#i got deemed little dave Explore tagged Tumblr posts

[sequinsmile-x]

Priority

Just this once, on her wedding day of all days, she wanted her mother to put her first.

-x-

Hi friends,

I couldn't tell you where this came from, but here we are. And as always it kind of got away from me!!

I hope you like it <3

-x-

Words: 3.8k

Warnings: Lots and lots of mommy issues

Read over on Ao3, or below the cut

Emily never thought she’d get married. 

When she was young, an angry teenager who did her best to push every boundary her mother tried to build around her, it was defiance that made her say it. An outright refusal at the thought of marrying anyone, well aware that it was part of the future Elizabeth envisioned for her, part of the life she desperately didn’t want for herself. The life she wanted to escape. 

The thought of being a bored socialite, of marrying someone that would be deemed acceptable, had been enough to push her to make the decision to lead her to Ian. A man Lauren would have married, but Emily couldn’t. 

Her return to the USA both times after Ian, after he’d loved her and then after he’d killed her, she felt like she’d missed her chance. Any residual defiance from her childhood had long worn off, leaving her with nothing but a simmering of regret. She’s glad she never married just anyone, because she hadn’t wanted that, but she wished she’d found someone to love. Someone she could have spent her life with. For a long time she worried that by trying to not become her mother, by purposely making decisions Elizabeth never would have, she had inadvertently done the opposite. Her career the defining part of her life, filling up her days before she went home to an empty apartment at night. 

And then Aaron happened. 

He’d been there right in front of her for so long that it had taken her aback, the taste of his kiss still against her lips as a breathless laugh escaped her, the final pieces of the puzzle finally falling into place. 

When he asked her to marry him her answer could only ever be yes. They already lived together and had just bought the house they now called home. At first, they said it would be a short engagement, neither of them keen on dragging it out too long, but then Emily realised she was pregnant. Their agreement to ‘just see what happens’ leading to her crying over a positive pregnancy test just a couple of weeks after Aaron proposed. 

She didn’t want to be a pregnant bride, so they’d held off. Something she was grateful for now, the thought of their little girl, Violet, being part of their wedding making her heart sing whenever she thought about it. Life had, as it always did, carried on around them and by the time they finally settled on a date for their wedding Violet was two years old. 

“Em, are you even paying attention?”

She smiles as she looks up from her book at Penelope, raising her eyebrow as she sips her wine, “No,” she replies, smirking as her eyes meet JJ’s, “I said I wouldn’t.” 

The wedding was only four days away, the countdown do it making Emily something close to giddy. A permanent feeling of butterflies in her lower belly that made her smile almost constantly. She was getting married to the love of her life, the father of her children, and she’d never been happier. 

That, however, didn’t mean she’d turned into someone who enjoyed wedding planning. 

Thankfully, Penelope had been more than happy to do that for her. She’d joined forces with Elizabeth and the two of them had organised everything. Emily only had two demands - that she would choose her own dress, and that the wedding would take place in Dave’s backyard. Her mother had originally tried to push back on that part but had eventually relented when Emily wouldn’t budge, intent on having a small, intimate, wedding with their friends and family. 

Penelope insisted on coming around this evening to assemble the wedding favours. They were personalised cookies that she had baked herself, and she had invited herself, and JJ, around to Aaron and Emily’s house so they could individually wrap them for the wedding guests. Aaron was giving Violet her bath before he put her to bed, and Jack was in the dining room helping to wrap the cookies. He was diligently paying attention and helping, urged on by the promise of spare cookies that Penelope had made when she arrived. Emily, on the other hand, had tuned out right around the time Penelope had given them very exact instructions on how to wrap the rust orange ribbon around the top of the cellophane wrapper. 

JJ laughs, “To be fair Pen, she did say she would have no part of it.” 

“And I meant it,” Emily says, making a point of flipping a page in her book, “At least Jack is helping,” she winks at her son who smiles wildly at her, his excitement for the upcoming wedding unending. 

“Aunt Pen said I could have more cookies,” he says, his smile getting wider and Emily hums in response. 

“One more cookie, honey,” she says, having another sip of her wine, “You need to go to bed soon and all that sugar is bad for you.” 

There are footsteps in the hallway, the familiar footfall of the man she was days away from marrying. She turns and smiles at the sight in front of her. Aaron was standing in the dining room doorway with Violet on his hip. The little girl is fresh from her bath, her wet hair pulled back into braids that Aaron had carefully done like he did whenever he was home. She’s wearing bright pink pjyamas covered in unicorns that Penelope had bought her, and Emily knows her fiance would have picked them specifically because her friend was here in their dining room.

“Someone wanted to say goodnight to Mommy,” Aaron says, smiling at Emily as she stands up from her chair. She walks over and Violet immediately reaches out for her, tiny hands clutching at her shirt as Emily takes her into her arms. 

“Goodnight sweet girl,” she says, pressing several kisses in a row to her daughter’s cheek, smiling as Violet giggles, “Mommy loves you.”

Violet presses her face into Emily’s chest and wraps her arms tighter around her neck, “Love Momma!” 

Emily looks up when she hears a barely covered gasp from the dining table and finds Penelope staring at them, her hand over her mouth and her eyes wide with adoration, her previous task of individually packing the wedding favours abandoned. So many of their family moments were private, precious things that she and Aaron held dear, making it rare for the team to see them like this. She knows Penelope particularly loves it, much less subtle in her enjoyment of it than JJ who had simply smiled softly before returning to the task Penelope had assigned her. It makes Emily blush and she turns to look at Aaron, exchanging a small smile with him before she returns her attention to Violet. 

“Daddy is going do bedtime, ok?” She says, kissing Violet once more before handing her back to Aaron, “And he’ll read you two whole stories.” 

Aaron lovingly shakes his head at her, both of them well aware that he’d do whatever the little girl wanted. He’d been wrapped around her finger since the moment she was born, since the moment they found out she existed.

“Can I help read to Lettie?” Jack asks enthusiastically, already up on his feet, “She likes it when I read her Goodnight Moon.” 

Emily smiles and ruffles Jack’s hair as he reaches them, “Of course, honey,” she says, “We’ll keep a cookie for you.” 

Jack beams at her as Penelope and JJ say goodnight to an increasingly sleepy Violet, who waves at them as she rests her head on Aaron’s shoulder. As soon as Aaron are the kids are gone, Emily turns to look at her friends. They both have wide smiles on their faces, delighted at the small insight they’d had into her and Aaron’s private lives.

“Jack loves being a big brother, huh?” JJ asks, sitting back in her chair with her wine in her hand. 

Emily nods as she sits back down, “He loves it,” she replies, her smile wide as she thinks of her children, “He’s so sweet with her.”

“Are you planning on making him a big brother again any time soon?” Penelope asks, her eyebrow raised. Emily chuckles and shakes her head at her friend. 

“We’ll see,” she says, staying purposely vague. She doesn’t tell them that she recently stopped taking her pill again, that she and Aaron had agreed they’d like one more child. It’s not something she wants to share yet, something she might never share at all if it doesn’t happen for them this time, but the hope fizzles in her chest, making warmth spread through her whole body. 

There’s a knock on the front door and Emily frowns, 

“Mother, hi,” she says, stepping back to let Elizabeth in, “This is unexpected, it’s not like you to just drop by.” 

They’d never had a relationship where they got together without it being planned.  It was partly because both their jobs meant it took a certain amount of strategy to align their calendar, but mostly it was because Emily always felt as if she needed to prepare herself to see her mother. She needed to put her armour back on, pieces of protection Aaron and the kids had all but made obsolete, so she could hold herself together. She found herself prone to regressing around her mother, just one evening together enough to make her regress. Irritation and frustration bubbling under her skin that never failed to make her feel like a teenager again, not the grown woman she was.

