch a spare blanket, seeing as yours was also now in the hamper to be washed.

Climbing the attic stairs you couldn't help but also wonder what exactly Yondu would call in for his favor, and if you might come to regret this "transaction," or not. To late for that now, you supposed. All you knew know was that as soon as you retrieved a blanket you were hitting the showers and going straight to bed. Hopefully tomorrow would be better.

* * *

Luckily, the next few days were relatively smooth sailing.

Nearly the first thing you did when you woke up the next morning was to think to order some spider repellent online. Fast shipping of course.

All you had to do in the meantime was wait. Fortunately the spiders seemed to be giving you a break for now. What you didn't know, however, was that the reason for this was largely due to Yondu quietly running any he saw through with his arrow under the guise of target practice and boredom if anyone else noticed. Of course he never mentioned it to you. In fact, he'd barely seen you since that night aside from when you'd come up to him when no one else was around to ask him about that favor you now owed him, only for him to flippantly tell you that he'd figure it out later.

Groot might have possibly eaten a couple spiders as well when he was able to evade Rocket's eye. But that was less for your benefit and more because he wanted a snack.

When the morning came that you got the notification that your spider spray was waiting for you at the post office you quickly readied yourself to go back into town.

Your intent was to slip out quietly, but you were surprised by Mantis speaking up from behind you as you were slipping on your jacket.

"Are you leaving?"

You jolt, not expecting to hear her, and turned only to be surprised to see her wearing a pout. Raising an eyebrow, you answer, "Um, yeah. Just gotta run to the post real quick. Did you need something?"

"I want to see the Terran town! Can I go? Pleeease?"

"Oh-" You blinked, puzzled. She had never expressed interest in going before, at least not that you had noticed? Come to think of it, would that really even be the best idea? People would definitely start staring at her completely black eyes and those antennae...

Wincing slightly, you notice Peter and Gamora walking into the hall, and speak up so they might hear. "You're wanting to go into town, Mantis?" You weren't sure what they'd do, but you hoped they might see the impending bad idea and talk her out of it instead.

"Yes!" She gestured over to Peter, who had now stopped to exchange glances with Gamora upon hearing you. "Peter and Kraglin have gotten to go into town so many times! I want to see too!" She now dropped her pout in favor of excitement, and you were now worried she had mistook your question for an offer.

"Did I hear my name?" Kraglin asked, entering the hall from the kitchen.

Mantis nodded. "Yes! You and Peter got to go with the Agent into town many times. I'm going this time!"

Gamora meets your gaze and she seems to be on the same page as you. "Um, Mantis... I'm not sure-"

Kraglin interrupts, clueless. "Ya better hope the Agent has a hat to cover your feelers there, Mant."

Mantis looks confused, but then Peter chimes in before her feelings even have a chance to be hurt. "Yeah, gotta remember we're undercover."

Now Mantis grins wide and turns back to you excitedly. "Do you have a hat!?"

You just stood there a minute. Blinking. Part of you was annoyed they had seemingly made the decision without you. The other part was surprised that you hadn't thought of covering her with a hat in the first place- after all, you had made Peter wear sunglasses the first time he went into town with you, which wouldn't be too bad an idea in this case too now that you thought of it... Wait- what were you saying? You couldn't take her into town! You've seen how easily distracted she can be-

But damn it- that face! You knew you couldn't say no now. Begrudgingly you reply, "I think I might have something in the attic."

Mantis squealed excitedly as you glide your gaze over to Gamora and Peter. For a moment you wondered why she was looking at Peter that way before she met your gaze again somewhat apologetically and you immediately knew what she was about to say next despite you narrowing your eyes warningly.

"Perhaps Peter should go too?" She glanced back at Peter. "Give Agent a break while she runs her errands?"

You continue to glare at her as Peter shrugs and says he won't argue with a chance to get out of here for a bit. Damn it. You knew she likely just wanted some space again and found an out to get some. You attempted to curb your annoyance with the silver lining that this was further proof that she truly hadn't taken Rocket's words to heart when he pulled that stunt of trying to convince her you were gonna steal Peter.

Then, on cue, Yondu walks through from the sitting room towards the kitchen, only to clap Kraglin on the shoulder and say, "Ya should probably go with 'em too then, Krags. Quill may be watching Bug for the Agent, but who's gonna watch him?"

Yondu laughed as Peter protested the insult, and as you turned your glare to him he threw you a wink right before disappearing into the kitchen. Clearly he had heard the previous conversion happening and simply wished to stir the pot. Bastard.

Taking a deep breath, you state you're going to check the attic real quick for a hat that might work for Mantis. Maybe you'd take your time, figure out how a trip alone turned into you now bringing three people with you. You tell the others to get ready to leave while you look as you turn to head upstairs.

It didn't take you too long to find a hat. There had happened to be one hanging on an old coat rack near the top of the attic stairs. Only thing was it wasn't exactly... subtle. It was an old wide-brimmed sunhat that you think might have belonged to your mother, but you weren't sure. All you know is that you had never even bothered to wear it to play dress-up as a kid, which is probably the only reason it was still in decent condition with as old as it'd have to be.

Without bothering to look around for anything a little less... noticeable... you grabbed the hat, beat off the dust, and headed back downstairs. The faster you'd get all this over with the better. You were just going to pop in and grab your package after all. How much trouble could they possibly get into?

You return downstairs and find that Gamora had left, leaving Peter, Kraglin, and Mantis waiting for you in the hall. She was already wearing the sunglasses and beaming excitedly over how she'd finally get a turn to leave the house. Someone, likely Peter, had already managed to locate them and gave them to her. However, unlike Peter who had put on his jacket and Kraglin who was currently slipping his poncho over his head, Mantis didn't appear to have anything of the sort. When you questioned this, as it wasn't very warm out, she informed you that she didn't have one.

You frowned and handed over the hat, which she put on gleefully. "Wait here a minute. I'll grab you something." And back up the stairs you went, knowing that you had a cardigan or two in your dresser. You pulled out a brown one and went back downstairs to hand it to her. "Ok, now is everyone ready?"

Mantis nodded excitedly as the other two shrugged their affirmatives. They, of course, were happy to get out of the house for a change, but they were no where near as excited as Mantis.

With a sigh, you motion them out the door and off you went.

* * *

Mantis was a chatterbox the whole way into town. She gushed over the trees as you drove past, and pointed out every animal she spotted- mostly livestock- and asked what they were from the back seat.

Admittedly it was a little endearing, her innocent excitement. She didn't even ask "Are we there yet?" throughout the long ride, too enamored with the scenery to care.

Mantis gasped when you finally approached the town, right before she joyously squealed that she was finally getting to see a Terran town. You couldn't help but grin at her enthusiasm as you pulled into a parking spot at the post office.

Rightfully assuming she'd want to come inside to ogle the post office interior, you didn't even bother asking if the others wanted to come inside or stay in the car. Hell, Mantis had practically jumped out before you even parked.

...And started off down the street.

"Mantis!" you yell, causing her to immediately turn around, nearly losing her hat as she done so. "Don't run off, I don't want you getting lost."

"Oh-" Mantis said, before nodding her head with a smile and coming back to rejoin the group and following you into the building.

There was no line today, which you took as a blessing. Wouldn't have to worry about too many people gawking at your housemates as Mantis busied herself ooh-ing and ahh-ing over the postcards in her out of season sunhat and sunglasses getup while Peter and Kraglin watched over her fondly as they glanced over some old magazines, waiting on you to retrieve your package.

Within a few minutes the woman behind the counter handed you over the box with your spider repellent and you thanked her before turning back to the others and gesturing them to follow you out.

The second the four of you were out Mantis piped up asking excitedly where you'd all be going next.

Truthfully, you had only planned to grab your package and head back home, but something about the excitement on her face made you preemptively feel bad to disappoint her. Before you could decide what to do, Mantis announced she spotted some flowers in a window box and then promptly stepped into the street, right in front of an oncoming car.

Luckily Peter was quicker than you in that moment and snatched her back before anything bad could happen, though the driver of the car did yell some choice words at her as he drove by. Mantis wasn't even phased, though Peter did scold her for walking out in front of a car. Perhaps it was good he and Kraglin came after all…

With a stern look you tell Mantis and the others to get in the car before someone actually did get run over.

Sensing that you were displeased with what just happened, Mantis didn't argue, but that didn't stop her from asking again what they could see next.

You thought for a moment... what could it really hurt to stay in town for just a little longer?

"Say, what do you guys think about bringing pizza back for dinner?"

"I mean, I'm game," Peter replies for the other two, "but the cheese might be a problem..."

"Ah shit, right. I forgot about Yondu." you say, frowning, but then a light bulb goes off in your brain. "Oh wait- I can't believe I didn't think of this before! There's medicine for lactose intolerance. We can pick it up right from the shop."

Kraglin raised an eyebrow. "Lactose intolerance? I thought it was that 'dairy' stuff he couldn't have? The hell is 'lactose?'"

"Yes- I mean, lactose intolerance is just what they call it when you can't have dairy. Look-" you shake your head as if waving off the conversation, "If you guys want to try pizza we can pick him up some of that medicine so he can have it too, or we can not do that. Your choice."

Mantis and Kraglin look at Peter for his opinion as he would presumably know if this 'pizza' was worth trying, and so he shrugs and nods. "Sure," he says, the other two deciding to nod with him, Mantis smiling wide- obviously excited to try some new Terran food.

"Alright. We'll stop by the shop first and pick up the medicine. There's this one pizza shop nearby that should be good for carry out."

With no arguments from anyone, you set off for the shop.

Mantis behaved liked an excited toddler. She ran off no fewer than 4 times in what was supposed to be a short visit to just grab some over the counter lactose intolerance medication. Sure, it was still a little endearing to see someone clearly so happy and excited to see so many new things, but also a little exhausting since Peter and Kraglin didn't seemed too concerned with her running all over the place. Some help they were.

You finally check out - with a few extra items like soda and napkins alone with the medicine - and get everyone rounded back up in the car to head off towards the pizza shop.

When you get there you figured three large pizzas would be more than enough to feed everyone, and let the other's look at the menu to decide what they wanted to try and what they thought the others would eat.

In the end the order wound up being one pepperoni and peppers (mostly to have a safe choice), one vegetation with peppers, tomato, mushrooms, and onions, with pineapple and sweet corn on half (Mantis insisted she wanted to try that, and you supposed she could pick them off when she realized that wasn't a great idea), and one loaded up with meats like pepperoni, sausage, ham, bacon, and even chicken (they figured that would be more enjoyed by Rocket, and probably also easiest to be filling for Drax.)

The place wasn't very busy at the moment, but it still would take a little bit for them to make the pizzas, so you decide to take the others outside to walk about while you wait.

Just like with the post office and the grocery shop, Mantis was amazed with everything, even though you personally didn't see anything particularly special about most of it. Then again, you were used to all of it. To her this was a completely new place. Again, endearing, but increasingly exhausting trying to keep up with her.

Exhausting to the point that you took a moments pause and looked over at Peter who was just chatting to Kraglin with a blasé attitude. "How do you guys keep up with her?" you ask, a littler perturbed that they weren't help keep track of her as was supposed to be their reason for coming. Well, Peter's anyway. You supposed Kraglin was technically holding up his end since he was staying with Peter, though you knew that whole "If Peter's watching Mantis, who's gonna watch him?" was just Yondu messing around.

Peter shrugged. "We mostly don't. I mean, she's never gotten lost before. She always turns back up sooner or later."

Well that explained why they didn't seem too concerned that she kept running off.

You simply sigh in response and look back in the direction you last saw her, only to see that unlike each time she'd wandered before, this time you had completely lost sight of her.

Eyes wide, you get Peter's attention again. "She's gone."

"Don't worry so much. She'll turn back up. She always does."

You scoff at him and turn to look all around you. You couldn't see her anywhere for a good thirty seconds before finally spotting her by her hat down an alleyway across the street. "Shit. You two stay right here, I'm gonna go grab her."

Not waiting for an answer you took off, quickly avoiding cars as you crossed the street towards Mantis. You were glad it wasn't dark yet, unless you counted the storm clouds that had started moving in on an otherwise overcast day. Last thing you would need was for the sky to open up before you all got back to the pizza shop. But no time for worrying about that now, because you just fully noticed where Mantis was walking.

She was heading toward what appeared to be a white, unmarked van, and you didn't like the looks of it. It was parked at the back of the alley where the alleyway turned, and you could only see the back half, as the front half was obscured by a building.

Rarely does something good ever come from an unmarked van. Especially in an alley. You knew from experience, both from working jobs where you had to find people who used them to kidnap the vulnerable, and from working jobs were you were the one inside the van, tracking those who might do harm. Sure, you might have been the good guy, but what happened to the assholes wasn't exactly nice for them either.

"Mantis!" you call out, picking up the pace, but she doesn't seem to hear you. So, you start jogging as Mantis continued getting closer to the van. You call out her name again, but again, nothing. Damn it. Switching to a full run, you notice the back lights turn on, like someone had just turned the ignition key. If there was someone unsavory in there and they grabbed her they could take off down the rest of the alley and you'd never catch them. What if they were traffickers? What if the people after the Guardians had found them and they were stalking them in that van?

Ok, so maybe you were catastrophizing, but better safe than sorry.

You finally catch up to Mantis and grab her, startling her as you jerked her away from the van. As you start pulling her back in the direction that you came the van pulls away. Perhaps this wasn't 'one of those vans' after all, but still. You had every right to be worried.

"Didn't you hear me call you?"

"No- I'm sorry!" She winced, knowing she messed up. "I didn't mean to run off again- there was just this pretty insect and I didn't want to lose it!"

Whatever the insect had been, it was long gone now, but your anger wasn't. "You just can't keep running off like that. You could have gotten lost. And don't ever go near an unmarked van, do you hear me?" Your tone was harsh, scolding.

"Sorry," Mantis replied, nodding. She looked sad from getting yelled at, but you willed yourself to ignore it.

The two of you were quiet for a moment after, you just focused on getting her back to the others, before Mantis spoke up again. "Agent? Why were you afraid?"

"What? I wasn't afrai-" It was then you realized you were still holding her hand, and you promptly let go of it. "Thought we talked about you not doing that without asking," you scold, irritated.

Mantis apologized again. "I didn't mean to- I promise! You startled me and I just... sort of did it on instinct?"

You toss her a quick glance and see she genuinely just looks so sad to have disappointed you that you can't bring yourself to stay angry. Irritation now softened, you just repeat what you said earlier, "Never go near an unmarked van, 'kay? They're just not safe." You hoped she wouldn't ask why, as you weren't sure you cared to explain just what sort of horrible things you'd seen them be used for in the past.

She didn't. Mantis simply nods and the rest of the short walk back was silent. You considered texting Maria about the van so they could look into it just in case, but if it turned out to be nothing or wasn't even actually 'unmarked' (since you only saw the back half of one side) you didn't want the fallback, so you didn't.

When the two of you reached Peter and Kraglin you suggested that you all head back to the pizza shop to wait. They got the hint that you needed to cool down a little and so didn't speak much on the way back. Even Mantis restrained herself from her former excited antics, walking quietly beside Peter with her head down, and honestly you were starting to feel bad for yelling at her. Yes, she needed to be more careful, but she was just excited.

The pizzas were ready pretty much as soon as you walked through the door, and after paying you and walking to the car you asked Mantis if she wanted to be charged with the task of holding the pizzas on the way home. She seemed to perk up a bit at having been given a job, and you cracked at smile when she remarked how warm they were in her lap.

Mantis was less excited on the way home, and at first you thought she was still sad, but a glance backward made you smile when you realized the reason for her silence was that she had fallen asleep.

You guessed the heat from the pizza boxes combined with the rain that was now coming down around you, was just cozy enough to put her to sleep.

The rain had mostly let up by the time you got home and after Peter woke Mantis and brought the pizza's inside, you placed the pizzas in the oven to heat them back up a bit before eating, as the ride from town to home wasn't exactly short.

While you waited you presented Yondu with the lactose intolerance medicine.

"What's this?" he asked, looking at the bottle.

"It's something to keep you from shitting yourself to death after eating dinner," you reply cheekily.

Yondu narrowed his eyes at you.

"It's up to you though. You can always find something else to eat if you don't trust it."