Elizabeth smiles politely as she walks in, “I’m not interrupting anything I hope?”

“It’s okay, we’re just doing wedding prep,” she says, closing the door behind Elizabeth and they walk towards the dining room together, both of them coming to a stop when they get to the doorway. JJ and Penelope look up at them and smile, “Mother, you remember JJ and Penelope,” she says, feeling concern spark in her stomach that she doesn’t understand, “They were there when I picked out the dress for the wedding.”  

“Of course,” Elizabeth replies, smiling tightly, “Lovely to see you both again.” Emily sees something she can’t name flash across her mother’s face and it makes her falter. She clears her throat, grateful that her voice doesn’t falter as she speaks. 

“Is everything okay?” 

Elizabeth turns to look at her, her smile tight, “Can we talk privately?” 

Emily frowns, concern and confusion bubbling in her belly, “Yeah, of course, we’ll go to the home office,” She looks up at JJ and Penelope, “When Aaron comes back can you just tell him where I am?” 

She turns back to her mother when her friends nod and she leads her further back into the house. She keeps glancing at her as they walk, watching curiously as Elizabeth looks at the family photos adorning the walls, her eyes fixed on frozen moments from Aaron and Emily’s lives. A museum of memories that Emily loved to look at on the nights when she couldn’t sleep, well-needed reminders of what she had now, the life she had made for herself, when the monsters from her past dragged themselves out of the shadows and into her dreams. 

As soon as they are in the office Emily closes the door behind them, “Okay, we’re alone. What’s going on?” 

Elizabeth clears her throat as she looks Emily up and down, “It’s about Saturday-”

“Oh, god, Mother. If this is about Vi being the wedding again it’s non-negotiable,” she says, crossing her arms over her chest. It had been one of the main arguments they’d had about the wedding. Elizabeth had said she thought giving Violet the role of Flower Girl would be a distraction, that the toddler wouldn’t be able to focus for the entire ceremony and would end up being a distraction. 

Emily made it clear that she didn’t care if Violet ran up and down the aisle the whole time, or if she played with her toys all the way through the ceremony, she was her daughter and she was going to be a part of it. 

“No, it’s not that,” Elizabeth says, pausing a moment before she carries on, “I have to go to Saudi Arabia.” 

Emily feels her whole body freeze and she narrows her eyes slightly, the reality of what her mother was trying to tell her slowly sinking in. “When are you flying?” 

Elizabeth sighs, “Emily, don’t be purposely dense.”

“You have to say it,” Emily says, shaking her head, her nails digging into her own bicep as she clenches her jaw, “If you’re trying to tell me you’re going to miss my wedding you have to say it. You can’t just talk around it.” 

There’s a moment of silence between them, the air around them thick with tension, with all the things they had never said. 

“I’m flying on Friday. I won’t be able to make it on Saturday.” 

Even though she knew it was coming it still hurts. It still makes her breath catch in her chest, painfully bitter and familiar disappointment burning in her throat. She huffs out a humourless chuckle and shakes her head. 

“Are you kidding me? You couldn’t say that your daughter is getting married on Saturday?” She asks. It’s anger, not sadness, that makes her voice shake. Fury at her mother, at herself for expecting that just this once she would come first. 

“The Crown Prince asked for me personally,” Elizabeth responds, an edge to her voice that reminds Emily of when she was a child, the days when her mother would scold her for wanting nothing more than her attention, “I have to go.” 

Emily scoffs and shakes her head. She feels emotions she doesn’t want to let out start to climb up her throat. Her heartbeat loud in her ears as tears burn in the back of her eyes. 

“Mom…I’m getting married.”

“Emily, please. You’re getting married in someone's backyard,” Elizabeth says, “You  haven’t even invited anyone we know.”

“I haven’t invited anyone you know,” she corrects, “All the people I care about will be there.” Her words hang heavily around them, and she feels an odd sense of achievement when her mother dares to look hurt by what she’s said, “I’m your only kid,” she says, huffing out a defeated laugh as she shrugs her shoulders, “I’m sure if you told them-”

“My job is important-” 

“I’m important,” Emily yells, cutting over her mother before she can carry on, before she can say everything Emily had heard countless times before, “I’m important,” she repeats, shaking her head, “It’s my wedding day. The day I’m marrying the man I love. Why don’t you want to be there?” 

“You know if I could be there-”

A lifetime of quiet disappointment, of pushing down everything she has always wanted to say, ends in a single moment. Fury fueling the fire that had been burning in her belly since they’d stepped into the office. She’d always struggled with her mother’s choices, how no matter what she’d come second, but when she became a mother herself, from the moment she stepped into a maternal role for Jack, it had turned into anger. Emily had always found putting her children first easy, something she did without thinking. She’d changed jobs when she returned from her maternity leave, determined to make sure she made different choices than her own mother had. It made it clearer than ever how much her mother had actively chosen her job, her reputation, over her for her whole life. 

And she was done pretending it was anywhere near to being okay. 

“If you wanted to be there you would,” Emily says, cutting her off, her entire body tense, “If you wanted to put me first you would,” she shakes her head and furiously wipes away the one tear that falls from her lashline, “But you don’t. I’ll never come first to you. And…maybe it’s my fault for continuing to expect that one day I will.” 

“Emily-”

“Can you go please?” She asks, feeling as if she is on edge of breaking down, well aware that her defences are crumbling around her. She turns so her back is facing her mother, not wanting her to see the anger dissolve into sadness, “We’ll see you when you get back from Saudi Arabia. You can see the photos then.” 

There’s a part of Emily, the part of her that she knows will never give up hoping, that wants her mother to tell her she’s changed her mind. That she’s sorry and she’ll be there on Saturday as planned, complaining about the chicken she’d insisted they served. For a second, she thinks it’s going to happen, the silence in the room cloying as she struggles to suck in a breath, desperately trying to replace the grief for a relationship that had never truly existed that had settled in her lungs. 

Then she heard the door open and close in quick succession. The sound followed by her mother’s footsteps subsiding as she gets further away from the office. 

She chokes on a noise somewhere between a sob and a laugh, her hand over her mouth as she tries to capture it. She’s barely alone a second when the door opens again, and she turns to see Aaron standing there, his brow furrowed in concern.

“Sweetheart, is everything okay?” He asks as he pulls the door closed behind him. He walks over to her, his hands immediately resting on her hips, “I just got downstairs from putting Vi to bed and I walked into your Mother-”

“She’s not coming to the wedding.” She says, her lower lip trembling as she says it outloud, as she truly acknowledges what had just happened. Aaron cups her cheek and makes her look up at him, his thumb catching a tear as it slips down her cheek.

“What?” He asks, his voice stern, his hold on her getting tighter. 

“She has work. A last-minute assignment that apparently couldn’t wait another day,” she says bitterly. Her eyes meet his and she breaks, the unrelenting love for her shining in his eyes enough to tip her over the edge. “My mom isn’t coming to my wedding, Aaron.” 

He pulls her into a fierce hug, his arms banding tightly around her back as she grasps handfuls of his shirt. Anchoring herself to him, her guiding light on a dark day.

“I’ve got you, sweetheart,” he says, kissing the top of her head, “I’ve got you,” he runs his hands up and down her back, “I’m sorry.” 

She presses her face into his neck, “Why can’t she just…be what I want? Just this once.” 

“I don’t know, baby,” he says, kissing her temple before he encourages her to look at him, his hand on her cheek, “I do know you deserve better though,” he smiles encouragingly at her, “Want me to get JJ and Pen out of here?” 

She nods, “Yes please, I just…I don’t want to see anyone other than you. And the kids.” 

Aaron smiles and leans forward to kiss her forehead, “You wait here,” he says, kissing her once before stepping back, “I keep the good scotch from Dave in the cabinet behind the desk.” 

She smiles, “Okay, honey,” she says, watching as he goes, “I love you.” 

He turns back to look at her, his smile, the one both of their children had, shining back at her, “I love you too.” 

___

There’s a moment on her wedding day as she’s waiting to walk down the aisle, nerves dancing in her belly as she watches JJ and Penelope walk down ahead of her, when she misses her mother. Her absence notable as she realises she has no one to check her over, to make sure her hair is sitting correctly. It’s over as quickly as it starts and she shakes it off, not wanting her mother to upset her anymore than she already had. 

As soon as she starts walking down the aisle, all eyes fixed on her, she feels nothing but joy when her gaze meets Aaron’s. He’s smiling widely at her, tears shining in his eyes, and she can see her home in them. The place where she’d finally found the love she’d always been looking for. Jack is standing next to him, proud to be his father’s best man, in a matching suit, his own joy as clear as the smile on his face.

“Momma!”

She looks down just in time to see Violet running towards her, the little girl quickly and easily escaping Penelope’s attempt to catch her. Emily chuckles and stands still, smiling at Violet, whose tiny white dress is covered in embroidered flowers, as she makes it to her side. 

“Hi sweet girl,” Emily says, crouching down to look at her.

“Momma pretty!”

Emily hears a series of exclamations around them, the guests clearly finding this as adorable as she did, and she’s vaguely aware of the flashes of cameras going off around them. 

“Thank you, baby,” she says, reaching out and playing with one of her curls, “You’re very pretty too,” she looks up and sees Aaron take a step towards them, clearly intent on getting Violet, and she gently shakes her head, “Want to hold my hand as we go see Daddy?” 

Violet shakes her head, her tiny hand on Emily’s lace-covered knee, “Momma up.” 

She smiles and nods, well aware this wasn’t the time or place to try and argue with her toddler about whether she could carry her or not. She adjusts her hold on her flowers, grateful that she’d gone for a small bouquet of wildflowers, and reaches out for Violet. The little girl lifts her arms so Emily can pick her up and she stands up straight, settling her on her hip. 

“Come on sweet girl,” she says, adjusting her hold on her before she restarts her journey down the aisle. If she’d thought Aaron looked happy before, it was nothing on how he looked now, his arm around Jack as he held him to his side. 

She’s aware of everyone looking at her again, and can hear the sniffs as they try to cry quietly, but she doesn’t care about any of it. All she can think of is her family, the one she had built around her. 

The only one she needed. 

She smiles at Aaron as she makes it to his side, turning behind her to pass her bouquet to JJ, before she reaches out for his hand. 

“Hi,” she whispers, her voice cracking. 

“Hi,” he replies, leaning in to press a kiss to her cheek before he smiles at Violet, tickling her belly to make her giggle, “Looks like you have the world's cutest bouquet.” Emily nods, adjusting her hold on their daughter and gripping his hand even tighter.

“Are you ready?” The officiant says, smiling expectantly at them both. They look at each other and smile before they turn back to her.

“Yes, we’re ready.” 

She’d never been more ready for anything. 

-x-

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[melissa-titanium]

hi. explain the lore (ABOTU THAT PICTURE YUO POSTED TWO HOURS AGO. WITH WOLF JADE AND JOHN)

HOLY FUCKING SHIT . JUMPS UP AND DOWN RUNS AROUND THEROOM CRAWLS ALLOVER THE WALLS TRANSFORMS INTO A LITTLE DUDE AND DOES A DANCE (I MUST BE LITTLE TO DO A LITTLE DANCE I CANT BE BIG AND DO A LITTLE DANCE THEN ID BE DOING A BIG DANCE) JUMPS UPAND DOWN AGAIN WAVES MY ARMS AROUND . Sits Politely down in a chair. clears my throat. ahem . excuse me. ANY WAYS.

(post writing this edit from future me: There is s o muchtext here you do NOT have to read this i am so sorry i cannot answer a simple question in like 3 sentences i HAVE to write 235982388325234 nonsensical paragraphs))

THAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANK YOUY FOR ASKING;!!!!!!!!!!! it is basically just . a cringe au that i have deemed the WEREBETA KIDS au... ESSENTIALLY its the basic "werecreatures and hunters OOOOHH" premise .. my idea was that john and jade r werewolves (i . know BNUUY wouldhb made more sens for eg but LSITEN. i like wolves *smiles*)) and th !!!! the strilondes are WEREHUNTERS IN TRAINING OH OH SHITTT OH SHITTTTTTTTTT

BUT THE LORE BEHINDTHE IMAGE SPECIFICALLY. is like.. i had theidea of . jade and eg r hunting (ok i. know thats basic but its COOL L IS TE N TO ME ITS CO O L)) and the strilondes are as WEL. but then OH SHIT TWO MOON CRAZED (thats. a thing i made up... in short its basically werecreatures that are permanently stuck in a frenzied state and are unable to return to their "humanoid" form.. all the phases of werecreatures are based on the phases of the moon HEHE) WERECREATURES (a bird and a cat bc .bc .bc. dave.dave bird. and. a.nd. and. rose ca.t. get it guys.get it get i)) LEAP OUT OF THE BUSHES ATTACK8NG EACHOTHER. AND JADE AND JOHN R LIKE OH SHIT WE GOTA GET OUT OF HERE! BUT THEN BOOM . ROSE AND DAVE ARE AT THE SAME SCENE TOO AND THEY WERE HUNTING JADE AND JOHN BUT THE FRENZIED CREATURES DISTACTED THEM SO THEY WENT FOR THE MORE DANGEROUS ONES AND. because they were surprised and unprepared to fight such rabid beasts... got Mauled instead (rose got lunged at by the frenzied cat, and dave got distracted by that and got scratched by the crazed bird...))

but then blah blah blah the frenzied state is able to be entered by experienced werecreatures so john briefly remembers OH SHIT. THEY GOT SCRATCHED THEYRE GONNA BE INFECTE DNOW OH NO THEYURE ONE OF US WE GOTTA SAVE THEM !!! (im workingonthat par;t iswea)) so eg enters the frenzied state so he can knock away the kitty and bird and save them both (egbert attacks and kills the werebird while dave uses the gun they brought along to shoot the werecat before it killed rose) and then after the CHAOS SUBSIDES... egbert is like hey. im gonna pick up rose now Ok? to dave and then does that bc rose pasesd out already. jade comes over too to pick up dave (but less gently bc OOH LORE!? SHE HATES HUNTERS MORE THAN EGBERT?!?!?! im sca;red im mischaracterizing her IM WORKING ON THIS) and then as they are walking back to their den/camp/thing THSISIWHERE THE PICTURE COM,ES IN. jade is like Um . you know we. Have to let them go eventually. Right. byut egebrt is like LOLL YEAHHHHH I KNOW we arent going to get attached! (They get attached

IALREADY WROTE THE FIRST AND AM HALFWAY DONE WITHTHE SECOND CHAPTER BUT I. need to reread thembc i think i may have mischaracterized everyone sort of badly but essentially its. i like werewolves thati slal iavhe to say

[the-firebird69]

Dune 2's Stellan Skarsgård Says It's a Painful Process to Become Baron H...