He could smell the food, and it actually smelled pretty good. He also didn't feel like making something else for himself if there was already food made, so he shrugged his shoulders and took a dose. "This better work," he said, washing it down with some water.

"Yeah, for all our sakes," Peter quipped from behind the two of you, earning a glare from Yondu before exiting the kitchen with Kraglin and Mantis to tell the others you guys brought food back.

Now that it was just the two of you, you thought to ask, "Um, if it does work, I don't suppose this will count towards whatever favor I owe you?"

Yondu just laughed and shook his head before leaving the kitchen.

"I guess I should have expected that..." you say after him in response, slightly cringing at how obvious you were making it that you were nervous about what he might ask for in return for his 'services.' You weren't used to owing other people. It felt weird.

* * *

Dinner went pretty well.

Everyone enjoyed the pizza, even Yondu who'd made the previous complaint that 'Terrans put that 'dairy shit' in everything.' And surprisingly to you, Mantis actually didn't wind up pulling the pineapple or sweet corn off her pizza. Neither did Kraglin, who also had some of that half of the pie. More power to them, you supposed.

On the flip side, unsurprisingly Groot didn't eat much, considering his tiny size. He mostly picked the toppings off one of Rocket's slices. Or was it his own slice? You couldn't tell. All you knew was Rocket put two slices on one plate and sat Groot down with him on the countertop where Groot ate the toppings off the slice Rocket left on the plate and Rocket finished off the slice when Groot had his fill of the toppings.

Also, luckily for everyone, the lactose intolerance medicine worked for Yondu. Well, mostly.

You all weren't run out of the house like the previous incidents, but every so often throughout the evening as you were winding down in your room you could hear Kraglin loudly complaining and Yondu laughing from their bedroom across the hall, each time preceded by fart noises. You couldn't help but laugh and be grateful that the smell didn't waft over to your side of the hall, and that your door was also closed if it did.

Mantis was holding back giggles as well when Kraglin could be heard proclaiming that he was gonna go sleep in Drax and Rocket's room after the third or fourth time. Yondu was only heard laughing in response and making some quip about having the room to himself.

The two of you shared a look and you could tell she no longer thought you were mad at her for running off earlier, and you were glad. It made you feel better knowing she was no longer sad about the situation, but you still took the time then to apologize for yelling at her, and in turn she apologized for running off so many times.

All in all, the day seemed like a success to you. Nothing truly bad happened in town, no one argued at dinner, and you sprayed the house down with the spider repellent that evening so it was very unlikely you'd be finding anymore spiders in your bed anytime soon.

Speaking of spraying the repellent, it seemed Gamora had either convinced the others to tidy up around the house while you were gone, or she had done so herself as perhaps a thank you for agreeing to take Peter into town to give her some space, because you noticed the house definitely seemed cleaner than you left it as you went about spraying in the corners and windows with the repellent. You made a mental note to thank her in the morning.

You were in a pretty good mood, all things considered. Much better than the other day when you nearly punched Yondu in the face.

And with the house already seemingly cleaned, the only thing really left to do was to think about what you wanted to do tomorrow, but now that you thought about it, there wasn't really anything pressing that needed done. You could maybe try and take some time to do an inspection of that tunnel like you had been meaning to? Or you could just take a day to just do nothing? Spend the day outside, taking a walk through the woods while you can before the weather really starts getting colder?

Oh wait- Fury should be coming tomorrow for another check-in and restock. Guess that means both a day-long walk or tunnel inspection are out of the question. You should really be around and available when he shows up- whatever time that could wind up being. One of these times he's probably going to come at midnight just to keep you on your toes.

Although, thinking about it some more, it has been a few days since you played the remote prank on Peter... that should be able to keep you plenty entertained while you wait for Fury and Maria to come and go.

You should see about getting the remote back from Rocket tomorrow.

[howlingday]

Do you think Blake and Yang had nightmares about Adam and the fact they killed him while they stayed in Atlas?

So, believe it or not, and I may have mentioned this before, but I absolutely HATE how they wrote off Adam. Don't get me wrong, everything about Blake and Yang VS Adam was perfectly fine, even the killing the blow is just the perfect amount of desperation and equality of blame. This would have been a solid reason for BMBLB to get some canon to their name...

BUT THEY FUMBLED IT SO BAAAAAD!

What do I mean? I'll put it as simply as I can; you remember how Ruby had her whole thing in V9 where she was freaking out because of her trauma? That made sense! Blake and Yang DON'T HAVE THAT! There's no weight to their actions! There's no consequence!

Maybe if CRWBY had some content with Blake and Yang comforting and talking to each other about what they did, or even to other people, I'd be fine with it. But they didn't...

Except they did. And this... Oh, this just pisses me off the most about this whole Adam thing because OOOOOOHOOOHOO! ARGH!

Anyway, they do reference Adam's death in V7. Yup, they did. Don't remember? I didn't, and finding out that it was in yet ANOTHER BMBLB fumble- Ooh, FMBLB, I like that -when Yang and Blake decide to team up with Robyn behind everyone's backs! In V7E7, "Worst Case Scenario," the scene goes, and I quote...

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

Yang: Do you… (loud exhale) Do you think we should've told Ironwood about Salem, before he put so much on the line for Amity? Blake: Sounds like you do. Yang: (sighs) I trust Ruby, but I think he deserves to know what he's stepping into. We all did. Blake remains quiet, her cat ears folding over a little. Yang turns and looks at her. Yang: You don't agree. Blake collapses her Scroll and puts it away. Blake: Look around. The embargo, the military presence, the restrictions on assembly. He's a bit prone to overreacting. Yang: Yeah, hard to argue with that. Still, he didn't have a lot of good options. Blake: I'm not sure there are many good options left for any of us anymore. Keeping secrets, taking lives? It makes you wonder how far we're gonna have to go to keep doing the right thing. Yang: Blake. Blake looks at Yang, who has a saddened expression with her eyes glimmering from emotion. Yang: We did... what we had to do. Blake's eyes glimmer a little, and she looks away. Blake: I know. But next time, I wanna make sure we don't have to, and I can tell you, ambushing a Huntress who's just trying to help isn't an option I'm thrilled about choosing.

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

Did you catch that? This is such a vague line that NOBODY would know without further context! Are they talking about not telling Ironwood? Are they talking about a separate adventure that we didn't see? Are they talking about their plan already made to ambush Robyn? Sure, I might be nitpicking, BUT IT'S SOMETHING THAT I CAN'T IGNORE IS JUST BAD WRITING!

Hell, I'll write a better scene right fucking now to prove it!

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

Yang: Do you… (loud exhale) Do you think we should've told Ironwood about Salem, before he put so much on the line for Amity? Blake: Sounds like you do. Yang: (sighs) I trust Ruby, but I think he deserves to know what he's stepping into. We all did. Blake remains quiet, her cat ears folding over a little. Yang turns and looks at her. Yang: You don't agree. Blake collapses her Scroll and puts it away. Blake: Look around. The embargo, the military presence, the restrictions on assembly. He's a bit prone to overreacting. Yang: Yeah, hard to argue with that. Still, he didn't have a lot of good options. Blake looks out the window, remorse on her face. As the convoy moves, a propaganda poster of the White Fang symbol with red X over is seen with the caption, "See Something, Say Something". Blake: I'm not sure there are many good options left for any of us anymore. Keeping secrets, taking lives? It makes you wonder how far we're gonna have to go to keep doing the right thing. Yang: Blake. Blake looks at Yang, who has a saddened expression with her eyes glimmering from emotion. Yang: We did... what we had to do... back at Argus. Blake's eyes glimmer a little, and she looks away. Blake: I know. But next time, I wanna make sure we don't have to, and I can tell you, ambushing a Huntress who's just trying to help isn't an option I'm thrilled about choosing. Yang: Neither am I, but... Hey, at least we'll be the ones doing the ambushing this time, right? Blake groans as her ears flatten. Blake: That's not funny. Yang looks down. Yang: I know. I'm sorry. I'm just... trying to lighten the mood. Blake places a hand over Yang's. Yang looks up to see Blake give a small smile. Blake: I know you are. Yang gives a smile in return.

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

So, uh, yeah. If a bit more effort was put in, maybe V7 wouldn't have been such a shitshow, and BMBLB might have looked a lot better.

[mlobsters]

supernatural s1e8 bugs (rachel nave, bill coakley)

(this is a rewatch, so spoilers abound)

i haven't been avoiding bugs, i just have been avoiding listening to myself talk about this show. i'm tired, you're tired, etc. so obviously the effects are terrible in this one, and when i watched it the first time i fast forwarded through the climactic bug scene because it took forever. however, i do remember good bro talks

TRAVIS Man, these are some phat houses, huh? I'd like to live here.

were random white people saying phat in 2005? haha

xfiles noise as man falls into pit to get killed by bugs, very appropriate. also, i really do not like bugs as a horror trope in general, i struggle with being chill about bugs in real life. the xf ep with cockroaches? a good funny episode but *shudder*

SAM You know, we could get day jobs once in a while. DEAN Hunting's our day job. And the pay is crap. SAM Yeah, but hustling pool? Credit card scams? It's not the most honest thing in the world, Dean. DEAN Well, let's see: honest, fun and easy. It's no contest.

something endearing about sam just lounging on the impala while dean's inside hustling. also feeling soft because of this good but too-sad (for my current emotional state) stanford era story i was reading

find it kind of funny they're having sam be a scold about how they make money (but also that big smile after dean's answer, i don't think sammy's too pressed.) i can't imagine trying to scrounge up living expenses with day jobs in their nomadic lifestyle, especially with the amount they have to spend on gas

DEAN Besides, we're good at it. It's what we were raised to do. SAM Yeah, well, how we were raised was jacked. DEAN Yeah, says you.

totally jacked and you're gonna be changing your tune sooner rather than later too, dean

oh right, i made some gifs from this episode too. this was a... hmm. well. it was something. dean went on a slight masculinity panic face journey. i don't think sam was being a jerk about it really (? maybe i'm biased at this point) i think he was just genuinely surprised, not mocking. something something dean felt fine bringing it up but mildly freaked out when sam didn't acknowledge in a way that he would have seen it too. and how would dean have reacted if the situation was reversed and sam made the oprah reference? file that under my newly minted spn and masculinity tag i guess (with the comment about sam's "fancy" coffee drink in 1x07)

so i was like i'll add when dean calls sam samantha but like. i searched the transcripts (only searches transcripts on superwiki via google) and only crowley calls him that. has that just been fully absorbed into fanon? whew. the hazards of fic sometimes lol. bobby calls dean princess when he's scolding him in 4x22, rando bartender in 3x04 calls sam princess when he turns down a drink, and jo calls dean princess in 2x06 after he slept badly on a couch or chair while working that apartment job together. huh. interesting. dean calls him frances in that 1x07 instance.

what did i say about being tired of listening to myself talk about this show?

hoo boy, can tell this is a jay gruska music episode. eyes rolling back in my head. he has a gift for annoying me personally with his musical stylings

DEAN All right, I'll go if you're scared. You scared? SAM Flip the damn coin. DEAN All right, call it in the air... chicken. He flips the coin, and SAM catches it in midair. SAM I'm going.

10/10 sibling bickering

DEAN I know a good place to start. I'm kinda hungry for a little barbeque, how 'bout you? What, we can't talk to the locals? SAM And the free food's got nothin' to do with it? DEAN Of course not. I'm a professional.

again with the good banter/bicker

DEAN Growin' up in a place like this would freak me out. SAM Why? DEAN Well, manicured lawns, "How was your day, honey?" I'd blow my brains out. SAM There's nothing wrong with "normal". DEAN I'd take our family over normal any day.

s2e20 what is and what should never be

sure, dean

the x-files s1e5 the jersey devil - andrew airlie as rob / the killing s2e3 as dr madigan

well, we're brothers moment guy has been in a couple of my shows (and he pops up in 15x04 but i didn't hiky him) including being gillybean's date in the xf jersey devil ep!!

as a one-off thing, someone assuming they're a couple, it's kind of whatever. skirting around straight up homophobic joke. but they (the show) make it weird by doing it more than one episode. anyway, i hadn't paid that much attention and didn't realize sam laughed and dean got vaguely indignant

not me trying to figure out when dean switches to the logger boots. i know sam is in sneakers for a fairly long time (like that bad luck at black rock where he loses a shoe, still). good for running around but not great protection

could dean's face get any more scrunched up before he decides to go with it. and sam's amused until he gets his ass smacked (course j2 smack each other all the time at cons, but i guess sam doesn't subscribe to the platonic bro butt smack)

(also whew that's some harsh makeup on this sales person. i get it's part of the personality they're trying to go for but it's A Lot)

LYNDA Who can say "no" to a steam shower? I use mine everyday.

read an article trying to figure out why people would like a steam shower and the long not specific reason was, repeatedly, "wellness." ok

MATT You gonna tell my dad? SAM I don't know. Who's your dad? MATT Yeah, Larry usually skips me in the family introductions. SAM Ouch. First name basis with the old man - sounds pretty grim. MATT Well, I'm not exactly brochure material. SAM Well, hang in there. It gets better, all right? I promise. MATT When?

got our sam-parallel character here. and sammy's not brochure material because he wanted to go to college 😤

SAM Remind you of somebody? Dad? DEAN Dad never treated us like that. SAM Well, Dad never treated you like that. You were perfect. He was all over my case. You don't remember? DEAN Well, maybe he had to raise his voice, but sometimes, you were out of line. SAM Right. Right, like when I said I'd rather play soccer than learn bowhunting. DEAN Bowhunting's an important skill. SAM Whatever.

i know people have very particular thoughts about john and how he raised them and what bad things he did to them. the show made me hate with him a particular intensity mainly because of the neglect when they were so young, and probably kinda sorta using them as bait. but dean's like well, he yelled sometimes, but it was justified. (all parents yell sometimes.) just the understanding that john was raising them as soldiers vs like, you need to learn to swim because it's an important life skill and i don't wanna.

did you know the ever-resourceful superwiki has a section on the impala page for all the times someone besides dean drives baby?

DEAN Maybe they're being controlled somehow. You know, by something or someone. SAM You mean, like Willard? DEAN Yeah, bugs instead of rats. SAM There are cases of psychic connections between people and animals - elementals, telepaths. DEAN Yeah, that whole Timmy-Lassie thing

but dean doesn't know dick van dyke/mary poppins 🤪 is this gonna be another thing i start tagging...