There's a reason why they call them barons they're going out there in the Mac proper say that they will be barren and will not produce anything there's a reason why they're called harconnen because they're hearkening their own and they're pretty much small and desperate but they're doing a huge job because they need the power. And we're deemed as suckers and things like that but that's how it goes. They're in dune too training and using them to attack each other and cheesman versus Trump he becomes barren huracanon for real the other Baron looks like Dan it's not it's not Trump it is a bja now it's actually Trump and they do roll switching constantly but it is a huge film it is a giant film with us and it is the two of ours starting it up and working it getting them ready and telling them what it is and why and their sight they can't believe what they're looking at they can't believe it would happen and they sort of hear what it is and they're worried about it and he says they have trouble controlling them with signals and things like bugs and stuff don't really listen all the time and it's true they do not follow it just because. It's a great moment in history and it is a huge step forward for our people and for rebels and it is something to behold and it is a religious experience for a lot of ours. Especially those in the Middle East who suffered for a long time in desert heat and dust and have been praying and their prayers are being answered. They're also being called to save themselves and our two little kids came up with this idea and he says it's her and she says it's him I have different methods and they compete and it's annoying but it works and father and mother were helping out and they do use this technique and they have but they can buy and said we just are going to make huge ones and they said oh wow and they came up with this idea and cheeseman has hardware and systems and he's ready to go out there and it will kind of force it to happen and he's getting smaller and it's time and he will try and gain power and start some war between them and our son and daughter say we're not trying to do that you guys are doing it the Mac proper make you and have you let's cover for a massive massive mission the whole world might make an accident or mistake and call you antiheroes and it would be like Batman is sometimes called it's a dark figure and other characters sometimes questionable in their actions. And they like it and they understand it but the importance is well beyond what most of them are thinking now it is a massive massive step forwards and the thing with the death Star and it was our son and daughter's idea and they got wind of what Dave was thinking and Carol it is a huge concept and it is not going to be stopped and they're fighting with spaceships and it's underground people and it is how it's happening and it is just absolutely amazing he himself thought it was a long shot to get them to fight each other and then he saw that on Star Trek and was changed. She was too a little but she knew about it and had a lot of confidence and now feels much better and see some working as a little behind off literally losing weight and part of it is the radiation now it's mostly radiation and it's getting rid of the fat protective shell of harden and fat is going away and that's going to leave in just a few days and he will be expelling the medicine just as fast as before if not a lot faster it might just take 3 or 4 days after all the shells are softened which might be three or four days from now and she's happy about it and he is too he's tired of being sick and weak and injured but this is huge this is a gigantic genre this is a massive step forward for the rest of humanity to be free from the empire.

Thor Freya

We couldn't have said it better ourselves

Hera Zues

Olympus wow and yes very true and we are doing it as well but our two leaders picked it up and said we do this and there's not much else we can do and it's true

[unitedunionofdave]

BWAHAHAHAHA can confirm. that is exactly how we interact

couldnt think of anything so i ilustrated this funny dialogue from @incorrect-hs-quotes go give them a follow their stuffs pretty good

[kerakitty]

Hugo Lives AU Headcanons

Just wanted to share some headcanons from my Hugo Lives/Best Music Teacher Scarlemagne AU. Some of these might become fics at some point (a la A Gentler Night), but most are just fun little ideas. This post is pretty long, so headcanons are under the break.

Hugo spends season 3 in a more humane cell. The cell used in the actual show is nothing short of a literal torture chamber. No bed, no toilet, no privacy, no enrichment, no access to water. US solitary confinement cells still provide access to bedding and hygiene facilities, and even those are deemed inhumane by human rights groups like Amnesty International. In my HC, he instead is housed in a converted studio apartment style dwelling in Timbercat Village. The windows are covered with the same (presumably plexiglass) material that the cell in the show was made of. There’s a bathroom, a bed, and access to fresh water. There’s a sort of visiting area at the front of the cell with more plexiglass providing a barrier between the visitor side and the interior of the cell. There’s seating on each side of the barrier and a table on the visitor side. The barrier has a slot like the one in the show, but instead of being used solely for food, visitors are allowed to also transfer small items (e.g. books, puzzles, clothing, a certain star blanket). Items too big for the slot require approval from at least 2 out of 3 of the following individuals: Kipo, Lio, and Yumyan (Molly inherits Yumyan’s vote after he’s cured). The first large item to be approved is the electric keyboard Song gave him in It’s a Trap. In my HC he gets it a lot earlier. Kipo points out that he was more open to communicating when they played the piano together, so it’s given in the hopes that it’ll help with rehabilitation. He also has sound cancelling headphones to plug into the keyboard because having to listen to banjo makes him extra irritable and harder to deal with.

The Oak family spends way more time together. The family dynamics shown in the first 2 seasons are mostly put aside in season 3 in favor of the cure plotline, and I think this was a real loss. We got a little bit in Song ReMix and Wolf in Wolf’s Clothing, but I wanted a lot more. Inspired by @editoress , Hugo and Kipo jam regularly. She brings a guitar and they play and compose together. For Hugo, it’s the one bright spot in his incarceration. For Kipo it’s fun, but also how she tries to reach him. He’s more willing to talk when there’s music involved, though he still shuts down at certain topics. They also play board games with Kipo moving his pieces for him. Kipo has suggested he play with others as well, but he doesn’t trust anyone else not to cheat. Song listens in all the time. Both when Hugo and Kipo are jamming, or when one of them is playing on their own. She and the rest of the Oak family slowly build up an informal sign language for her to use. Some of it is based on ASL, but much of it is unique to them given their rather unique situation and Song’s extra limbs. The first thing she signs is ‘I love you’. Lio visits Hugo in the hopes of patching things up. I won’t go into too much detail on this one as I’m already writing the fic, but Lio goes to visit and they start to hash things out. The process long and difficult, but they make progress. Lio and Song both take an active roll in reining Kipo in when she tries to take on more responsibility than she can handle. Kipo is all too eager to play savior, even when doing so puts her health and safety at risk. Lio runs interference when the mutes are asking too much of her and Song has been known to pick her up and place her in front of her room then sign ‘sleep’ when she’s been awake too long.

Hugo is injured the crash. I already wrote a fic about this, so again: not going into detail. He survives with a few busted ribs then spends his recovery with the rest of the Oak family. He initially stays in the hospital, but eventually moves with the rest of the family into a restored house.

The Oak family finally gets to live together. After the series’ end, the humans (and any displaced mutes) pick out houses on the surface. These houses are then fixed up by the Timbercats. Song and Kipo choose the family’s house together. Wolf really only cares about having reliable shelter and Lio is just happy to have the whole family together. There’s 3 bedrooms, so initially Wolf and Kipo share out of necessity while Hugo’s using the third room. He moves out a couple months after recovering and into a Victorian-style mansion in what used to be one of the wealthier neighborhoods of Las Vistas. As much as he enjoyed spending time with the family their tastes just aren’t as refined as his and he needs room for his baby grand and a proper art studio. After Hugo moves out, Kipo and Wolf still share a room. Lio and Song make it clear that they can have their own rooms if they want, but they both express that they’d rather stay together. Until they decide otherwise, the 3rd bedroom is used as guest room/informal music studio.

The family has weekly game nights. Friends can come too (Benson and Dave are regulars), but the core group is the Oak family. When they have too many players, they’ll pair up in teams. Wolf and Hugo are not allowed to be on a team together. They did that once while playing RISK and not only utterly destroyed everyone else, they started acting like supervillains. They took it way too far.

Lio and Hugo reconcile… eventually. Even after the progress they made during season 3, things are still rough between them for a while. Hugo remains somewhat antagonistic towards Lio for much of his recovery. He does try to be better, but his default reaction to emotional discomfort is to verbally lash out at others and, given their history, Lio makes for a tempting target. Over time, and with a lot of work, the antagonism fades into good-natured ribbing. Hugo still crosses the line at times, but isn’t as slow to admit to fault and apologize. Every now and then an argument will break out. While Hugo isn’t as obstinate as he used to be, there are still times when he gets defensive and escalates rather than accept that he may have gone too far. The relationship is still pretty strained by the time Hugo moves out, but having his own space allows him and Lio to find a sort of balance. They can see each other whenever they want, but also have distance whenever they need it.

Hugo becomes a music teacher. The idea was Kipo’s. Given his love of music and how good he was with the mute kids, it just made sense to her. In a rare moment of agreement, Lio and Hugo both point out that most parents in Las Vistas would probably object to a former dictator (who may have mind controlled them) teaching their children. Song eventually comes up with the suggestion to start out giving private piano lessons. The parents of the mute kids he played with back at Timbercat village have formed a grudging trust for him, so they might be willing. Hugo exclusively gives private lessons for about a year. His students love the lessons (even when he gets a little manic) and their parents come to see him in a new light. Over that year, word of mouth reaches most of Las Vistas, and the idea of him teaching at the school becomes less and less objectionable. The school initially hires him on a part-time basis to test the waters, and he’s okay with that as it leaves him plenty of time for his private lesson students. Music and band rapidly become the most popular classes among students, and the school offers Hugo full-time hours. He accepts, but only at the start of the new school year. He adores his private lesson students and doesn’t want to just drop them. He gives extra private lessons in the months leading up to the new year, making sure each kid is confident in their abilities before they ‘graduate’ from his tutelage. At each kid’s final lesson, he lets them know that they can come by every now and then if they have questions or just want to jam. Every single one of them takes him up on the offer. The whole Oak family is immensely proud of Hugo, but none more so than Lio. Lio was the one who taught Hugo to play, and it was their favorite way to bond back in the old burrow. Seeing Hugo pass along the gift of music and get so much joy out of doing so makes Lio happy and proud in a way that makes his heart feel so full it might burst.

Wolf and Hugo bond. Neither one of them is initially thrilled to have the other as an adoptive sibling, but during Hugo’s recovery they begin to realize they have a lot in common. Mostly a pink-haired sister and taste for violence, but every relationship starts somewhere. After the RISK incident, they’re thick as thieves. They both still prefer Kipo over each other, but they’re partners in crime now. They continue to bring out the worst in each other.

That’s it for now! I have more, but I’ll save them for another post. This one is already super long.

[moosoobi]

Bon Appetit, darlin’

~T.Jeff : Hamilton the Musical

First time writing lol. I mean don’t be so harsh because my confidence is made of glass but please let me know what you think. Here’s a few things that you can expect while reading:

fluff

good boyfriend Thomas that we wished existed

Y/N lowkey being a top LMAO

word count: 1359 (?) dunno how this works

probably a few spelling errors because now that school is online I resort to autocorrect 

A/N: I do nOT SUPPORT REAL LIFE THOMAS JEFFERSON >:( . Stan Daveed Diggs who plays Thomas in Hamilton the musical.

Y/N sat on the tiny sofa in her grandma’s room. Out of all 6 of her cousins, she was the chosen one to watch over her grandma for a few days. She was surrounded by textbooks which she deemed unimportant, her collection of expensive Japanese stationary placed on top where her last sentence had ended. The room was filled with Christmas music that was a few months too early. Unable to drown out the carols, Y/N crocheted a cozy magenta cardigan for her boyfriend to wear, when the Christmas music WAS appropriate.

Loop by loop, Y/N inserted and pulled her crochet hook to create new loops. Of course she was no where near finished. Every now and then she would feel the remorse for her text books and continue to work on her doomed English work, this was very rare of course. The sound of a car pulling into a drive way seemed to help drown out the cries of winter music, but Y/N thought nothing of it. Perhaps her neighbors went out and about the city of New York, unlike Y/N who hasn’t left the house in what felt like days.

Her hands ached from writing and crocheting. Finally giving up, Y/N set down the labyrinth of yarn and adjusted her position next to her frail grandma, who was fast asleep. She glanced up at the clock. 11:30 pm.

“Great.”

She groaned with annoyance. Bored, scrappy, and hungry, and the pain of guilt for her lonely textbook was just what she needed on a Thursday night.

Sticking one leg out her blanket in attempt to cool down her body, Y/N covered her eyes with her arm in attempt to find her happy place. Exhausted from her long days of school work. Just when Y/N felt like the luxury of sleep was in her grasp, her phones dreadful ding went off.

Ah yes, that sound when you get a text message. It’s either your savior or your worse nightmare, but you’ll never know unless you choose to pick up your phone. If Y/N wasn’t next to her grandma during her slumber, she might’ve screamed in agony when she heard that dreadful tone, but she managed to keep her cool. When she glanced at her screen her annoyance faded away and was replaced with a smile.

1 message from: Tommy 💕😼🥐

Now she had no choice but open it, I mean why wouldn’t she?

Tommy 💕😼🥐: come outside

Y/N tilted her head. Really Thomas? Not a good time

Y/N: excuse me what?

Tommy💕😼🥐: you know I don’t like to repeat myself, sweetheart <3

Y/N: I already told you that I’m on grandma duty tonight

Tommy💕😼🥐: c'mon darlin’ a few minutes won’t hurt

Tommy💕😼🥐 : I promise you won’t regret it ;)

Y/N sighed. Of course she wouldn’t throw away an opportunity to see him. Arising slowly from the firm mattress, Y/N tried her best not to shake the bed in fear of waking up her grandma.

Her hips and knees cracked at the pressure of standing up. She slid on her fuzzy slippers and made her way to the hallway, acting like a spy on a secret mission. Her steps echoed throughout the still house.

 After making it to her living room, she could see a bright rays shining through her window. Y/N couldn’t help but feel the butterflies rise in her stomach when she opened the front door.

Thomas’s black car was idle in her drive way. Her eyes felt relief as his car lights turned off as he exited the car. Thomas was stunning in his striped turtleneck, paired with a coat to accommodate the cold fall weather. He pranced over to the front door with a smile plastered on his face, holding a plastic bag in his left hand, a series of ‘THANK YOU’s printed in red ink covering the front of the bag. 

“So you were the car annoying the neighborhood at 11:30 at night?” Y/N asked sarcastically, a smirk forming on her face. Thomas rolled his eyes while he placed a gentle kiss on her forehead. “And here I thought you’d be happy to see me, darlin’”. Y/N enlaced her fingers with his as she led him to the table

“Of course I am, but why are you here? I know you didn’t come to help me take my grandma to the bathroom” Y/N pulled a chair for him to sit, pulling an reverse card on Thomas’ chivalry. “I know how busy you are when you’re here, so I just wanted to get something for you” Thomas stuck his hand into the crinkling bag and pulled out two cups. Both were various shades of swirling brown tea accompanied with tiny tapioca pearls that drifted to the bottom of the cup.

“I got you some tea.” Thomas said proudly “never tried it before but I remember you got some with Angie last month so I assumed-” Y/N cut him off with a hug. She smiled into the crook of his neck while he wrapped his arms around her, cups still in hand.