SAM We're gonna squat in an empty house? DEAN I wanna try the steam shower. Come on. (SAM doesn't move.) Come on!

dean wants some of that Wellness ™️i just can't imagine how sitting in steam would be more enjoyable than a good shower, but i'm not about that wellness life

lol sam smacking him in the gut as he reluctantly pulls in to park the car, had to make gifs of that too 🤪

okay i couldn't forget the terrible effects of the spiders in the shower with the high strung makeup lady, but i did forget that she had a whole big ass spider crawling on her face that she just brushes away, mildly annoyed, beforehand. is this a regular occurrence? no freaking out??

the most copy pasted looking spiders ever 😂

towel for comedic effect 😑 sam has no patience for this nonsense, a lady is dead from BUGS, DEAN

speaking of masculinity...

wiki:

This is the only time we see the boys with umbrellas in the rain. Kripke explained why in a Tweet:

"Kim Manners directed X-Files, where they often had umbrellas, so figured it was fine. I called him, said "the boys aren't scared of demons, but they're scared of rain?" From that point forward, a hard rule: no umbrellas. Not easy for Vancouver."(source)

matt is samandriel in s8 who i did a hiky for because he was in the killing too

MATT Believe me, I've tried. But, uh, Larry doesn't listen to me. SAM Why not? MATT Mostly? He's too disappointed in his freak son. SAM I hear you. DEAN You do? SAM Matt, how old are you? MATT Sixteen. SAM Well, don't sweat it, because in two years, something great's gonna happen. MATT What? SAM College. You'll be able to get out of that house and away from your dad. DEAN What kind of advice is that? Kid should stick with his family.

said it before and i'll say it again, when the show wants to make a parallel it will hammer it over our heads 😂 sam and dean are just gonna have a little fight over sam going away to college right in front of matt's salad

DEAN Yeah, so with that kid back there... why'd you tell him to just ditch his family like that? SAM Just, uh... I know what the kid's goin' through. DEAN How 'bout tellin' him to respect his old man, how's that for advice? SAM Dean, come on. This isn't about his old man. You think I didn't respect Dad. That's what this is about. DEAN Just forget it, all right? Sorry I brought it up. SAM I respected him. But no matter what I did, it was never good enough. DEAN So what are you sayin'? That Dad was disappointed in you? SAM Was? Is. Always has been. DEAN Why would you think that? SAM Because I didn't wanna bowhunt or hustle pool - because I wanted to go to school and live my life, which, to our whacked-out family, made me the freak. DEAN Yeah, you were kind of like the blonde chick in The Munsters. SAM Dean, you know what most dads are when their kids score a full ride? Proud. Most dads don't toss their kids out of the house. DEAN I remember that fight. In fact, I seem to recall a few choice phrases comin' out of your mouth. SAM You know, truth is, when we finally do find Dad... I don't know if he's even gonna wanna see me. DEAN Sam, Dad was never disappointed in you. Never. He was scared. SAM What are you talkin' about? DEAN He was afraid of what could've happened to you if he wasn't around. But even when you two weren't talkin'... he used to swing by Stanford whenever he could. (SAM'S smirk fades.) Keep an eye on you. Make sure you were safe. SAM What? DEAN Yeah. SAM Why didn't you tell me any of that? DEAN Well, it's a two-way street, dude. You could've picked up the phone.

so this is the conversation that i think stuck out to me even the first time watching - it's obviously the kind of, culmination of all the parallel groundwork to bring up the issue. i have a lot of thoughts and feelings about it. the way it's framed, it feels like the show is trying to make us sympathetic to john's side, which is dean's side by proxy. which is nonsense. sam is the kid. john is the adult. it's not sam's job to try to go back and fix what john broke by telling him to never come back. there's this emotional music playing as dean tells us john checked up on him at stanford and like okay, so what? sam was still in the lived experience of being kicked out and cut off by his dad (and the show probably doesn't care but the logistics of having literally nowhere to go over the summer, living expenses not covered by his scholarshop, etc) ugh. and i think i complained to someone about wanting to smack dean because he's sticking up for john, and they mentioned that you know, dean's got his own warehouse full of john shaped issues that make him the ever obedient son at this stage. anyway, i'm not mad at the show or anything. but it definitely gets my defensive feelings fired up on sam's behalf. i also have my own little storage locker full of john shaped issues 🤪

editing 9/8/24 to add that I totally missed the fact that Sam was asking why Dean didn't tell him what was up with John and Dean's saying he could have called - so blinded by my irritation at John I was misunderstanding thinking he was saying Sam should have called John. anyway, I don't think Dean can say much if he didn't contact Sam either. just think like okay, so Sam didn't try but you didn't either Dean? but at the end of the day, I also have a hard time accepting knowing how they are about each other that they could both go cold turkey no contact for 3+ years (1x01 Dean says he hasn't bothered him or asked for anything in nearly 2 years and we know that was a mistake of years # due to aging Sam up a little and not adjusting script.) the conflict of Sam leaving has never (I don't think?) been implied to have animosity between Sam and Dean? so like, Dean was obviously very hurt/upset (see 5x16 "one of the worst nights of my life") but would that be enough to refuse to make contact? I know theyre both stubborn but goddamn.

s1e8 jimmy herman as joe whitetree / the x-files s1e19 as ish

funny, david nutter directed that episode of the xfiles too (he directed the spn pilot and wendigo), he was a kim manners rec (who also worked on xf obviously, and directed this spn ep)

i'm never going to finish this episode and surely gonna hit the 30 image limit

always kind of... nervous when especially the supernatural-ish shows decide to bring in any sort of indigenous lore/plot, but at least this one revolved around fuck the white man colonizers

Eric Kripke often cites this episode as one of his least favorites in the series. When Chuck meets Sam and Dean, he asks them if they had to live through the "bugs". He laments that they were "forced to live bad writing."

well, i think they're heavy handed but overall has groundwork laying character moments for sam and dean. wouldn't argue about the rest though

such a pretty shot. early days really were filled with them

MATT My dad doesn't listen in the best of circumstances, what am I supposed to tell him? SAM You've gotta make him listen, okay? DEAN Give me the phone, give me the phone. (He grabs the phone from SAM.) Matt, under no circumstances are you to tell the truth, they'll just think you're nuts. MATT But he's my-- DEAN Tell him you have a sharp pain in your right side and you've gotta go to the hospital, okay? MATT Yeah. Yeah, okay. He hangs up, and so does DEAN. DEAN Make him listen? What are you thinkin'?

snorted

SAM Look, this land is cursed! People have died here. Now, are you gonna really take that risk with your family?

made me giggle. so earnest. i mean, what can you do, those cheesy lines

dad tells mom to call 911. and tell them what? bugs? what are they gonna do about it?? lol and the bugs chewed through phone and power lines

dead end chemical corp.!! i kind of love that. new blog name??? lol

i think i missed these progressive holes being chewed through the roof in my fast forwarding of this scene 😂

that was the shortest 6-7 hours ever. like, truly nonsensical. and they weren't able to keep the swarms of bees out, yet no one died? haha

looks like a stock photo of a busted roof plastered onto this shot

sammy looking longingly over at matt and his dad reconciling over shared bug trauma...

SAM I wanna find Dad. DEAN Yeah, me too. SAM Yeah, but I just... I want to apologize to him. DEAN For what? SAM All the things I said to him. He was just doin' the best he could.

forgot myself for a second and blurted out, BULL. SHIT. haha. don't let dean get you twisted, dude. if you leave (go to college on a full scholarship), don't come back. IS NOT. DOING. THE BEST. HE COULD. never fucking mind everything else. aaaahhhghgfdsjkksfl LOL what did i say about my john issues. anyway, this isn't the end of that particular friction obviously :p

DEAN Well, don't worry, we'll find him. And then you'll apologize. And then within five minutes, you guys will be at each other's throats. SAM (laughs.) Yeah, probably. (They sit in silence for a few seconds.) Let's hit the road. DEAN Let's.

that is more like it :p it is a miracle i shut up long enough to finally finish this episode! too much going on

[lucy-and-rebecca]

Traveler

So...

I play Genshin Impact. This game has become a sort of obsession for me. There are a lot of lovable and interesting characters in it and I want to discuss my favourite one. The character that to me is the most fascinating among them all.

I'm of course talking about the traveler.

Just hear me out okay.

Before continuing I just wanna note that I play as Lumine and it's obvious that Hoyoverse has a favourite child and it's definitely not Lumine. So to restore balance in the universe I'm going to be referring to the traveler as Lumine.

A lot of people who think about the story critically tend to have a negative reaction to the traveler. A lot of people seem to believe that traveler is an asshole despite what the game tries to tell us.

So is traveler a good person? I don't know and honestly I don't care. If you hate the traveler that's fine. I'm not gonna defend her. Personally I do think she's not selfish exactly but self centred. You could say that makes her a bad person. But regardless of whether or not she's a bad person, I don't think she's a bad character.

Traveler and her brother are these two seemingly immortal beings that has seen stars born and die. They have been to many worlds, met people there and then completely left those worlds and people behind never to be mentioned again. Through these worlds there is only one person who was with the Traveler. Her brother.

Traveler is not big on found family. She is loyal to her brother and she will put him before everything else. She values her relationship with him over everything else. That doesn't really work well with our idea of a fantasy/isekai protagonist. But it makes sense for the Traveler. Because any and all relationships she makes are doomed to end and the one and only person who will be by her side is her brother.

In 'we will be reunited' when Lumine finds out her brother is the prince of the abyss order, she didn't really seem bothered by it. She just wanted to be with her brother. When Aether tells her that the people from Khaenri'ah were turned into monsters her response is "you can tell her all about it once they leave the world." At no point in the story she thought of him as evil.

In the first act of the sumeru quest when she's tripping and we end up fighting an abyss lector, the abyss lector basically tells her that her brother doesn't love her anymore. That's her fear. Traveler in her voice lines has talked about having a recurring nightmare where her brother is walking away from her and no matter what she can't reach him. In 'Requiem of the Echoing Depth' the chasm quest with Dainsleaf she sees Aether making his plan to basically kill all the hillichurl in an extremely painful way and tries to reach out to him as his past self walked past her. She heard his plan and she didn't care.

I won't say the Traveler doesn't care about the world or the people in it but rather she cares about it in a way that one might care about a stray cat. Traveler will help out if something horrible is happening right in front of her or if someone she cares about is in trouble. But she has no values, no beliefs, no real sense of right and wrong. I mean yeah Traveler would probably agree that you shouldn't blow up puppies for fun but it doesn't go beyond that. Traveler sometimes gets attached to the people in the world and will help them. If someone is throwing rocks at her favourite stray cat she will stop them. But her connection to this world don't go deeper than that.

One thing that I notice over and over again is that the traveler feels like an outsider. So many characters in this story have deep, meaningful and complicated relationships with each other and travels feels like they are just lurking on the sidelines. In 'Inversion of Genesis', the recent interlude quest, Nahida straight up says "There is a corner of your heart reserved for an intense longing... A feeling of a being all alone in the dark, searching for the one candle whose light still burns" which is a very convoluted way of saying you miss your brother.

That's the thing though, the Traveler isn't just missing her brother. It goes deeper than that. Their relationship goes beyond familial relationship. It's honestly very creepy.

It's interesting to see the twin's attack animations side by side. They are not identical but they compliment each other. They cover each other's blind spots. Even when all alone and while using abilities they didn't have previously their animations compliment each other. I wouldn't have paid attention to it they were identical but they aren't. Both of them still move as if the other is by their side.

The Traveler is not a person as much as they are one half of a pair and she is incomplete without her brother. Eventually everyone in this world and then the world itself will come to an end and the traveler will outlive it all. Eventually with time she will forget everyone she has ever met (as there is absolutely nothing to indicate traveler's memory is more powerful than your average human). The only person who will be with her and the only person she will remember is her brother. I think her brother's actions doesn't matter to her because what's the point? When all of this is over he's all she will have left.

I absolutely love it. I think traveler as a character is sad more than anything. We witness this world from her point of view and it will leave an impact on her as it will for most people. But we will move on. This game and these characters will eventually fade from our mind just like it would from the Traveler's mind. I will move on and so will Lumine. So in that way Traveler is the perfect stand in for the player.

I'm well aware that I'm quite possibly reading too much into things but that's the fun in consuming fictional media. I do genuinely like Lumine and I like the idea of an immortal being who is doomed to lose everyone and everything over and over again slowly becoming more and more apathetic towards the world and I think or rather wish that's what the Traveler is.

[twdmusicboxmystery]

More Dialogue Parallels and Bethyl Arc Analysis (Part 3)

@wdway:

@galadrieljones, something that I found interesting when I was reading @twdmusicboxmystery's post this morning from her TLL coda post, that I had forgotten about, was the writing above the French man.

"Les morts sont nes ici." @twdmusicboxmystery translated it from French to English. "The dead were born here." I was thinking about that as I was writing this afternoon, who wrote it? It wouldn't have been the scientist.

I feel it must have been someone who came and, " jailed them" but won't do that again, if they come back the man said "we'll kill them" just before he killed the woman. It implies that these people were some how different, they weren't the same as the man or persons that came looking. Some of "them" were taken to jail others seem to be hunted down and killed.

The woman has been on the run. Is it more than just being upset about team Primrose and team Violet creating the virus? It seems to be more than just that. And I'm wondering if the religious group that Daryl will be involved with is part of this group of hunters or the ones being hunted because they are different.

I'm suddenly thinking about terminus and how they were actually a sanctuary and then "others" came in killing the Terminus group and they had to choose in become either (my mind just went totally blank help me out here) was it the cattle or the butcher? Could that be part of what Terminus was foreshadowing?

@galadrieljones:

Yes, cattle and butcher. I think John Proctor from Fear says almost the same thing right before Nick blows the dam. It’s something else tho, “you either harness the fury or you get stampeded.” That’s when a Nick says his key phrase, “I’m looking for a third way,” which is I think related to the good shepherd, the shepherd who doesn’t go searching for trouble and who is not a pacifist but who is willing to kill the wolves if that’s what it takes to defend his flock.

The good shepherd is Christ’s self-proclaimed role, and I think it’s part of Beth’s “I get it now” statement. She can’t just walk away. She needs to kill Dawn to end the reign of terror at Grady. It’s an interesting notion. Are the “religious nationalists” the ones hunting the scientists? Will Daryl be faced with a hard choice?

@wday:

Yes, yes, yes! To all you just wrote! There's another saying that wasn't in TWDU but in real life. Something that I believe it was in American Sniper? Something to the effect of are you a sheep a wolf or a shepherd. Something along that line. I was just thinking how we were told at the end of Still that (paraphrasing) our mother's been gone for a long time but there's going to be a party when the wolf comes home. Obviously I can't remember the exact lyrics but you get my drift. I'm going to go Google about any sayings of sheep, wolves, and Shepherds.

@galadrieljones:

Yes, Up the Wolves!! “Our mother has been absent ever since we founded Roam. But there’s gonna be a party when the wolf comes home.”

A reference to Romulus and Remus being raised by a she-wolf after their mother abandons them and then founding the city of Rome.

You should definitely go read or reread the entire good shepherd passage from the Bible. I can’t remember where it is but it’s east to find via google, and it’s super enlightening and I think it’s really a key to understanding Rick in seasons 4-6, and then Daryl in seasons 6-8.

Beth is the template of the good shepherd. She chooses the third way in one of the most random and confusing acts of the entire series, and she dies for it. This turns Rick into a wolf and Daryl into a sheep. Beth starts clearly as a sheep and then she gets beaten up and betrayed at Grady and she wolfs out. She’s then about to go kill Edwards (or Dawn?) out of vengeance until Carol arrives and then she changes her mind. She needs them to save Carol.

If she had acted rashly she would not have been able to do that and Carol might have died. She realizes this and that she needs to be smart. She becomes a leader to make things go her way, ie: she’s the coffee, changing the water, not changed by the water.

Rick is a sheep in the prison, re: Carol: “You can be a farmer Rick. You can’t just be a farmer.” Then, rick is “out there too long” and he becomes a wolf, re: just insane in season 5, killing Lambson in cold blood, talking about taking over the ASZ like a tyrant and killing ppl if he has to.

After Beth, Daryl becomes sheepish and withdrawn. He goes out of his way then, when invited by Aaron, to try and do something good, basically for Beth. He tries to help Dwight and Sherry and then he’s betrayed by Dwight, and Dwight kills Denise. After this, Daryl wolfs out. He gets drunk and goes into the woods alone. Glenn, Michonne, and Rosita go after him and this is when they’re apprehended by the Saviors and Glenn dies. Daryl thinks this is all because he was too weak to do what needed to be done and killing Dwight.

So he loses his humanity in the Sanctuary. He kills the savior in cold blood and then he becomes very cold through season 7-8 basically until Carl dies. His arrows track his transformation. When he’s with Beth they’re green. Then after Noah dies they slowly become more red. He loses his crossbow to Dwight and doesn’t use one again until East, when he uses his old crossbow, from pre-Clear. He shoots a green arrow at Rosita.

This is the last time he’ll shoot a green arrow until after Chokepoint when he becomes friends with Connie. Morgan is also a great example of this duality. He can’t kill his wife, so his wife enters his flock and picks off his lamb. He then goes on a rampage. He meets Eastman and vows that all life is precious so therefore he doesn’t kill. But later he realizes that he must sometimes kill BECAUSE all life is precious and it must be preserved. If you don’t kill the wolves they’ll kill everyone. It’s a sacrifice.

I think this is also related to your us vs. them thing,@wdway. Like, after Beth, Rick is becoming the wolf. He compares them to the walking dead. Killing to survive. Daryl, who is trying to be a shepherd, but who loses his way and becomes a sheep instead, proclaims that “We ain’t them.”

Both men are at extremes and opposite ends of the spectrum. They cross paths like a Venn diagram in Monsters. Rick looks in the mirror, sees the monster he’s become. He meets Morales. He wants to spare him, but why? He doesn’t know. Daryl kills him in an instant. That’s what Rick should have done. Rick is horrified. He sees himself in Daryl. Daryl later kills the savior after Rick promises that if he gives information, he’ll let him live. Rick is again horrified. This is when Rick begins to change.