“Have I ever told you that you’re amazing, Jefferson?” Y/N held back her excitement.

“All the time sweetheart.” Thomas smirked as he felt his ego grow just a little bit bigger. Even Y/N wasn’t sure that was possible with how big Thomas’ ego was when they first started talking. Pulling away from the hug, Thomas set the cups on the table.

“I ALSO got you some noodles while I was at the shop” Thomas turned to Y/N as she gazed up at him in amazement. “What? They were cheap, I couldn’t resist seeing your smile” he teased, setting down two boxes of noodles onto the lace table cloth. Thomas finally sat down on his chair and rubbed his hands together. Y/N’s smile remained present on her face as she pulled and sat on her own chair.

“Bon appetite, darlin’”

——————————————————————

After the couple ate, they relaxed on her couch, Thomas laying comfortably in Y/N’s lap, comforted by the warmth of her arms. Y/N’s phone let off a ding. Knowing it wasn’t Thomas texting her, she deemed it unimportant. Thomas was evidently eyeing the phone every time that sound rung, growing more anxious every time. Who would text her at this time? Besides Thomas of course.

“How was work?” Y/N attempted to change the attention, her fingers tangled in Thomas’ majestic hair. Let’s be real, who could resist his hair? Thomas opened his eyes, staring up at Y/N from her lap and shrugged. “ ‘nother argument with Hamilton” he scoffed. Y/N giggled at his response. “Tommy, Hamilton’s not so bad, maybe-” Y/N was cut off by Thomas’ disbelief “I know I did not just come all the way over here Y/N for you to side with that dipshit”

Y/N laughed as she removed her hand from Thomas’ head to retrieve her tea. Whining, Thomas pouted and waited for her hand to come back, but it never did. Thomas shot up to see Y/N’s eyes glued to her phone. “Hello! I’m right here y’know!” Y/N’s gaze landed on Thomas’ for only a moment, and eventually fell back on her phone “Yeah hold on, Lafayette wont stop texting me after he discovered what a GIF is” she laughed, taking sips of the swirling tea in her shiny, plastic cup. Thomas could feel his jealousy begin to rise.  

“c’mon Thomas, you know how close Laf and I are, don’t give me all these jealous vibes from you.” her eyes were piercing straight through Thomas. She could look through him as if he were glass. The pout was still evident on his face, unable to maintain eye contact with her powerful glare. Ironic isn’t it? Y/N huffed out a short laugh and set down her drink. “Fine, let me prove it to you then.” 

5 minutes had passed.

Of course they spent it aggressively teasing each other, who wouldn't? Just when things began to get a little too heated, the baby monitor next to the couch, which she used to listen for her grandma, flashed on. 

“Y/nnnnn, can you help me to the bathroom?” it blasted

Y/N pulled back from Thomas’s grasp, “Well that’s my signal” 

fin.

[olivinesea]

Space Is Only Noise If You Can See, pt.3

Part 1 Part 2

a/n: Surprise! Next part’s here. A bit shorter but no less traumatic so don’t get comfortable. TW major character death, guns, suicide, violence, you’ve got the picture. I’ll do my best to get the final part to you in a timely manner. ~2k

The hits keep coming.

The street was quiet when he got there thirty minutes later. No ambulance or police with their colors flashing across the front of the house. He thought it was odd but it barely registered when everything in his life was a little off. He ran up to the front door and found it slightly ajar. He pushed it open cautiously, uncertain what he would be met with on the other side. It had grown dark, the sun replaced by much weaker street lamps. He felt around for the light switch, knowing he would regret this action.

He sucked in a breath when the shadows were lifted, every gruesome detail just as he remembered. The blood. There was so much blood. He reached up a hand to wipe it away from his eyes. He was numb, unable to look at anything but Morgan’s body, cold and lifeless on the floor. The scene replayed again, this time in Morgan’s entryway, the setting a little different, the results all the same. He had never been able to save them.

The thought of the others, the rest of his team who he’d watched get murdered hundreds of times, reminded him that JJ was there. She had called him, that was why he was here, not a case, not a killer. He wanted to call out for her but it felt wrong to raise his voice in such close proximity to this horror. Instead he carefully stepped around his friend, not looking for fear he would fall to his knees and try to force the life back where it belonged. If he could bring Derek back by returning every drop of blood to the emptied veins, he would spend eternity gathering what had been spilled. If only the world allowed for that kind of trade.

He made it around to the kitchen but found it empty, as were the other rooms on this floor. While he searched he called 911. He didn’t understand why they weren’t there yet, they should be there by now. When he questioned them, the dispatcher told him there’d been no reports made about that address. He quickly relayed the basic details, even more eager to find JJ and discover what had happened between her call and his arrival. He frowned as he hung up, confused. As a precaution, he pulled his gun from its holster, nerves lighting up. JJ wouldn’t have left surely. He crossed the hallway again, this time heading for the stairs. He didn’t know why, there was no reason for her to have gone up there. But there was no reason for any of this. So he climbed to the second floor, placing each footstep carefully on the polished hardwood.

He found her in the master bedroom, curled up on Derek’s king-sized bed, her back to him. The relief he felt upon seeing her dissipated quickly. Something about her form was too still. He approached, apprehensive but also hopeful that the room might dissolve around him at any moment. This had the same feeling as his nightmares, perhaps it was only that. He'd never hoped more that his mind was tricking him.

As soon as he touched her shoulder, he knew. Everything was wrong. The weight of his hand made her body fall back until she was face up, head resting on the pillows. Her blue eyes were open, blonde hair loose around her, some of it caught across her face. He brushed it back, feeling the chill of her skin, the precious warmth already fled. There was no blood but he spotted an empty pill bottle in her hand. His mind fought against what he was seeing, so far from the correct order of things. She had only called him half an hour ago. How was there even time for this to occur? He pulled the bottle from her hand and felt the world spin faster. He blinked, chasing away the errant lines crossing his vision but the words on the label remained the same. The block type informed him that it once held opioids prescribed to one Aaron Hotchner.

He couldn’t imagine how it had ended up here, couldn’t even remember when he had gotten the prescription. It could have been after any number of injuries. He never took more than one or two before his body reminded him how sick they made him feel. The pain relief was never worth the sweating weakness and nausea that accompanied it. He usually tried to decline when they were offered but somehow he regularly ended up with one or two bottles mixed in with his too large assortment of other medications. He worried about it, knowing Jack was getting older, getting taller, might become curious about such things. He knew it was irresponsible to have narcotics he was not keeping track of somewhere as accessible as his medicine cabinet. But he never imagined this would be the consequence of that uncharacteristic lapse in judgement.

He stared at the small orange bottle, dwarfed by his hand. He didn’t know what to do with this information, had no idea how to process its meaning. Stunned he backed out of the room, out of the house completely. Everything he found inside there was upside-down and he needed air. He stood on the porch, looking vacantly out at the street, gun in one hand, death in the other. He rubbed the bottle continuously with his thumb as the ambulance and cop cars began arriving. His thumb caught a little every time it met the edge of the lid, scraping his skin against it, trying to remember when he even got it. When it disappeared.

An officer approached, weapon drawn, demanding he identify himself, wary of the gun dangling from the large man’s fingers. With effort, Hotch focused his eyes on the stranger, distantly registered the man’s anxiety. He gave his name and slowly moved to pull out his credentials. Hotch tried to answer his questions but all he could remember was Morgan getting shot by Mr. Scratch. Or did he shoot him? His words veered into incoherence and the officer became alarmed. If he hadn’t seen the man’s badge, he’d have a hard time believing this was BAU Unit Chief SSA Aaron Hotchner.