@wdway:

I was thinking along the lines that Gimple really likes biblical figures and I was thinking about one of the most famous and my personal favorite from the Old Testament King David. In the Old Testament, young David was not a great fighters like his older, bigger, stronger brothers. David was young, his job was to watch over the sheep from the wolves that would eat them. He loved writing poems and sing songs. But he became a strong, brave shepherd protected his sheep.

David was sent out to slay the Giant Warrior Goliath. Others tried to put armor on him trying to make him a warrior because they believe that's the only person that could kill Goliath had to be a warrior but David said no, his weapon was God's will. He slayed Goliath with his slingshot. The giant against the young man.

Beth to Daryl in Still: "I'm not Michonne. I'm not Carol. I'm not Maggie. I survived and you don't get it 'cause I'm not like you or them."

All three of those women are the warriors of TWD. Beth is the young woman, the little sister who took care of Judith. Beth is the young David, she will slay her Goliath. Guess where the famous statue of David is? That's right, the Louvre Museum in Paris.

@galadrieljones:

Love this!! David and Goliath is a really amazing allegory for Beth. Beth and David are very similar, I know youv’e said this before. David is the musician, the underdog. He is favored by Saul and friends with Saul’s son, but he has to go into hiding because Saul is suddenly worried that David is trying to steal the throne.

The story of David is also in the Book of Samuel. David’s father is named Jesse. Very weird coincidence all these names showing up in season 5!!!! But there is no main or even minor character named David in TWDU, despite all the many other important Biblical names. Jesse and David are also ancestors of Jesus Christ.

I did NOT know about the statue of David being in the Louvre!! Also, Daryl’s fight with Beta always reminded me of David vs. Goliath. Beta falls down the elevator shaft in a clear callback to Slabtown.

@wdway:

There was a David in season 4. A very important character although we only saw him once taking down walkers at the fence with Karen. Carol killed Karen and David. In indifference she was vanished by Rick. Written by Matthew Negrete.

@galadrieljones:

Oh you are right duh. Karen and David.

Yeah he is all over these important episodes!

@wdway:

Wasn't there another David? David and Bess or Betty or something similar, it was a B name. This was in the season 6.

It's the guy who got bit on the shoulder and Michonne and he became kind of friends for a few hours. He was left at a fence because he could not climb over and the walkers got to him. When they got back to Alexandria they told his wife. The next morning Jesse went to check on her and she was a walker locked in her house. She must have committed suicide. I think she slashed her wrist.

@galadrieljones:

Dang I think you’re right! Good memory on that one.

@wdway:

I remember it because there was a lot of talk in the Bethyl fandom about the two characters names begin with D and B and they did not find each other until after the world fell apart.

@twdmusicboxmystery:

I also really love the David and Goliath analogy. That's genius! I want to think about it more, but I love it! So, if Beth is David, does that make Daryl Bathsheba? 😈 I mean, he did sleep with Leah. Hehe.

[shortpplfedup]

This bud of love... Bad Buddy Episode 3

This bud of love, by summer's ripening breath, May prove a beauteous flower when next we meet.

So. Much. FLIRTING. In this episode certain chickens come home to roost, Pat can't leave Pran alone, and my face hurts from cheesing at all the cuteness.

THAT PASSEL OF JACKASSES KNOWN AS THE KINSMEN

- Gentlemen, good den: a word with one of you. - And but one word with one of us? Couple it with something; make it a word and a blow. - You shall find me apt enough to that, sir, an you will give me occasion. - Could you not take some occasion without giving?

Good lord these boys are dumb. Not a braincell among them, just testosterone and ego. Watching Our Dynamic Duo scramble around trying to fix their mess was fun though, as Responsible Pran goes directly at the problem while Wily Pat figures a way around it. They make such a good team, and they know it too, which is good because...

JULIET AND HIS ROMEO

Love goes toward love, as schoolboys from their books, But love from love, toward school with heavy looks.

...Pran is definitely not the only one with a crush. I mean...we already know that, but now we KNOW know that. Pat spends this whole episode seeking Pran out, chasing Pran around, trying to get Pran to talk to him, teasing Pran relentlessly, finding any excuse to touch Pran, helping Pran out, giving Pran things, and feeling Pran out by saying and doing a bunch of flirty shit then doing the 'haha jk'. Pran is living absolutely rent-free in his head. Pat is, as the kids say nowadays, down bad guys, and I'm not entirely certain he's aware of it.

And Pran? He's so deep in his own crush and convinced that it's one-sided that he's picking up very little of what Pat is putting down, but he's having a blast anyway. He's indulging all Pat's silly little contests because it's a way to be near him and have fun with him, but he's so guarded and ready for it all to fall apart at a moment's notice because that's what happens whenever he gets close to Pat.

To put it in a musical way: Pran's feelings for Pat are the background music to his life at this point, he's aware of it but he doesn't really even hear it anymore, it's just there and occasionally swells and makes itself heard. Pat's feelings for Pran are like a niggling earworm melody that he can't get out of his head so he's constantly humming or whistling it but he's not really aware of it. Every time these two stop worrying about what's going on around them and between them and just let themselves be and do whatever they feel, when Pran's background music joins up with Pat's melody, it's a magical moment, and you want more of that song.

Commentary from the Chorus

Still no sign of Milk and I'm really getting curious about her character now.

We get a break from the family drama this episode but it's always simmering in the background. Pran skulking around Pat's family's business like he was conducting a drug deal was a little bit heartbreaking.

The whole storyline around the pavilion is very much a Pat/Pran character contrast, bringing forward their characterisations from the novel: Pat works smart and Pran works hard.

Aof is DEFINITELY teasing us with all the fistbumps, I think it's for those who have been traumatised by 2gether 🤣

The string can telephone is just...these boys have so much history together.

I still can't tell if this is divergence from the novel or prologue. Pat and Pran eating together once late at night away from the university is one of those things that's referred to as a past event but not shown in the novel. I still have the feeling we have a time jump coming.

That bet is becoming more understandable with every episode. Because this is not about 'who fell first' but who's gonna break and say something first.

[toujoursmiraculous]

Thoughts and Reaction to ROCKETEAR!

It's a long post, but when are these ever really short? xD Seeing Carapace first made me so excited. I've been sad we haven't had much of him in the show. And then I saw that it seemed like Ladynoir was doing pretty good as they only had Carapace helping them this time. More S2 & S3 like. So I was like cool, cool, this is great. But what the heck scientist WHY ARE YOU BRINGING TYRANNOSAURUS REX'S BACK! Obviously she's going to be something big later on, she's too nicely animated not to be back. Not to mention Bob Roth's plans. Anyone else both intrigued but also scared at what that could do later? Big upcoming plot point, I think.

I screamed awwww because this is everything. I've wanted a LB/Carapace and Marinette/Nino friendship bond in this show since season 1. This scene made me incredibly happy! I'm a huge Nino fan, for those that don't know, so you can imagine how much I love this episode. Even though sad Nino.

"Alya, everyone has to believe that you will never use the Miraculous again!" End of episode: So anyway... So what I'm seeing here is, Alya's not fond of the idea of being just a spy, not being in on the action. Even though it's Ladybug's plan. Chat Noir isn't fond of what's going on right now either, where he thinks what's going on is all Ladybug's plans. Alya makes the decision to not do what Ladybug wants and tells Nino she's still Rena Rouge. So what's Chat Noir going to do to go against her? Because that's coming up on the horizon. Despite everything being easier for Marinette since everything's not just on her shoulders now, she's still been unable to play video games with her dad, and we know how much she loves doing that. :c That's really sad she doesn't even have time for her family anymore. DJWifi over here being all adorable. "You don't love me anymore!" Me: *Chat Blanc flashbacks* Alya suggests her new content could be Chat Noir edits and Marinette's like YES DO THOSE. Then those edits helped push Nino into thinking she was into Chat. Big oops. Not gonna lie, the rewind freaked me out for a moment. Last time I saw that was Chat Blanc so I thought something big was up. But nope, it's just like that scene in Puppeteer 2. Ugh poor Nino! He knows something's bothering Alya, but she won't say what it is and her behavior's too off from how she normally is. Poor guy. x.x Grumpy Nino that Carapace doesn't get attention and then they wrote his girlfriend with Chat Noir. I remember when Alya was grumpy for a bit about Rena Rouge not getting a party to celebrate her. Movie Ladybug telling Movie Chat Noir that he's better with Movie Rena Rouge. Is this a reference to the episode in Avatar, The Ember Island Players? Getting strong vibes when Play Aang and Play Katara were like, we're just friends nothing more and it's great! Play Katara was extremely into Play Zuko. I can see why Ladybug dismissed the movie (or was it the previous one since it's been awhile? Maybe?) because Rena Rouge and Chat Noir???? The writers (of the movie) just wanted to be different because everyone can see Ladynoir, unless they're blind. Alya and Nino are Andre's favorite couple. YES THANK YOU. I mean they're not my favorite because Love Square. BUT they're my second favorite next to them. Those kids are super adorable but definitely that kid playing Chat wasn't doing Nino any favors. First picture Alya shows. Chat with a heart tail. Yeah that's not doing her any favors lol. Nino: UGH CHAT NOIR'S COMING IN BETWEEN ME AND MY GIRLFRIEND. I KNOW, I'LL CALL MY BEST FRIEND TO VENT TO ABOUT IT. Best Friend Chat Noir: Best Friend Chat Noir: Welp maybe I should see what's up. Maybe I went a little to hard on the cat charm and she's fallen in love with me. Me: Oh oof here we go. Also can I ask, if anyone knows, who animated this episode? The fluidity is great and it looks really pretty. But it doesn't quite look like SAMG's work either. Whoever did it, I love it. S2 Chat Noir: You're not replacing me with a turtle, are you? :c S4 Nino: Who would want a reckless turtle as a partner? BOYS STOP. But yeah this whole scene had me laughing so hard XD Very dramatic and I love it. Nino's hilarious even when he's worried and sad! I would've absolutely loved to have heard this in English with the old English voice of Nino, but the new one worries me on whether or not he'll do a good job sounding like Nino and less high-pitched and whiny. :/ New York Nino was great but S4 Nino....x.x THE TRANSITION BETWEEN HIS INNER MONOLOGUE AND SPEAKING REGULARLY AGAIN 😂😂😂😂 Brilliant! It doesn't really feel like Miraculous Ladybug this episode, and I love it. Not that I don't love the show as usual but wow this is great. Okay, I want to point out that Chat Noir

probably was more worried about it than he would've been otherwise because of what happened with Marinette in Weredad. It probably made him more cautious about this sort of thing.

LOL Chat's sulking because Alya's laughing at the idea of being interested in him. 😂😂 I know that's a blow to one's ego and all, and he's dealt with this kind of thing a lot so I do feel bad for him, but that is his best friend's girlfriend and he definitely doesn't want her to like him. Alya: With him it's not just ❤️it's *makes massive hand gesture indicating she loves him deeply* SO SO SO CUTE OKAY ALL THIS DJWIFI 😭 Alya: And I don't even know your secret identity! I would never fall in love with someone I don't know. Chat Noir, literally fell in love with Ladybug, whose identity he doesn't know. Well Alya, I wonder if you saying that matters for later somehow.... o.O Nino running away crying is honestly one of the things that hurts me most in the entire show. Ugh. Adrien over here being all, I'm having a good day. I'm happy and smiling and it's great. And then it wasn't. Adrien, if Nino let him and didn't interrupt, would've told him about how Alya really doesn't love Chat Noir, and that would've seriously led up to his identity being exposed since Nino was watching and filmed them. o.o Did you notice how he was going to tell him about it? S4, the basement is where it's at. Adrien: Uhh, when did you arrange all this? Nino: *pounds fist on desk* I ASK THE QUESTIONS! 😂 So like. Why is Nino interrogating Adrien when he's after Chat Noir? He doesn't know they're the same person. XD He's looking at him like Adrien has info he's keeping or something omg.

Also again this animation is so nice. Adrien, feeling uncomfortable and so turns the music off. Nino, wanting his dramatic music on while he interrogates Adrien, turns it back on. Adrien, feeling even more irritated and uncomfortable, wants the music OFF and turns it off. Nino, turns the music back on. This may be a reference to something, I don't know, but lolol it's so funny. This episode is both super hilarious and super angsty! Honestly they've done such a good job in my opinion. Nino: I'm talking about something that I shouldn't tell you! ...but I'm going to tell you anyway! Alya's Rena Rouge and I'm Carapace! Okay but the way Adrien went from shock to utter anger, knocked his chair back and grabbed Nino's shoulders like "Tell me the truth. You two know about each other?" Aw man, my poor sunshine boy. A lot of the stuff bothering Adrien is all circumstantial, none of it is to purposefully keep him in the dark. And yet from his perspective, that's how it looks. "I thought secret identities must be protected at all times! If that was the truth, you would never tell me this!" Alright so three things. If he's referring to him saying that Nino and Alya know about each other, that was situational and important info for him to know now that this is out. It wasn't important to know before this. The time it happened was dire and was really no time to get around it. If he's talking about Nino telling him the secrets, well yeah that's not supposed to happen and Nino broke that trust. But also, I get the feeling pretty strongly at this point Adrien's going to be breaking some rules too and one of which is he's going to tell Nino who he is. Adrien's being too emotional in this scene to not be involved in it all, I'm wondering if that's going to be questioned later by Nino. He's acting like he knows too much to be a random viewer of the heroes like the rest of Paris. Also Adrien's best friend just totally dissed Chat Noir and went off about how he throws himself at Ladybug whenever he sees her with roses and love confessions. 😂😂😂 This is just too funny! "But he's always rejected because Ladybug finds him annoying! And she's completely right!" Omg Nino, that's not the reason anymore, shush! "And then Rena Rouge appears and he goes *tickles under Adrien's chin* hey pretty lady! You look elegant and you have great perfume." OMG does Chat Noir actually say and do stuff like that to Rena Rouge or is he just exaggerating here XD "If I could I would shut his mouth forever!" Yeah Nino, say what you really think about your best friend in the entire world. Yikes poor Adrien though. I never imagined he'd hear all these bad things about himself from his best friend directly like that. :/ That's a major misunderstanding of him. Which kind of pushes me more towards the "he's going to tell Nino" theory. Sad Adrien transformation DDDX Alya: *explained everything about why Chat Noir went over to her house in the middle of the night* Marinette *facepalm* Ugh that Chat Noir... Well at least there will be no misunderstandings there! xD "Chat Noir, you stole Alya from me! I will steal your life from you." Good lord man calm down. You can't just kill a man! Fanon: Chat Noir gets attacked by a guy over Marinette. Canon: Chat Noir gets attacked by a guy over Alya. Time to go back to the basement! lol Nino's music's still playing xD And the video is left with it paused on Chat Noir hugging Alya. Marinette looked a bit sad, but it was probably more about the situation being a mess rather than being sad he'd hug her. Meanwhile, Chat Noir's fighting Nino and would rather get beaten up by him than fight. x.x "I can't believe that I doubted you." "I can't believe I chose to do anything but be with you!" She wiped away akumatized Nino's tear just like how Ladybug wiped away akumatized Chat Noir's. ALL THE PARALLELS 😭😭😭 But that hug is so sweet!! Nino broke off the akumatization just like Alya did :o Dang, I wonder if that means something later too. "Love and secrets do not go well together, Ladybug. And I'm sure you have a lot of

them!" Secrets = from Chat Noir. Love = for Chat Noir. Yeah even Shadow Moth knows at this point. xP Thanks for that foreshadowing. Nino's charm is my favorite charm so far! It's my favorite shade of blue. Chat Noir: Everybody has doubts sometimes...even me." Ladybug: Is everything okay, Chat Noir? Chat: Oh yes...pound it!

So um. The placemet of Adrien's poster in between Chat Noir, Ladybug, and just with this entire situation feels very strange. Very intentional. But no clue exactly what that could mean..... Nino and Alya are happy over there watching those two, like they're waiting for them to figure things out or something. But really, Adrien should've talked to Ladybug when he could still do so calmly and be reasonable. I doubt that's going to be the case later on. And honestly Ladybug doesn't even know what's going on. Every episode we've seen really either has them working together or she's unable to be Ladybug when he's unable to be Chat Noir most of the time. I've said it before but these two really need to communicate. Nino and Alya are like a less adorably romantic version of what they'd be. "But they're a couple and they know their secret identities, so why does that rule exist for us but they can know?" Very simple. Because they were temporary holders and the Miraculous they had, Hawk Moth hasn't made it his life's mission to obtain, unlike them, who are permanent holders and Hawk Moth's been after them fiercely to make a Wish that could destroy everything. But. The fact he's asking this, and Marinette's Chat Blanc nightmare, really points in the direction that he's going to eventually find out that while she's thought about telling him all along, Chat Blanc's kept her from doing so.

Okay, so while it looks like he's staring up at the moon, if you notice, it really is just one of the pink bubbles.

Now, they could be making it seem like it's the moon though to give it a double meaning. But poor Kitty, he's feeling so awful right now over in that dark corner Dx Nino felt bad for only two episodes? and it got resolved, so hopefully this all won't last too much longer for him! Marinette had a few shaky episodes so hopefully he'll have a few before it gets resolved. But somehow I think that may be wishful thinking. This episode was so amazing, honestly. Wonderful writing, made me laugh a lot, aw a lot, and hurt a lot. It focused on the core 4 characters which I've wanted more of for a long time. The animation was beautiful. And it just felt so different in such a good way. Chat Noir's having a hard time right now, and I know there's a lot of anger and hate about it going around. But please, think of this as him hitting a rough spot in the road to a much better and brighter future. He's going to end up okay, he'll understand it all someday. And that day's honestly not that far for him if you think about it.

[knockknockchicagopd]

A serie with Antonio Dawson. Chapter I.

❚❙ WORDS: about 1.3k

❚❙ A/N: this writing hasn’t been edited, you may find some grammar mistakes, I’m sorry about that. If you find a description about body or a word out of place, or something that it makes you feel uncomfortable / unrepresented, let me know by a private message and I will change it delighted.

❚❙ GIF credits: to the author.

❚❙ Tag list: @melblacc @rebelwrites @skyofficialxx @sesamepancakes @scarletsoldierrr @mondefantastique @that-chick212 @enbyamaro @anotherfan07 @ocetevasgirl @destynelseclipsa @jadakiss13 @mcgreads. If you want to be added to my tag list, send me a message.

Neither of you complained when Voight asked you to be undercover as a couple, for a simple mission. Someone gave the tip-off of dirty cops dressed like plainclothes who used to deal drugs in clubs. Antonio and you should have to fake to be a drunk couple making out in the bathroom, where the deals used to be closed. He knows you work to perfection together and, out of the District, you're close friends, so it wasn't a problem for you.

Once Kevin and Ruzek have checked the camera installed in one of Antonio's buttons and you two have the earpieces, ready for the action, your partner offers you a fist to crash it with yours.

“Ready to be my girlfriend for a night?”

Raising both eyebrows, you look at him from top to bottom containing a laugh.

“What? Any girl would like it. I'ma good guy”. Pretending to sound offended, he squints at you.

“Do you really want me to break your heart?” You ask then, making reference that every woman he has been with, has left him.

“Low blow”.

“Still being the only one who stays”.

“That's why you're my best pal, and not my girlfriend”.

“Aw, you're afraid of losing me?” Making fun of him, you pull his cheeks shaking his head.

“Don't do that”. He chuckles pushing you away, before offering you his hand. “Ready, princesa?”

“Let's go”.

Stepping out from the VIP zone and going downstairs, you mingle with the people on the dance floor. The music is too loud for you, feeling a little annoyed, while letting Antonio bring you to the bar so you can have a look at your surroundings. You have seen the pictures of the cops, but it's too dark to focus on the faces around you. Although, this is why the Unit is outside checking the club through the cameras, isn't it? Technically, you only have to wait for Voight's alert to go to the bathroom.

Almost bending over the bar with both arms rested on, you wait for the bartender to be attended, feeling Antonio placing himself behind you and landing his hands on your hips. Kissing your bare shoulder, he puts his chin over it watching the people behind your positions through the mirror in front of you.

“Anything?” You whisper loud enough to be heard only by him.

“Not yet”.

“What can I serve you?” The bartender pushes you out of your thoughts about Antonio's fingers caressing your waist, showing him a soft smile.

“Two beers, please”. You reply leaning on your tiptoes for a second.

While your partner pays the drinks, you grab them turning around to continue watching the assistants, without looking too suspicious. With an arm on your shoulders and a beer less in your hands, Antonio guides you to a corner of the club from where you can have a better look of it. Being undercover is one of the things that you like the most about your job, but you're not going to lie; starting to feel a little uncomfortable with the situation of exceeding the limit between him and you. At first, you didn't care. Antonio and you are very cuddly with each other, but knowing that your Unit is monitoring every second makes it somewhat awkward.

Having a sip from your beer, you turn at him placing your hands on his shoulders, feigning that you're just having a good time dancing on a given night. It isn't the first time you hang out alone, but not in this manner, and you sure he can feel it.

“Relax”. Antonio murmurs into your ear, pushing you close to move his body in sync with yours.

“I'm relaxed”. You lie chuckling and licking your bottom lip, tossing your head back looking for his incredulous eyes. “I am!”

“Sure”. He teases you by pinching your nose and making you laugh louder.

“After the mission, we're gonna book you a hotel room, no worries”. Jay's voice makes your cheek burn in shame, as your partner chokes on his beer.

“Intelligence pays”. Now, it's your boss who is speaking almost causing you a heart attack.

Antonio puckers his lips as if he's agreeing, drawing a funny gesture on his face.

“Breakfast in bed?”

“You can't eat breakfast, if you don't have tee—”.

“Cops at your six. Black jeans, brown jackets. Military boots”. Adam informs, knowing it's time to go to the bathroom.

Leaving the beers away on a coffee table, Antonio tangles his hands with yours to guide you through the crowd, straight to the place you've installed another camera to record the mission. As you come closer, the pressure in your chest becomes heavier, and you can feel him nervous by the way his fingers move around yours. Taking a last look of the plainclothes officers, you walk into the bathroom.

At your right there are four cubicles, in front of the sinks and the mirrors. All emptied. Antonio makes you a sign with his chin before continuing to the marble counter, between the second and the third sink. Sitting on and placing your purse by a side, your partner settles himself between your legs and puts his hand on your lower back.

“I'm too sober for this shit”.

“Stop complaining, you're enjoying it”. He scoffs clicking his tongue.

“Yeah… sure I'm the only one…”

“Alert. They're coming in three… two… one…” Before Jay can say zero, the door gets opened.

You don't see them, rushing to crash your mouth on Antonio's. From the very first moment, your lips move in total sync as if they were dancing passionately, when you feel the click in your guts. His arms pushes you somewhat closer, shortening the distance between your bodies with the same necessity it's running under your skin. There's no way back, and you two know it.

“Get outta here. Now”. You hear, breaking the kiss breathlessly to turn at your partners from another district, accompanied by two unknown guys.

“Man, I've paid for her five drinks. I ain't going anywhere till this bitch sucks my dick”.

You can't believe his words, nor the tone of voice he's using, letting go a nervous laugh palming his chest and pushing him away softly to put down on your heels.

“No worries, boys. Do your thing, and we'll do ours”.

Grabbing Antonio's shirt in a fist, you take him to the cubicle in front of you trying to feign to be drunk enough, closing the door behind your backs. You can't help but cross your arms over your chest, tilting your head with both eyebrows frowned.

“It was part of the plan”. Antonio tries to excuse himself, just moving his lips without uttering any noise to not arouse suspicion. “Sorry”.

“You called me bitch”.

The man waves his hands desperately to make you understand, earning a snort from you before starting to hear the deal happening some feet away from you. A simple one. Heroin and money. You can't even believe they can be this stupid, making you roll your eyes under Antonio's attentive and funny look.

“Shouldn't you be on your knees?”

Squinting as you lick your lips, with that kind of gesture that warns him that maybe he's going to be punched on the face, your partner lifts up both hands to defend his innocence again containing a laugh.

“Oh, fuck… You're so good”. You fake a loud moan, having so much fun when you see Antonio taking a step back, starting to blush.

It has been so real he's scared. Raising both eyebrows, you can't help but draw a petty smile on your mouth. The reddening of his cheeks enraptured you for a second, till you hear how the deal is closed, being the go-ahead to complete your mission. Grabbing the gun inside your purse and throwing it to the floor, you suddenly open the door in position and pointing at them.

“Chicago P.D.! Don't move! Hands on the head! Put your hands on the head!” You shout stepping out from the cubicle, followed by Antonio ready to help you containing them till the squad arrives.

[verobatto]

Destiel Chronicles

Vol. XCV

It was a love story from the very beginning.

And You Are Not Here... (Part. III)

(13x04)

Hello my friends! This is another meta from season 13. We are still mourning with Dean...

I'm gonna focus in just one episode, because I have a lot of things to say about this one. Obviously, the majority of the things have been already analyzed by the meta community.

But, let's see what we find...

Move on

Remember how the last episode ended, with Dean blowing out his feelings and pain to his brother, so, this episode starts with Sam trying to talk with his brother about that. And by that I mean: Cas.

SAM: Hey. How you feelin’?

[DEAN is working on his laptop. He looks up at SAM, but doesn’t reply.]

Sam understands now that fact he had always suspect, what really means to Dean losing Castiel. But Dean sees it coming and doesn't answer, because he knows he let his pain and mourn talking by themselves, and now he wants to come back to hide behind his walls. But Sam won't let that goes so easy. Another heated discussion about Jack brings the topic back.

SAM: Dean, we can’t hide him forever. And, you know, just keeping him cooped up here isn’t working.

DEAN: Yeah, it is, actually. You wanna know why? Because as long as he’s here, he’s not out there doing God knows what. So what, does this mean that your plan for bringing Mom back isn’t working? ‘Cause I’ll say it again—Mom’s dead, Sam. Lucifer ripped out her freakin’ heart. Now, the sooner you can wrap your head around that, the sooner we can all move on.

(Gif set credit @demondetoxmanual )

Look at this, Sam takes Dean's words and immediately repeats the ask but with another different meaning, aeaning his brother gets immediately. Sam tilts his head, and his eyes are searching for the answer in Dean's face, because he knows he won't have the answer in words from him.

These exchange of gazes is so so important, because Dean is saying "Are you really asking me if I can move on... From CAS?" Because is obvious Sam was implying that, for Dean, losing Cas was more painful and unbearable than losing Mary. "You want to move on, from mom?"

The pause, the coma, is pointing Sam is referring Castiel, not mom. Is not mom the one you want to move on, right?

Dean's silence is priceless, both men talks without talking, and both know what they're talking about. Of course Dean can't move on from Castiel. And Sam knows it. Because he experienced the same with Jess.

And Dean changing the subject after that is saying HE WON'T TALK ABOUT IT.

Lies and Toxicity

We have a beautiful scene between Jack and Sam, in which Jack snaps all the bad things he heard last night. But Sam explains to him, they need his help to bring Mary back, and Jack can connect again with S through the pain of losing their moms. And he gives the kid a tip to conquer Dean's sympathy.

SAM: (...) Listen, if there’s one thing that Dean respects, it’s effort. So come along. Help us out. Let’s go be the good guys.

So we'll see the kid really giving everything in this mission.

Another quote that caught my attention was Jack saying this:

JACK: I thought lying was wrong.

Just came to my mind episode 14x19, when Jack is sick of so much lies and turn the world into 'just truth's real madness!

And another foreshadow in the same episode we will have Cas coming back, they're talking about this ...

DEAN: (...) why’d she come back from the dead and knife his ass?

JACK: People come back?

SAM: When a person dies and their soul can’t move on…

Talking about this in this specific episode has a meaning: the wife, the woman that man loved coming back from the death, is a reflection of Castiel coming back at the end of this episode. Souls that can't move on, is talking about Dean and Castiel's decease.

Another thing that is pointed in this episode is Sam seeing the bad things of John Winchester in his brother.

Castiel in the Empty

As the preamble to Castiel in the Empty, we had this dialogue here...

JACK: My mother… could she be a ghost?

SAM: No, we, um… we burned the body.

DEAN: That’s right, and what gets burned… stays dead.

Dean is saying this to himself because they burnt Cas' body too, but this scene is cut and we jump into the next one: Castiel walking around the Empty.

Then, again, Dean goes with this quote here...

DEAN: So, aside from getting dead, what do Gloria and Wes have in common?

And the scene cuts to Castiel again, emphasis in loved people that was dead, and now comes back from it.

Another interesting scene is Dean finding Gloria's diary of mourning.

SAM: More of the same. Um, he really was into the whole catharsis thing.

DEAN: Yeah, sure. Who wouldn’t be? I mean, it’s like another word for “happy ending”.

Dean shows here he knows exactly what that is, and how you can feel when you lose the love of your life. The "happy ending" is a reference of a suicidal thoughts as another way out from the pain. And as we will see in the next episode, was a way out Dean was considering for himself. Also, the journal was made by John after Mary died, and was made by this widow, after his wife died. Is important because in the interview with MIA (the ship shifter therapist) she will ask Dean if he has a diary.

Sam talks about catharsis, as an important way to process the pain, and he really tried to make his brother to do that at the beginning of the episode. Failing.

MIA: Mm. Most of the people I see are in the same boat. No warning, no goodbye, no closure.

These words play an important role for Sam, Jack and Dean, in loosing their mothers and loosing Castiel.

They exchanged heated words again in front of Mia, Sam accusing Dean because he is not carrying well with the deaths, and we'll have again an indirect question, with second meaning. Sam will be talking about Castiel again. But then, and just like Dean did at the end of the previous episode, Sam will have his blow out about losing Mary. Is a blatant comparison between Romantic Love (CAS/Dean) and Family Love (Sam/Mary).

Sam leaves, and Mia points at Dean. Dean drinks from his flask. He was doing that and eating a lot, as he always does when he loses Cas.

MIA: (...) You’re angry, Dean.

DEAN: And?

MIA: And if you don’t want to do anything about it, that’s your business. But you’re aiming it at everyone in your life.

Dean will take these words and do something about it, at the end of the episode. But, I want to talk a little about visual Narrative here, because while Mia was talking with Dean, there was a picture behind her, with BLUE/GREEN AND RED COLORS (Destiel).

The scene between CAS talking with the empty that had taken his shape is intertwined with the shape shifter that took Dean's shape. This is very meaningful bc both creatures decided to take the protagonists of this love story shapes.

So, the Empty explains where Castiel is, and also, is baffled by the angel that woke him up. Is the first time someone wakes up in the Empty, and the entity is really mad at it.

But Castiel doesn't know why he woke up, so, he went with the first idea: Maybe the Winchesters did some deal or spell. But they didn't.

The Empty represents all the darkness inside of Castiel: his doubts, his depression, his fears, his weakness. So, the only way to keep him there SLEEPING (as the image of depression) is to point at the lack of faith in coming back, or in feeling himself loved or needed.

The following dialogue shows us how smart is our angel.

CASTIEL: Having me awake causes you pain.

COSMIC ENTITY: If you can’t sleep, I can’t sleep. Yeah? And I like sleep. I need sleep.

CASTIEL: Then get rid of me.

COSMIC ENTITY: Oh, should I, should I?

CASTIEL: Send me back to Earth.

Castiel immediately detect the point of it, and tries to give a resolution for both of them.

COSMIC ENTITY: Or I throw you so deep into the Empty that you can’t bother me anymore, hmm?

CASTIEL: Except you know that won’t work, or you would’ve done it already.

COSMIC ENTITY: Pretty smart. Pretty smart, dummy.

CASTIEL: Send… Me… Back.

The first conclusion CAS arrives is by his side. The only way the Empty can get some peace is sending him back to Earth. What Cas doesn't know is, the empty won't come back to sleep, ever again after this.

COSMIC ENTITY: That’s not part of the deal. No, no. Besides, you don’t want to go back.

CASTIEL: Yes, I do. Sam and Dean need me.

COSMIC ENTITY: Oh, save it.

When the Empty says SAVE IT, is because he knows the excuse is making CAS to come back, is not the real one he has in his heart. Oh, save it is not because of that, is because ONE MAN NAMED DEAN WINCHESTER.

Because immediately after this, the Empty mocks him about it...

(Gif set credit @petercapaldi )

Look at Castiel's face when the Empty refers to his feelings as TULIPS, because the tulips represents the perfect lover, passion and romanticism. The tulip is a symbol of sincere love. It is an incredibly romantic flower that when giving it you express infatuation, passion, unconditional love, pure love.