“Sir? Were you injured? I think you need to get checked by the medics,” he said. He took Hotch’s gun from him and steered him in the direction of the ambulance. Hotch didn’t mind him taking the gun, what good was it? His gun couldn’t protect him from the phantom tearing through his life, destroying everything that was good. He doubted a medic could help either.

Hotch was sitting on the bumper of an ambulance, continuing to ruminate when Dave arrived. The medic, after determining there was no physical injury to the man, left him there with instructions to stay put until someone came for him. Hotch hadn’t thought about who was listed as his emergency contact.

“Aaron! What happened?”

Hotch looked at him with wild eyes. He was terrified for Dave, certain now that this was the dream come true. Peter Lewis had gotten inside not only his mind but his life and was ripping the pieces apart slowly.

“Dave you can’t be here! You have to go,” he stood up and put his hands on Rossi’s chest, as if to push him away. Dave grabbed his wrists, eyebrows drawn together, confused by this reaction. Hotch curled his hands into fists and ducked his head. “Please,” he begged, “please Dave, it’s not safe.”

“Aaron, look at me.” Anticipating a bad reaction but doing it anyway, Rossi took hold of his face with both hands and forced the other man to meet his eyes. “What is going on?”

But Hotch was past reason by this point. The words he got out didn’t make sense to Rossi who only heard snippets about coffins and blood and Scratch—but that case was months ago, surely this was unrelated. He didn’t like to think that Hotch had been hiding something about that night for this long but he wouldn’t be surprised by it either. He thought about how Hotch’s confusion had lingered long after the doctors said the drugs’ effects should have worn off. How he had stopped asking for confirmation of details from that night yet he would occasionally lose focus, be half a step behind in conversation.

Rossi looked quickly over at the house, now swarming with officials, drawn to the crime scene like summer moths to lamps. He wasn’t needed here and Hotch very much needed to be somewhere else right now. Dave didn’t know what was happening in his friend’s mind but he knew the chaos of the scene around them wasn’t helping. He waved over an EMT to inform them he would be taking Agent Hotchner home, would ensure his safety. The medic gave no argument, there was nothing wrong with the man that they could see, only that he might be in some sort of shock over finding his colleague’s body. There was no reason for him to be their responsibility, they were happy enough to let someone else take over.

Rossi managed to lead Hotch back to the SUV, even more concerned by the fact that he didn’t resist being guided by a hand on his back. Didn’t try to shrug off the outward expression of concern. If Aaron was too distracted to notice physical contact, something was urgently wrong. Dave thought about this as he opened the door and gently pushed the other man into the passenger seat, giving non-committal responses to Hotch’s continued warnings that he needed to get away, that he needed to get everyone away.

“Put on your seatbelt,” he instructed after getting in himself and seeing it was still undone. Hotch stared at him blankly and he had to actually reach across and grab the restraint for him. Thought it bruised his heart, Dave ignored the way Aaron recoiled from his sudden nearness. He hated to see this side of Hotch, it reminded him how hard the man must work all the time to suppress his reactions, how much effort he went through to hide parts of himself he deemed unacceptable.

He straightened up and secured his own seatbelt before turning the key. He paused, not sure where to take them. Hotch was quiet now, seeming to be lost in the lights that danced across the front of Derek’s house. Dave decided to call Garcia, to update her and see if she had any updates for him. He had rushed from the office after receiving a call from a worried officer about one Agent Hotchner found disoriented at a crime scene. There had been little time to share details. Dave tried not to think about how he was using the term “crime scene” to describe Morgan’s home.

Rossi put his phone on speaker as he shifted into drive. He decided the first stop should be to Aaron’s apartment to check on Jack and see if he could get the man to calm down enough to make some sense. As soon as Garcia answered, he regretted calling her. She was in a panic, news of what had been found had reached her. Normally able to work, even through big emotions, this was all too much for Penelope. She was nearly as incoherent as Hotch was when he’d found him.

“Okay, okay, listen Penelope. I’ve got Hotch, I’m taking him home. Why don’t you call Emily? She’s supposed to have landed by now I think,” Dave was trying his best to stay patient. Honestly, he didn’t know what any of them should do but this manageable instruction seemed to calm Garcia a little.

She sniffled. “Emily, right, of course. I’ll call her right now, sir.”

“Great, thank you Penelope. Let’s just try to stay focused on getting everyone safe. I’ll call you when we get to Hotch’s place.”

“H-how is he? How are you?”

Dave looked over at Hotch who was still quietly brooding. Rossi could almost hear Hotch’s thoughts racing, trying to find a way to get ahead of whatever was happening. It was actually encouraging, he seemed more lucid than before. Dave opened his mouth to tell Garcia everything with them was alright for the moment. But that was the moment a truck slammed into the driver’s side door, sending the SUV spinning wildly through the intersection.

~Part 4~

[turing-temporal]

i saw those yandere dirk headcannons and I must ask the question: Dave Hcs? Cause lemme tell you that repressed kid got some of that good POTENTIAL

All Striders have the potential to be VERY good yanderes, let’s be real. Social isolation and romantic desperation is one hell of a combo.

Dave Strider:

- You never officially got together. He just sort of...appeared in your life one day, and never left. You met him once, then twice, and then he was just there, in your life, and by your side. He would introduce himself as your friend, then your best friend, then your boyfriend. He never gave you the chance to correct him, and eventually it just felt...normal.

- He’d never really planned on having a collection of pictures of you, but here he is, spending hours every night pouring over the box full of Polaroid snapshots of you taken when you weren’t looking, printed out pictures from your social media, and photos of you stolen from people who Dave deems unworthy of knowing you.

- Any suitors, crushes, exes, lovers, good friends, flings, or people who are just a little too close to you for Dave’s liking are eliminated. Time travel makes getting away with murder way easier. Who’s going to notice someone slipping cyanide into one specific bottle of soda right before it gets sealed up at the factory? It must be a coincidence that it’s happened to at least 3 people you know, after all, who could possibly plan that precisely, so far ahead?

[gffa]

Clone Wars EP Dave Filoni breaks down the first episodes of the final season [x]

It’s been a long journey in a galaxy far, far away, but Star Wars: The Clone Wars is finally back. After its unexpected cancellation in 2013, fans had a new hope for the revered series. At Star Wars Celebration in 2015, audience members got to see rough animations (story reels) of a few unfinished episodes, including a plot focusing on imperfect clone soldiers called the Bad Batch. Those episodes make up the first arc of the seventh and final season, which debuted Feb. 21 on Disney+. After the premiere of the first two episodes, EW spoke with Clone Wars and The Mandalorian executive producer Dave Filoni about bringing back the series — and a fallen friend.

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: When you produced the first six seasons, the pace of production was pretty quick. But for this season, you had years to look back and reflect on the story. As you were looking to bring back these first few episodes was there anything you really wanted to go back and update?

DAVE FILONI: If you go back to the original series, what we put out in 2008, it's such a dramatic leap. But then you realize it's been 11 years since that show first aired, which is kind of striking for me that it's been so long. So there should be dramatic improvements, visually. I think that facial animation, the fidelity of the expression — things like that — we were able to improve in the animation itself. I really feel looking at this show now, it's kind of how >George [Lucas] and I envisioned it to look in the beginning. We just didn't have the tools necessary to actually realize it then. But over time with a lot of training, you know, like any good Jedi I learned my way.