So, the Empty is saying here: save it, you are in love, you want to come back because you are in love.

To the Empty, is very disgusting, aberrant, and it annoys him. He qualifies it as "little feelings"

Because he's trying to erase the hopes in Castiel. So, he shows him he knows everything about him, and if he didn't understand at first with the tulips reference, he makes it clear now I KNOW WHO YOU LOVE.

And seeding again the depression, because he needs CAS sleeping or defeated, he continues...

Unrequited Love. The Empty exposes right in front of Cas' eyes the fear of being unrequited. With this, he is trying to show him WHY WOULD YOU COME BACK IF DEAN DOESN'T LOVE YOU BACK? He needs to cut any hopes in the angel.

And after this, he shows CAS l his mistakes, and fears, and regrets, and guilts. All the bad things, all his darkness, to put him back to sleep.

But then, Castiel gets it, he is already saved. And with more energy and hopes inside his heart, he faces the empty again:

CASTIEL You can prance and you can preen and you can scream and yell and remind me of my failings but somehow, I’m awake. And I will stay awake and I will keep you awake until we both go insane. I will fight you. Fight you and fight you for…ever. For eternity.

COSMIC ENTITY No. No.

CASTIEL Release me. Release… me.

Symbolism again! Castiel asking his own darkness and depression, and regrets to release him in that moment, he release himself from all of that and he returns stronger than never.

Lack of Faith

Back to Dean, Jack and Sam with the shape-shifters we can see another interesting visual element, next to Dean: Sunflower.

The sunflower is the symbol of the Sun and symbolizes love and admiration. But also happiness, vitality, positivity and energy. ... For some religions it is a symbol of the one who permanently seeks God, the divine, since the star king symbolizes God.

This could be linked to what Dean means to Cas, but I think is mostly what Cas means to Dean.

But jumping into the dialogues and the symbolism and parallel of having two Deans as we had two Cas, there's a little clue for a foreshadow...

Look at this, the scene is pretty blatant, we have Buddy, Mia's ex, obssesed with her, jealouse of her life, intertwined with the dialogue between Dean and Jack, showing how important Jack is.

So, Buddy is the Empty, Mia is Castiel. And the most important thing in there, is Jack... These are the ingredients and this is the dialogue...

BUDDY: I never stopped looking for you.

JACK: I can’t.

BUDDY: And when I found this place, when I saw all that…

DEAN: Yes, you can.

BUDDY: …warm, fuzzy good you were doing. I couldn’t let you have that.

Buddy is the Empty saying to Mia, CAS, that he will search for him in a future, and he will see his happiness, one of the most important persons to CAS is JACK, that's why the dialogues are mixed here.

DEAN: Sammy believes in you, and when he believes, he’ll go Hell for leather…

BUDDY:

So I took it all away, and it was fun.

DEAN …but you gotta try.

Again, the Empty mirror talking about taking all away from Mia, Castiel's mirror, and we have Dean talking to Jack. This is the foreshadow of 14x08, when the Empty will come for Jack in Heaven.

MIA You’re… you’re a…

BUDDY: What? A monster? Well, so are you. And it’s about time you embraced that. So I’m not gonna kill those boys. You are. You end them, or you die, courtesy of Tweedledee’s silver bullets. So what’s it gonna be, princess?

MIA: Shoot me. Shoot me!

And now we have Castiel's mirror giving her life in exchange for Dean and Jack. Just like CAS will do with his deal with the Empty in 14x08 and his ultimate Sacrifice in 15x18.

Now, the last scene. Sam is ready to move on from having faith but Dean will take the advice that Mia gave him. But in this attempt of stopping Sam from being like him, he will show again one of his deepest feelings...

(Gif set credit @aborddelimpala)

Dean had lost faith, hopes, because he lost Castiel. And Castiel represented all of that to him.

Sam is worried, and Dean just realized he said it. He had just showed his brother part of his depressive thoughts. And the sadness in his face is all over.

Miscellaneous: The address in Mia's office door was 219, this is a very interesting visual element, is a reference to episode 2x19, "Folsom Prison Blues", in which Sam and Dean were two prisoners, trying to show their innocence. Finally breaking free. As a foreshadow of the emotional prison we will see in Dean's possesion in episode 14x09.

To Conclude:

This episode is full of symbolism and is centered on Castiel and his storyline with the Empty.

The episode shows us too the pain carried by Dean, Jack and Sam in loosing the people they love and how each one of them walks through it in different ways.

Hope you like this meta, see you in the next one!

Tagging @magnificent-winged-beast @emblue-sparks @weird-dorky-little-d @michyribeiro @whyjm @legendary-destiel @a-bit-of-influence @thatwitchydestielfan @misha-moose-dean-burger-lover @lykanyouko @evvvissticante @savannadarkbaby @dea-stiel @poorreputation @bre95611 @thewolfathedoor @charlottemanchmal @neii3n @deathswaywardson @followyourenergy @dean-is-bi-till-i-die @hekatelilith-blog @avidbkwrm @anarchiana @dickpuncher365 @vampyrosa @authorsararayne @mybonsai1976 @love-neve-dies @dustythewind @wayward-winchester67 @angelwithashotgunandtrenchcoat @trashblackrainbow @deeutdutdutdoh @destiel-shipper-11 @larrem88 @charmedbycastiel @ran-savant @little-crazy-misha-minion @samoosetheshipper

@shadows-and-padlocked-hearts @mishtho @dancingtuesdaymorning @nerditoutwithbooks @mikennacac73 @justmeand-myinsight @idontwantpeopletoknowmyname @teddybeardoctor @pepevons @helevetica @isthisdestiel @dizzypinwheel @jawnlockwinchester @horsez2 @qanelyytha

@destielle @spnsmile @shippsblog @robot-feels @superlock-in-the-tardis @superduckbatrebel @2musiclover2 @madronasky @anon-non2 @cea1996 @lisafu02 @asphodelesauvage @destiels-canonahhhhhhhhhh

If you want to be added or removed from this list just let me know.

If you wanna read the previous metas from this season here you have the links:

Vol. XCIII, XCIV.

Buenos Aires, January 3rd 2021 6:46 PM

[danceing-spelled-wrong]

I've created siblings.

Yes. I'm brain dead.

Yes I have too much time.

Yes I'm dying

And yes. They over lay with Amly

I guess I'll explain them..woo..

Cemi:

He came to Snaktooth Island because he was dragged there by his older sister

He's not a well known icon, but he's known for his modeling gigs

He gets crushes pretty easily and gets upset when they don't like him back

Even though he looks like he would never hurt anyone, he could hurt anyone and will do it

He's really good at hiding and publicly speaking

When he first stepped on the island, he met Eggabell and fell in love with her

Then he met Triffany and fell in love with her, then Wiggle, and lastly Floofty

He doesn't like his sister because she spends time with Floofty

He doesn't like Chandlo(he got confused and thought he was dating Floofty) or Gramble because they have a thing for his crushes

He covers his left eye due to incident with a wild animal but his sister took most of the fall for him

His hut is right beside his sister's hut which is near the woods

In town, he's known as a bit of a stalker

He's relatively popular despite him acting shy which might add to his "coolness" but that's up to perceptive

Beffica made him a bracelet and he always keeps it on

Even though Lizbert's with Eggabell, Cemi doesn't hate her along with Wambus

He goes out at night to..do whatever he wants

You meet him in the desert where he's stalking helping Triffany

Charlia:

She came to Snaktooth Island because she wanted to study the snaxs and get away from the city

She took a liking towards Floofty and Snorpy since they're siblings and she just so happened to bring her younger brother with her

Her and Floofty get along due to their fascination of the bugsnax and both missing their limbs

She uses a prosthetic arm due to an incident that happened when she was younger

Amly tried stealing her arm and now Charlia always keeps it on her no matter what

You find her in the Sugerpines not near Chandlo or Snorpy but closer towards the mountain

Sometimes, she lifts Cemi into the air because he's light weight and because she thinks it's cute when he tries to get out her grasp

If someone is older then her, then she'll refer to them as a Miss, Mr, Mrs, and Mx

Snorpy fixes her arm when it's broken or just isn't working

Lizbert sometimes invites her on expeditions that way Charlia can grab some test subjects

She doesn't eat the snax, seeing them as..gross but she thinks that of anything she consumes

The experiments she does aren't harsh like Floofty's but it still involves scalpels and jars of unused parts

Besides doing experiments, she really good at sports mainly basketball and football

Dialogue in game:

Cemi:

Filbo

"He's really cool! He once complimented my fur AND gave me a high five!"

Wambus

"I don't appreciate him eyeing my wife, I don't see why Filbo thinks he's so great."

Beffica

"O M G! Cemi is like, the coolest grumpus here! I gave him a bracelet and he hasn't taken it off yet!"

Gramble

"He doesn't..like me.."

Wiggle

"Darling..he followed me for a whole day! I'm no stranger to stalkers but this is just ridiculous!"

Snorpy

"No comment."

Cromdo

"All he does is stalk people and everyone still think he's such a great guy!"

Amly

"Isn't that the stalker? Cemy right? Geez..I don't try to steal from him in case it directs his attention towards me."

Triffany

"Cemi? Oh dear..he stood at mine and Wamby's doorway and watched me sleep all night.."

Chandlo

"He assumes I'm in a relationship with Floofty and now sends me death threats.."

Floofty

"I'm confused on how him and Charlia are related."

Shelda

"Absolutely no comment on that..thing!"

Being asked about Floofty:

"I would say yes..but they haven't said anything about the love letters I sent.."

Charlia

Filbo

"She's so sweet, I would love to have an older sister like her!"

Wambus

"I'd like to know why she doesn't slap some sense into her brother, maybe then he'd stop with the stalking."

Beffica

"Eh, I don't speak to her but I do know that her and Cemi are related..I see the resemblance, but they don't act the same."

Gramble

"Oh..she's..very kind..and she drops off some bugsnax if she ever catches an extra one!"

Wiggle

"A lot less..strange then her brother, I would ask why her brothers like that, but I have a feeling she's a bit like him in a way.."

Snorpy

"Charlia's arm would always break so I would be the one to fix it for her, she's quite a fan of my work, mainly because I also have a sibling who is..different."

Cromdo

"A two bit goody-two shoes is what she is! She's just as bad as Beffica, but worse!"

Amly

"I can't stand her, she's too nice to everyone and doesn't get upset when I steal stuff from her!"

Triffany

"I'm not around her a lot, but she sure is nice to talk to when we're near!"

Chandlo

"Any friend of Snorpy, is a friend of mine. She can also can jump pretty high, she's a great opponent in basketball!"

Floofty

"A curious type, like Triffany but can hold back her joy in favor of science, if only she'd let me experiment on her."

Shelda

"Nothing evil seems to be stemming from in her..but still..avoid at all cost!"

Being asked about Floofty:

"I would..but I've seen what they do..and I rather keep my other arm.."

Meeting Cemi

"Ah! Wambus! I'm not eyeing ya wife! I swear!"

*calm down, i'm not wambus*

"Oh thank grump! I don't want to be thrown again.."

"Who are you anyways? You here to stalk too?"

*explains*

"A journalist? Did Lizbert ask you to be here..or something?"

"Whatever. I'm Cemi Bowtwist, I'm a model, you a fan?"

*Come back to town?*

"Oh no! No no no! If I go back, Wambus will rip me to shreds!"

*what did you do?*

"I..um..was watching Triffany sleep."

*that's creepy*

"Hey! Can ya blame me? She's married AND hot!"

"So no. I'm not coming back to town. Not until Wambus forgives me for my action!"

*why should he?*

"Because..he has to agree..his wife is really hot.."

*Sure I guess*

"Wowy! Thank you so much!"

*Wambus agrees as long as you stop*

"Oh great..sure..I guess.."

"Alright, who else is in town?"

*Gramble, Beffica, Filbo, and Wambus*

"Oh great..is Wiggle in town? If she's there, then I'll definitely come back!"

*Wiggle's in town*

"Yes! My girl is back! Awooo!!"

"Ha ha! Alright buddy boy, I'm-"

"Woah! Wait! I got to bring something for her! Ahh!!"

"Hey boy..can you..get me a Sweetiefly? The ones in the shape of hearts? If I give it to her, she might forget I followed her for a day.."

*gives Lovely Sweetiefly*

"Thank you so much! I guess I'll see you in town then, ciao buddy boy!"

Meeting Charlia

"Oh hiya! I haven't seen you around before..you're that journalist Miss Megafig told me about, right?"

"I knew it! But..I guess you came for no reason, Miss Megafig gone missin'..whya still here?"

*explains*

"Oh! That's rather kinda of ya!"

"They call me Charlia! Charlia Bowtwist! Nice to meet cha!"

*Come back to town?*

"Town? Well..I do miss my hut..but I'm about to make a break through! I've been testing this Strabby and learned that bugsnax don't have organs!"

"With this..I can finally figure out what bugsnax are!"

"But I need more.."

"If ya don't mind bitsy..could you get me a..oh..a Weenyworm and a Cinnasnail? If it's no trouble."

*got the worm and snail*

"Perfect! They'll do perfectly!"

"Hm..just as I expected, no organs! But that doesn't explain why they don't, maybe they're their own species? How come Miss Megafig is the only grumpus who discovered them?"

"So many unknown answers! I gotta get more info!"

"Maybe Mx Fizzlebean could help me..hey..are they in town?"

"If so..can you ask them if they're willing to help me with my studies."

*Floofty says they're gonna help*

"I always liked that grumpus...*sigh*.."

"I'm comin' back! I'll see ya in town bitsy!"

Welcome back message:

Cemi

"Hello Wiggle!"

"Oh..you.."

"I..brought you some Sweetieflies!"

"Cemi. I appreciate the thought..but this doesn't fix the fact you stalked me for a whole day!"

"I was making sure..you were safe!"

"....."

"How about a walk on the beach?"

"....."

"Hehehe.."

"......"

"I'll..just..leave them here.."

"......"

"Um..bye!"

Charlia

"Oh..hey sis."

"Baby brother! I'm so happy you're here!"

"Yeah..happy to see you too.."

"What brings you back anywho?"

"All my crushes are back and I plan to ask one out."

"I wish the best of luck to you little brother!"

"What about you?"

"Me and Mx Fizzlebean are gonna study Bugsanx again."

"Oh..well..can you hook me up with them? Tell them how cool I am?

"Sorry brother, they're just not interested in you."

"Yet."

"You really have a problem."

"No. You do."

"...."

"...."

"Well bye Ce!"

"Cya Char."

Interviews

Interviewing Cemi:

*Have time for an interview?*

"Of course, I'm always open for an interview!"

*Who are you?*

"The names Cemi Bowtwist, beginner model, lady master, and Grump City's most eligible bachelor!"

*Why come to Snaktooth Island?*

"I didn't want to come here, I had my mansion and my fame but my sister dragged me here."

"That's because you've been living under a rock. Duh."

*Thoughts on Bugsnax*

"Amazing, delicious, and will get me a lover!"

*If you're famous, shouldn't it be easy to find a lover?*

"Um..skip."

*Why did you leave town?*

"*sigh*"

"When Triffany and Wambus split, I tried going after her to see if I could romance her..and when I failed I came back and..Wambus was waiting there.."

"Safe to say I got out of there before he could land a blow."

*Maybe you should stop going after peoples wives*

"Eh.."

*Any info on Lizbert?*

"Meh..I don't really like her all that much. The only reason I involved myself with her was because she was the girlfriend of Eggabell."

*Another crush?*

"I've been single since I was a teen, give me a break."

*What happened to Lizbert?*

"Her and Eggabell had an argument and I tried getting with Eggabell before they made up but then they went missing, so sadly..I have no idea."

*That'll be it, thank you!*

"That was nice! I enjoy interviews very much!"

"I also found..this..laying around..so..here."

"Now I'm gonna try to get Floofty's attention, cya!"

*you received a strange key*

Interviewing Charlia:

*Have time for an interview?*

"I'm always open to chat about my experiments!"

*Who are you?*

"Charlia Bowtwist! Eldest of the two!"

*Two?*

"Yeah! I have a younger brother! He's the cutest thing ever!"

*Why come to Snaktooth Island?*

*Why did you want to escape?*

*Thoughts on Bugsnax?*

"They're really interesting and confusing..like..what are they really? And why is everyone interested in eating them? I know Miss Megafig said they were safe..but I don't get it.."

*Then what do you do with the Bugsnax?*

"Unlike everyone else..I study them and figure out why they change everyone's limbs, Mx Fizzlebean said if I want my arm back, I could eat one..but..I think that wouldn't work very much.."

*How did you lose your arm?*

"An accident regarding an animal when I was a kid..well..it was my brothers fault but I took most of the damage for him."

*Why did you leave town*

"I left..because the fighting was too much, I'm not new to arguments..but the screaming and constant fighting was too much to handle, so I left around when Snorpy and Mr Funkbun left."

*Any info on Lizbert?*

"Miss Megafig is really nice grumpus! She shows me the ropes of catching the snax and talks to me about personal issues, I liked speaking with her a lot!"

*What happened to Lizbert*

"I'm not sure..I was asleep when she and Eggabell went missing.."

"According to Mx Fizzlebean, they had an argument before they disappeared..so..maybe they're sorting things out on a secret part of the island!"

"That was rather quick..but fun!"

"You know..I found this earlier, here, you seem to be interested in this investigation stuff!"

*You were given a journal with a lock*

Reaction to death when and after:

Cemi

"H-Huh? Charlia..?"

"Why was I so mean to her..she..she just wanted to help me..and I shoved her away..

She didn't deserve to go..I was being a jerk..why did..those things..take her?

They knew didn't they?

About her suffering?

That's why they took her..

I need to be alone..go away.."

Charlia

"Noooooooo! Cemi no! Please grump no!! Don't..please..come back.."

"This has to be a dream..please..say it's a dream..he..he's not dead..no..

I'm a terrible big sister! I deserved to go, not him! Why take him you..you evil creatures of hell?!

Just..take me..please..I..I want to leave..please..take me..

Go away..please."

No more OCs. I can't be bothered to make more concepts..

[julies-butterflies]

I must admit, sometimes I do feel like a ye olden solider, sending letters to my beloved across the waves during wartime. Oh my dearest Lydia, I hope the kudos and comments crops have been plentiful this season. Your last letter left me weeping. Why must you put poor Reginald through such pain?

(I gotta admit, I still can't believe that I'm talking to you. I've been looking up to your work for so long...it just feels a bit surreal, even now! Glad you like hearing my ramblings! And that you liked my vampire prompt! Did not realize you'd write back when I sent that in. Look at us now, huh?)

(Speaking of prompts, I sent those jukebox and willex ones too. And I loved them both so so much, I shall scream about them more when it is not 2 am because I need sleep)

(Oh and the update of If I Was You!!! Amazing, Stellar, Incredible, Reggie, Carrie, Julie shenanigans is my new favorite thing, DID YOU JUST DOUBLE THE CHAPTER COUNT, and I'm like 90% sure Trevor is in deep trouble with a certain angry jazz ghost. Seriously loving it)

I actually do not remember what it was like to send in 1/5 asks, because I did not get a Tumblr until very reccently! I've always been a nerdy person, but Jatp is my first time being really in a fandom. You gotta do something new in quarantine, right?

Ah yes. Luke and Emily. To me, it just seems obvious that there's so much love between them. Even with all the pain. You get it. You put it down so eloquently.

As for what kind of stories I like to read...it seriously depends on my mood.

I like niche aus, passion projects. Stories where you can just feel the author's love for the world they're inventing. But I tend to lean towards cannonverse. I like ghost stories, it's what drew me to this show in the first place. And I love exploring that concept. (Being forever gone, and always the same...it's just fascinating to me)

Platonic goodness is just WONDERFUL for this show. I will read anything with cuddles. I am touched starved and these kiddos are too, and I will cry about them puppy piling every damn day. Plus there's just some much POTENTIAL for future friendships! I love ones where Flynn and Carrie get to interact with the boys as well. And 90s content, from before and after the orpheum, just hits hard.

I really wasn't expecting to get invested in the couples on this show, but something about them is moving to me. So I do love to read about them. Watching two queer kids who lived during incredibly important areas of queer history find love together after death really hit hard for me, and there's just something so bittersweet about a girl and ghost deciding to love each other for the little time they're given.

I love family dynamics too. Anything with Ray and his seven disaster children, the band and Trevor.... I think Julie and Emily is one of my favorite dynamics to explore. A girl who lost her mother and a mother who lost her son, both grieving but with one able to speak to the dead...it's just very powerful to me.

(And of course, Luke and Emily, but I figured you already knew that)

Mostly...I like seeing the messy stuff. The unexpected consequences, the baggage. I want to see the messy emotions, the grief and anger, the jealously, the disorientation. I look for those glass shards, that might be too sharp to ever be addressed on the show. Not even the big, monumental plot lines just... the harder pieces of life, the little moments that don't fit neatly into a nine episode arc.

I just want to see them live you know? Love, laughter and loss all mixed together.

(One of my all time favorite tropes is "found family gets broken apart by trauma, only to find each other again and come back stronger than ever." I feel like this explains a lot of my taste in fiction)

Thank you for the writing advice. Your words were very motivating. I am trying to begin! I got up the nerve to start working on a little piece. Who knows if it will go anywhere. But it's been nice, to finally put some words on the page.

The POTC au is so freaking good man. The character dynamics are just on FIRE. Everything is broken and messy and the relationships genuinely tug at my heartstrings. It's such a fascinating story. Highly recommend, even with the cliff hangers.

OH HOW COULD I FORGET PAWPRINTER? Man oh man I love all her work. The wheelies art and steals universe is freaking amazing, not an avacado had me in tears (of laughter, till things got surprisingly sad). And All that Remains...slow burn Willex perfection. Jedi Alex and Pilot Willie have my HEART.

I don't think I've read firefall and weneedglitter (or if I have, I'm just not connecting the names to their pieces. I don't always remember author names. it's a problem). I will go look for them though! Cannot wait!

For more recs, I recently binge read We Found Wonderland. I was not mentally prepared for the sheer amount of feelings that gave me. Highly recommend, if you ever want an emotional rollercoaster with an incredibly satisfying end.

Going on to more serious subjects...I'm sorry your family doesn't see your grief for what it is: honest. Better to feel everything quietly, than make it an easily understadnable performance. Fake grief is so easy to spot.

I think of that scene from "Forever," when Buffy breaks down and tells Dawn that she has to keep busy, because if she stops, it means Joyce is really gone. There's a lot of truth there.

On a tangent here but.. there was a very long period in my life when I was told the ways I expressed my emotions were "incorrect". And I found that sometimes, no matter how you show your emotions, you'll always be criticized. Numbness can be called disinterest, but sobbing can be called attention-seeking too. Too big, too small: that jury was impossible to please This may not apply in your situation but...it's okay to feel however you can. It's the only think you can do, really.

As I've said before, Grief is such an odd trickster.

Don't you ever get tired of missing people... This past year, I've been so weary of grief. Sometimes it can be so sharp, but it's that dull ache. That ball and chain, no longer cutting through your skin, but rubbing it raw, weighing you down.

And people don't like to talk about that part, because it's long and tiresome, but oh, is it there. I find it hard to talk about my grief, because sometimes there's just so much of it. I could drown in it, and that fear keeps me from looking to close. To incorrectly quote Jane Austin: "If I missed you a little less, I might be able to talk about it more."

(Sometimes it's faceable. But sometimes you just can't bear it. And that's okay.)

But what you wrote in that eulogy...the love is there. It's in every word you write. I cried reading that section. I feel honored once again to see some of your jagged pieces. You're sharing your heart, and there's just so much love.

In the wise words of an author I know, "Love is like the snow Reggie. It never goes away."

And don't worry, I'm always with you.

Sending Love,

-LydiaStan7845 (aka Vampire Anon)

So...that Reggie and Nicky prompt

my god

my GOD

OH MY GOD OH MY GOD OH MY GOD OH MY GOD

I think it's safe to say congrats, you've officially destroyed me! I was not prepared for that at ALL. I should know better by now I guess.

I can't get over that even though they all take place in very different universe, all your stories just feel so connected! The way this talked about those headphones, which you mentioned in the first chapter of Kill Your Heroes...it's just so cool. All the characterization and backstory is just so well thought out, and it genuinely blows my mind.

I didn't think I could love Nicky Peters more. I was wrong. The way you write about him...even though you never go into exactly what happened to him after Reggie's death, you can just feel how much it's shapped him as a person. And the trauma around his father, and how he fears becoming like that, was just so beautifully written. He's just so lovable and flawed and trying so damn hard and you made my heart ache for him. Again.

You always take these genuinely crazy situations and...you just make them feel so real. I love you explore the strains such a revelation would put on Nicky's own life, it just makes everything so compellingly messy. It seriously feel like I was watching a real-life account of a family trying to deal with such a massive complication.

That porch scene had me in tears both times I read it. Reggie's just always a big brother, even though Nicky is more than twice his age now. My heart was shattered, and then you slowly mended it, piece by piece. And for absolutely no reason at all, you wouldn't happen to have a reference for the porch, would you?

Just wow. Hope you're doing well. Sending love and applause

-Vampire Anon

i’m not even gonna reply, but i want these documented... on my blog... for posterity.  ( for any curious onlookers, i’m dating this anon now!! )

[that-bajan-kid]

Boku No Hero Academia Chapter 259 SPOILERS

(IT'S STARTING IT'S STARTING IT'S STARTING IT'S STARTING IT'S STARTING IT'S-)

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What a deceivingly peaceful first page.

"Quiet Beginnings" ? Really Horikoshi? That's what you're naming this chapter? Ok. I will humour you.

What a beautiful house Enji has made for his family. Who's that person behind Natsuo tho? Is that his girlfriend? Cause unless Rei grew bunny ears/ horns since the last time we saw her, that's definitely not her.

What a peaceful chapter this will be and not chaotic at all. Nothing could possibly happen to ruin it. Nope. Just a nice peace full chapter about the Todoroki siblings plus one mysterious visitor getting the house ready for their Mother to come home.

THIS BASTARD WAS QURIKLESS THE ENTIRE TIME!?!?!? Shit. Are all quirkless people obsessed with quirks or is it just Ujiko and Izu?

(I will continue to refer to the Doctor as Ujiko because that's who is. Shiga Maruta is an accomplished man who is respected by the community. Ujiko is a monster undeserving of respect. So Ujiko it is.)

This also means that he is not related to Tsubasa (the winged kid/ Noumu from Izu and Kacchan's childhood). I'm not sure that makes me feel any better about Tsubasa's fate tho.

The cops got some undercover agents at the hospital and they discovered that there is a secret room in the basement that can only be accessed through tHE FUCKING MORGUE AND ONLY UJIKO CAN GET IN. Because of course the place where they keep the dead bodies is where Ujiko makes his tortured souls.

Tsukauchi is telling everyone that their destiny is to get rid of the PLF and that they are gonna make it a reality.

Uhhh. Why are the babies on the front line? That's not safe.

Kaminari looks completely unconvinced. He knows from experience that it's not gonna go down like that.

This is suppose to be a surprise attack Kami. If you yell like that they might hear you.

Ok but the kids look really badass in this shot. Especially Kiri and Jirou. Mineta looks nervous which is to be expected considering they're about to start a mission that could potentially get them all killed and they only just finished their first year.

Well technically Fat Gum you guys didn't do shit. Hawks was the one who figured that out.

Speaking of Best Bird Boy, Endeavour walks over to Tsukauchi, who looks like he aged 10 yrs since we last saw him, and is all like "It was you-know-who who told you about all this, right? Where he at now?" to which Tsukauchi responded with "I don't know who this you-know-who person is but if I did know I can't tell you about."

Enji gets all butthurt by this and leaves the room. Then he start thinking about how he prepared the child soldiers for war just like Hawks asked and proceeds to start the raid.

We are then transported to some random city where all the heroes are gone because of the raid except for a very confused Slid-'n-Go (or however the hell you spell his name) who is apparently the only hero left in the city.

!!!

A wild Death Arms has appeared.

Good luck getting out of that head lock.

Operation Evacuate the city is a go. I feel like Nejire should have been on the front lines with Sun Eater because of how powerful her quirk is. Tho I guess if they were to get attacked having her here to protect civilians is a good idea too. Shouldn't put all your heavy hitters in the same place.

Mandalay using her Telepathy to tell everyone to get the fuck out is smart. That way they won't alert the bad guys.

Since when has Tsukauchi been a captain? Or am I just stupid and he's always been one? Also isn't that guy blowing his cover rn?

Look at this bitch. I hate this guy so much. I can't believe he's supposed to be a doctor.

So Shiggy's metamorphosis isn't completed yet. That's good. That means the heroes don't have to worry about fighting him. Unless he somehow unplugs himself early once he finds out the heroes are here. That would be not good.

Oh look it's Aizawa. Ujiko bout to die.

I think I found my new profile pic.

Apparently the lost of his entire family has impaired Enji's ability to come up with even half decent insults.

Ok so, I think having the children on the front lines is a terrible idea. Even if it is "just to help a bit at the beginning".

We all know there gonna end up doing more.

My theories from 258 still stand. Even more so now that we know some of the kids are on the front lines.

I just realised something completely unrelated to this chapter. It's late March. UA' s new school year starts in April. That means the Big Three have officially completed school. They are no longer students. What's gonna happen to Mirio? Did Eri learn enough about her quirk to get Mirio his quirk back? So many questions, so little answers.

Well, not sure how to end this so...

Until next time.

[roswelldetails]

RNM 2x08 - Say It Ain't So

EPISODE SUMMARY:

JAMIE CLAYTON GUEST STARS — Despite promising Liz (Jeanine Mason) that he’ll take things easy with his new heart, Max (Nathan Dean) sets out to find Cameron after learning that she’s gone missing. Michael (Michael Vlamis) grows concerned about Maria (Heather Hemmens) after a surprising discovery about her family history leaves her vulnerable. Elsewhere, ready to move on, Alex (Tyler Blackburn) goes on a date with Forrest (guest star Christian Antidormi), and Rosa (Amber Midthunder) makes a decision about her future. Rachel Raimist directed the episode written by Eva McKenna & Christopher Hollier (#208). Original airdate 5/4/2020. 

DETAILS:

Rosa's secret identity:

"...Cousin Rosalinda from Arizona. My mom married a minor league baseball player, but when he got relocated to a team in Florida…"

"Okay, you know what, let's just go with, they're dead."

This is a Twilight reference.

Rosa about the Mean Girl's art in the cave:

"That reminds me of Stephen Powers before he sold out."

Stephen Powers is a former street artist who went commercial. Some examples of his older work here:

Other examples of his newer, more commercial work here:

By the way, speaking of the cave:

And this is some fabulous visual storytelling right here:

Max is working at the Wild Pony. Temporarily, of course.

"Turns out debt collectors don't care if you've been half dead in a glowing pod for a few months."

So much for the headcanon that Max "I've been driving the same car since high school and am a homeowner before 30" Evans is good with his money. 😆 Debt collectors don't show up that fast… not that I know from experience or anything.  😳 *backs slowly away*

Iris refers to the cave as the go to hang spot for all the artsy weirdos. So it isn't like it was specifically Rosa's cave/hidden spot.

It's the first time we've seen this particular cave other than in 2008 flashbacks.

Iris Sanchez & Rosa Ortecho. Flower, Mexican family name. 😭 The hint is there!

Also 👀 from:

The iris earned its name from the ancient Greek Goddess Iris, a messenger to the gods who was thought to use the rainbow as a bridge between heaven and earth...these flowers were named to honor the Rainbow Goddess and bring favor upon the earth.

Mimi made Maria take back the necklace.

"She said that it was too late for her and that I needed it more."

Michael has seen the necklace before, but he didn't know what the flower was when he fixed the clasp and returned it to her in 1x10.  It was 1x11 when they learned of the existence of the anti alien pollen. Michael reminds us:

"I know this flower.  Its pollen has a paralytic effect on alien abilities."

Once Maria takes it off, she can name every card Michael pulls from the deck.

Maria lists off a bunch of necklace facts from past episodes that fandom has previously noted...

Her powers were heightened when Michael had the necklace in 1x10. 

She wasn't wearing it when Noah invaded her at the gala.

And she wasn't wearing it at Woman As Warrior in 2x02 when she sensed that Isobel was pregnant.

"Kyle said you aren't an alien."

Fact. Kyle did say that.  It doesn't mean that it's a fact that Maria doesn't have alien DNA in her though.

Kyle determined that her blood doesn't carry the alien protein that's in the Pod Squad and Rosa. He is making an assumption that the protein is tied to being an alien.

He said he ran other tests, but the results would take longer to come in. 

Also, just a personal theory, what else do Rosa and the Pod Squad (and Noah) all have in common? They all spent significant time marinating in a pod full of goo. Rosa (10 years), Pod Squad (at least 50 years), Noah (60 years). Kyle has not studied any samples of alien biology from an alien who didn't spend time in pod goo. It's possible the protein is related to the pod goo, moreso than the alien biology. Again, just speculation on my part.

Maria confirms that her mom started getting sick when she was 18, just after she passed the necklace on to Maria.

"If this prevents you from having more episodes, it probably stops the neurodegeneration process too. It's not kryptonite, Maria. This is preventative medicine. Keep it on."

In 2x06 it was established that in addition to Sanders' place being a junkyard and a mechanic/auto shop, they also do tow truck service.  Now that comes into play again as Michael was hired to bring Cam's car back to Roswell for the investigation into her disappearance.  He brought it to the junk yard first though to give Max and Liz an hour to check the car for clues before the sheriff's department comes to collect it.

Max is smart too, in his own way. He quickly identified that "Agent Powell" was driving a rental car and that her gun wasn't government issue. 

However, it's only when he sees her tattoo (which Cam told him about in 1x07) that he confirms that she's actually Charlie Cameron!

(10 points to fandom!)

Max & Liz's conversation with Charlie is mostly just reminding us what we know about Charlie and Jenna's relationship. 

Liz indicates that Jenna had been looking for Charlie for months.  Charlie responds that she didn't want to be found (both things we learned in 2x04 through Cam's discussion with Jesse Manes.

Max indicates that Jenna thought that Charlie hated her, a call back to us first learning about Charlie and the matching tattoos in 1x07.

"I worked on a controversial project a while back. A lot of dangerous people want to know what I know."

(Again, stuff we learned in 2x04).

They learn through Cam's text history that she was looking for Jesse Manes (which we already knew, because...2x04).

"I'm just a guy standing in front of a tourist trap asking a history buff to shoot him with high velocity paint."

Tongue-in-cheek reference to the movie Notting Hill.

"So, you're cool playing war? Doesn't bring anything up?"

"Oh, yeah, my PTSD triggers are a little more complicated. Suffice to say, this war zone is the only place that my family actually got along when I was a kid."

"Yeah, some of my old platoon buddies actually play in leagues."

"I didn't know that you served."

"Yeah I wouldn't go bragging about it to a guy with a Purple Heart. I might have googled you."

New information… both that Forrest served, that he looked into Alex (which could be innocent OR sketchy…).

And of course this is the first open discussion about Alex's PTSD issues.

Cowboys versus aliens paintball… Alex is the cowboy, so Forrest must be the alien.

The call that interrupted Forrest's attempt to kiss Alex was from the hospital. Hence why Alex goes there to see Jesse.

"Look, if I had a little lucky charm that could stop people like Noah from messing with me, I would have that surgically implanted into my décolletage."

Have to admit, I wasn't sure what décolletage meant, so in case anyone else isn't familiar: 

"These abilities are a part of me. I'm not gonna just throw away the chance to learn about who I am. That make sense to you?"

"Yeah, actually, it does."

"You've gotten stronger this year, right?  Can you teach me to train? Learn how to control it all?"

"Look, it took a lot of practice before I could do anything without puking and guzzling acetone to kill the pain.  And you can't practice, because according to Kyle, every time you do it eats your brain."

"Look, I'll stop before it goes that far, okay? I know the signs. Besides, if you help me, maybe I can help you. There must be something that you want to know about your future."

"What about my past?"

Max meeting with Jesse at the Crashdown. This is super interesting because it's the first time Max has sat down, face to face, with a hostile human who knows he's an alien. 

"My uncle used to bring me here. That was back when it catered to a more civil clientele. People who actually respected the history of this town."

This is likely foreshadowing what's to come next week, based on the promo pics released.

Again, similar to the scene with Charlie at the junkyard, much of this exchange between Max and Jesse is just reminding us of stuff we learned in 1x04.

"The last time I saw her she came to me with questions about her sister.  And I told her that the people most interested in Charlie's device were a black ops group based out of Los Alamos. They're called Deep Sky. This is their logo. Paramilitary. And I told Jenna that what she was getting into was gonna be dangerous. But apparently she didn't listen.

Note: in case any of you are unaware, in Los Alamos there's a US DOE lab that has a long, sketchy history of weapons development.  Makes perfect since that it's where a paramilitary organization interested in Charlie's research would be based there.

The Deep Sky Logo

I compared this to a number of screenshots of alien symbols (like the ones we saw in Jim Valenti's letters in 1x12) and there were no matches.

However, fandom has already noted that the logo matches Trevor's ring in 2x06 (see that episode's details post for the photo).

"Charlie Cameron's mind is a unique specimen. Kind of like you. And there's always someone in the shadows waiting to crack those open."

"What did you do to Jenna?"

"I told her the truth. Which is more than you ever did. You're kind of a wolf in sheep's clothing, aren't you?"

"And what are you? Do you feel like a hero? All those people you tortured, all those people you killed. Turns out none of them were an enemy.  They were refugees. So you're not just a murderer, you're a failure."

"Yeah, I know. I am. But I tell you, something shifted in my brain when I had the stroke.  All the hate's gone out of me. All the fight. Caulfield is over and my son Flint has been reassigned. Look at me. I can barely walk."

Liz and Charlie in the car:

"Waitressing's really got to blow when you've grown a fully functioning heart muscle in a lab.  Or are you not the same Elizabeth Ortecho who co-authored a 2013 paper on cellular reprogramming? Some people build model trains; I do my homework.  Your boyfriend seems more like the train type."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"We've discovered new worlds and changed the course of mankind from a microscope. Should I go Netflix and chill with my boyfriend or stay in the lab, architecting the future?"

"No offense, but if it's true that you've been in prison and in hiding, it does not seem like you've seen much of the inside of a lab either."

"I went too far.  I thought I was building something with real value. The thing is, anything that has the potential to create real change, it scares people. And anything that scares people is inherently dangerous no matter what your intention is."

"You could start over. Get a new identity, work at a research university."

"I've done extraordinary things. Everything ordinary is ruined now."

More exposition that we already know as Max catches Charlie and Liz up on what he learns from Jesse.

"He said Cam is headed to Los Alamos to investigate a group called Deep Sky. Does that mean anything to you?"

"No. Let me reach out to some of my military contacts, do some recon. Give me a day, we'll go from there."

Liz and Michael, in the lab, on The Science:

"I'm looking for the sample of yellow pollen."

"The stuff I swept off the floor after throwing it at Noah? I don't know. I didn't see it while we were packing up."

"Well it was here a few months back.  Did I miss an experiment where it grew legs and a fondness for the outdoors?"

"Could have been accidentally thrown away. Sample was too oxidized to be of much use, and I've been trying to get my hands on fresh flowers, but it's impossible. I think they might be extinct. Why are you freaking out?"

"Because I have a math problem. There's only one flower in Maria's necklace, but there are two DeLuca women and apparently the flower is the key to preventing their illness. This is everything from the Caulfield drives and the experiments done on Maria's grandmother. A lot of it was lost in a lab fire in the '80s, but…"

"I'll take a look."

(Aside… 👀 Lab fire in the '80s. I have a feeling that's more foreshadowing.)

"I just want you to see if anything done could be undone. I don't want you to, like, Dr. Frankenstein it. The experiments were very bad."

"My days as an alien scientist are officially over."

"Why don't I believe you?"

"'Cause it's hard not to think about the far-reaching implications of this kind of research. You don't get sick on this planet. If I could figure out why, I could eradicate all illness."

"But you can't. Because that would expose us."

"Which I would obviously never do. It's over."

Arturo's text to Liz:

Have you seen our little mouse?

"Rosalinda" is late for her first shift.

Isobel and Maria go to Michael's trailer and Isobel shows Maria the newspaper clip of Michael's mom to try to trigger a vision.

"It's not working. And I don't feel great going through this stuff without Michael knowing."

"Why not? One day this palace might all be yours."

"It's not working.  I have a business to run, and you need to go Instagram something."

"Says the social media revitalizer. Listen, word to the wise, every time Max saw Liz in a skirt and tried not to pop a bulb, he wound up setting off a fire alarm. Everytime I push myself too hard, I miss time, or wind up accidentally realizing that my mom still thinks about her ex-boyfriend Rocco, like, in vivid detail."

"Okay, where are you going with this?"

"Effort doesn't equal control. So if you want to do this you're gonna have to embrace your inner ice queen and let it go."

"I'm not great at letting things go."

"Yeah, I know.  That's hard…"

Maria's vision:

Triggered by a t-shirt hanging in the trailer.

Louise is hanging laundry

Walt runs up to her and gives her a little windmill with her name on it. (Initially I thought her name was pressed or punched into the metal, but on second viewing, it looks like it might be puff paint or something similar.)

Walt runs off to find Nora and Louise goes back to hanging laundry.

After the vision Maria's nose starts bleeding.

Max goes after Charlie to stop her from turning herself in.

I wonder if his tire screeching action guy driving is supposed to be emphasizing to the audience that he's not being as cautious as he should be? 

Deep Sky said that if Charlie "...wasn't at Sutter's grain depot by 11pm, that they would torture (Cam) to death."

Charlie heard on the call:

A train rolling by

A demonic laugh

And somehow that's enough for Max to magically know exactly where Cam is.

Alex and Jesse at the hospital:

"Hey, they said that you mixed whiskey with your medications.  That's not like you."

"What the hell are you doing here?"

"I don't know. I mean, you're my father. I can't seem to shake you."

"Yeah. I failed."

"Yes. But in what way specifically?"

"Uncle Tripp. I let him down. I never could figure out what he needed of me. And tonight I went to the bunker.  And I keep trying to crack the code."

"Liz said that you spoke to Max Evans. She said that you were half decent to him. Is that what this is about?"

"One of them killed Tripp, you know."

"An alien? Yeah. Then he hunted them. He dragged them to a torture chamber. I'm not surprised one of them…" 

Jesse slams his cane.

"He was the best man I ever knew.

Jesse tries to stand and falls into Alex, then continues to walk away.

The location that Deep Sky is holding Cam looks like a rodeo or horse arena or racetrack with a big grandstand.

There are nearby train tracks, and a warehouse where a mechanic repairs old carnival rides.

As Max and Charlie are scoping out the area you can hear both sounds softly in the background.

The sniper was watching and shooting at them from the grandstand.

Charlie is shot in the leg.

"Let me go get her."

"No. Deep Sky wants me alive. Your brain is worth considerably less to them which means it'll be splattered all over the dirt."

(Oh the irony...confirming that Charlie doesn't know that Max is an alien.)

"If anything goes wrong, call Liz. No doctors."

Max does shoot the sniper!

And then uses his powers to knock out the power (and instantly feeling it in his heart when he starts to use his powers!!!!!!) which, as @angsty-aliens very eloquently pointed out, is absurd because there was a big red lever that would have done the same thing. *facepalm*

Cam on her kidnapping:

"The last thing I remember is this weird sound. It made the hairs on my arm stand up. And this bright light, and the pain in the back of my neck like you wouldn't believe."

Cam's burn is fractals.  Like Liz's burn from Max's powers in 1x03. Top is Liz's fresh burn in 1x03, bottom is Cam's not-so-fresh burn in 2x08. Keep in mind, we don't know how long Cam was missing for.

Rosa and Iris at the "art show".

"So you said you're from Roswell?"

"Oh, I was from Roswell.  I got out and went to art school as soon as I graduated. I work for an artist now. I help her run her gallery. Yeah, I used to want to be a painter, but then I realized I loved curating art way more than I ever loved making it."

👀 I wonder what this says about Rosa's internal motivation. If Iris is the life she wishes that she had, does she not want to be a painter? Or is that her internal insecurity rearing its head.  Like, she can't even dream about that possibility because it's what she really wants above all else.  Which is why Iris then motivates her to paint and prove to her inner self that she is an artist? 

Speaking of which, here's Rosa's painting from the episode. Mucho gracias to @rosaortecho for giffing it for me since it wasn't cap-able in a single shot.

Iris's assessment of Rosa's art:

"This piece is you outrunning your demons. This is amazing. That's what you have to do.  You have to capture them and rattle the cage.  This is art. This is what you're meant to do, Rosa!"

Rosa's hallucination starts to fall apart as they dance.  She starts coughing and having trouble breathing.

"Your star sign's just out of whack."

Play on lyrics from God of Wine by Third Eye Blind, which was heavily referenced in 1x02. 

The direct quote is "your star sign's out of whack" and the next lyric is "a fraudulent zodiac"

Which, of course, is what Rosa had written on her hand before she died in 2008 and is a reference to Ophiuchus, which was Noah's zodiac obsession.

And then Liz finds her overdosing in the cave. 

The coughing in Rosa's hallucination was from smoke inhalation.  Because while passed out she started a fire with her powers.

Feels like a good time to point out that it's the same cave that she died in back in 2008, and she would have died there again if Liz hadn't found her. 😭

At the hospital Rosa tells Liz that she wants to go to rehab, but she knows she can't since she can't control her powers. 

Liz gives her Maria's necklace to borrow since it will suppress her powers and allow her to go to rehab.

Alex and Forrest at the Wild Pony:

"I still have my dad's voice in my head telling me that being seen with a man in public is an embarrassment. To my name and my uniform."

"Well, there's nothing like a dad voice to mess up a perfectly good date."

"It's also just that...I mean, Roswell's so conservative. This bar is filled with cowboys. If you want to go someplace private…"

"Look, I like you. But I don't want to climb into somebody else's closet."

"I cannot tell you how badly I want to be done with this frickin' closet."

"But you're not. And that's okay. Really. Listen, if that voice in your head ever shuts up, give me a call. Because between you and me, making out with a hot guy in public is only made hotter when it pisses off all the bigots and homophobes."

Charlie took off and left a note for Jenna. According to Jenna it says she's gonna disappear again and not to look for her.

Arturo is taking Rosa to a rehab center that Kyle set her up with "a few hours away".

Max tells Liz "let's go home." So… did she move in with him??

Liz says no though.  She says she has to open the diner and cry alone.  But instead she goes to the secret lab.  

Both Max and Liz were evading the truth a little bit here.  Liz didn't tell Max that she wanted to go to the secret lab.  Max didn't tell Liz that his heart did wonk out after using his powers and he did overdo it going after Cam. Bad Echo!!

Liz goes back to packing the secret lab up initially, but then her eyes fall into the Caulfield folders, and she stops. 

She unpacks her stolen equipment (genetic sequencer?), puts on her lab coat, and sits down to start reading the file.

Isobel brings Michael beer as a peace offering, since she's coming to admit that she helped Maria trigger a vision.  She thinks Michael will be mad, but he isn't because he and Maria already worked it out.

So Isobel tells him about the vision and seeing Louise, and specifically about Walt giving Louise the windmill. 

Michael immediately reacts, goes to a shelf, and grabs a similar windmill.

Turns out Walt is Sanders.  He pulls up in his car and Michael immediately confronts Sanders.

"It was you. You're Walt. You're the little boy in the photo.  You knew my mother."

And Sanders nods.

10 more points to fandom.

Max goes to Charlie's hotel to confront her about turning herself in to Deep Sky.

The windmill in both scenes. Until I put this together I didn't think they were the same one (because Louise's name isn't on Michael's. But other details (like the word weight on one of the legs) are the same.

"You think Deep Sky needs to have Jenna by the throat to kill her? Okay, the only way that I can protect her is from the inside."

Then the "abduction scene" happens.

It mirrors what happened to Jenna in 2x04, only to Max and Charlie.

MUSIC:

1.  Hole "Celebrity Skin"

2.  Lukas Nelson & Promise Of The Real "Die Alone"

3.  Shelly Fairchild "Worry No More"

4.  Marc Danzeisen "Some Things Last Forever"

5.  Joey Sykes "Sign Of The Times"

6.  I AM ORFA "Like That Look"

7.  Danny Ayer "Set Us Free"

8.  Hamish Anderson "Trouble"

9.  OMC "How Bizarre"

10.  Muscadine Bloodline "Movin' On"

11.  Little May "Hide"