One scene that's a little different from the original story reel of “The Bad Batch” is that it originally opened with a longer extended sequence between Mace, Anakin, Rex, and Cody. In the final version, you added a pretty touching scene between Rex and Cody talking about a lot of the fallen clones. What was the decision to add that scene in there?

I just thought the story was really dragging in the beginning. I felt like there was a whole lot of exposition, one too many scenes where they're saying what they're going to do instead of just doing it. And then I wanted to add a better sense of personal stakes to the story. You know, part of the consideration I had to make when doing this was, how do people even know who Echo is? I'm imagining a lot of people will just watch these 12 episodes and maybe not go back and watch the previous, you know, over 100 episodes where Echo plays a moderate role.

The Bad Batch are mutant clones who are new faces we meet at the top of the season. How did you go about designing the looks for these guys and also new clone hairstyles that I didn’t know were possible?

Yes, we always had this bizarre hairstyle trend with clones where they would pick ways to individualize. And the Bad Batch themselves, that was all right from George. He wanted to explore this idea that there were clones that were a little bit more unique from one another that were like a special forces unit that had enhanced skills. And so the trick for those characters is really making them feel special in what their abilities could be, but not making them superheroes. Wrecker should not be the Hulk, even though we love the Hulk and those types of stories. That's not what Star Wars is. So we had to keep it all kind of within the reality of Star Wars.

I loved the callback to clone 99 from season 3. Was that always the plan to call the Bad Batch "Clone Force 99"?

Yeah. That's where the idea kind of came from story-wise, was that, you know, 99 proved back in the original Clone Wars series to have greater heart and strength than some of the clones that were thought of better warriors, and Cody felt that that was worth exploring. And so he really lobbies the Kaminoans to take a second look at clones that they might deem different.

These first two episodes feature almost entirely clone troopers. Dee Bradley Baker voices all the clones — what was his reaction when he saw the script?

He has a unique skill where he's able to lend his voice to the individual nature of these characters. You forget it's one guy doing it. And I can tell you, it's exhausting for him. Being inside one character's mind is exhausting. And I can't imagine what it's like when he's in a whole squad of guys. And he's got to keep the energy up and he's got to keep the conflict up. And he's arguing with himself.

He and I over the years have had different ways to remember clones. When we were in the series we had certain words that would be like triggering for each of the clones — what their key personality was. The Bad Batch is a little easier, you know, because they're so different.

I think one of the coolest scenes that has ever come out of Clone Wars is the attack on the command center in episode 1 of this season. Do you remember plotting that out?

Yeah, that was really well-directed by Kyle Dulevy. George was always pushing us to think more in terms of what the live-action blocking would be and how a live-action film could do things. And that's where some of those longer takes that hand off action and keep with movement and feel more handheld and operated come from. It's the way to really put the viewer right in there, like you're running alongside the clones.

The way we do Clone Wars, there's no storyboards. So when we plan the scene like that, it's all virtually blocked in the computer. All the staging is done in a privatized system George created called Zviz, which is like a virtual blocking tool for directors. And you can put all the characters on the stage and then you can watch them play out the scenes like you’re watching the morning walkthrough of the rehearsal run, and then you can set up your cameras and so you can follow everybody. There's this virtual camera, and you can tweak the timing to get it to be really perfect.

The animator, Kyle, and his team were really proficient at using it. I know exactly the shot you're talking about. The way I look at it in my mind is that the Bad Batch arc is the most authentic to the way I think Clone Wars was back when we did it. Yes, we improved the animation. We improved the rendering. But it's very much something that we had shot. It's pretty authentic. The middle arc is more of a halfway point, where we tweaked it and we worked on the script quite a bit, but it's still the relative idea of what we were going to be doing cinematically. And then the end is really something like we've never done before in Clone Wars — because it’s the end.

It was so great to see Echo again despite the circumstances. When he seemingly died in the Citadel, did you know then that you wanted to bring him back later?

No, ha. That [death], really more than any of the other ones, we all kind of noticed that people were like, “Oh, man, Echo.” And we thought it'd be interesting that the Techno Union — a creepy bunch of guys on the evil side of things — maybe there's something to be done there. So we started to hatch a plan for if that would even be something that's possible. But it wasn't top of mind when we did the Citadel arc.

Another difference between the story reels in the second episode was this new scene about Anakin slipping away to call Padme, which I thought was a pretty illuminating addition.

When I looked at these 12 episodes, there was no Padme in them, and that seemed like a really huge oversight. That was never the plan, because there were more episodes planned, but we ended up doing these 12. I just thought that was really unfortunate. I talked to the actress who played her, Cat Taber, and I think it was a bummer for her because she'd been so involved in the series over the years.

And again, [this new scene] is important to the story and for people that might be walking into Clone Wars new. Having a scene with Padme actually interacting with Anakin was a very important moment. It also shows people where they're at in their relationship. It shows that he goes to her for advice, that she really gets the relationship he has with Rex, that she needs to remind him that actually that was going out on a limb for him, so maybe you should take it on faith and go on this limb for Rex. And also that she has a big influence over Anakin still and that he trusts her. And it also hints at the timeline. And that's always a tricky one, I think, because you as the viewer have to remember that at this point in Star Wars, we know way more than the characters do.

To be honest, I'd worked so much on Rebels, I had to go back and reread and watch a whole bunch of the Clone Wars era just to turn my brain back on. I had to upload a whole bunch of information to my drive because, you know, I guess I'm getting old and losing some of it, but it came back in time.

You posted an intriguing Instagram last month. It was a picture of Gandalf and Ahsoka. And Gandalf says, “People thought I was dead, too. Look how that turned out…” And, you know, a lot of people assumed Asoka was dead because we hear her voice in The Rise of Skywalker. Are we going to see her again?

Well, you'll see her in Clone Wars if you watch these 12 episodes. [Laughs] I told the truth! I had an answer for once.

Was there anything that you learned from working on and directing in this first season of The Mandalorian that you were able to apply to this final season of Clone Wars?

I think a lot. Working with Jon Favreau has been another extension of my education. There are a lot of things that George had taught me over the years about live-action, and finally here I was in a place where I could apply it. And I'm so fortunate to be working alongside Jon as another mentor and someone who is very experienced to help me through the questions and the challenges that you have in a different medium.

But yeah, it definitely affected me as far as looking back on the Clone Wars with different eyes and saying we could tighten this up, this could be better. You know, some of the things I learned from Jon about just keeping it moving and heightening and transforming things as we go. He brings a great perspective, and one that I've really never had as an actor to every scene and the emotions and the character. And so I've learned a lot from him in the past year about hopefully improving our performances and relating to performances.

[paladin-lynx]

SquipJere Week 2020, Day 3: Dance Dance Revolution

@squipjerebmc’s SquipJere Week 2020 Day 3: Dance Dance Revolution

Ships Involved: The SQUIP x Jeremy Heere (Technical Difficulties/Squipemy/Squeremy/JereSquip/SquipJere), Jake Dillinger x Christine Canigula (UpStage/ChrisJake), Jeremy Heere x Brooke Lohst (Puppy Love)

Setting: Canonverse, set in the time interval between “Loser Geek Whatever” and “Halloween”.

Trigger/Content Warnings: Implied child abuse; non-graphic mentions of vomiting; kissing and mentions of kissing

Author’s Notes: I actually had no ideas for this one at first, and then it turned into my longest piece so far for the week! I love DDR and games like it, so this was really fun to write, even if a lot of it is set-up. Enjoy!

Jeremy could only put off hanging out with Rich for so long. For someone who was once so eager to grab Jeremy and stuff him into a locker that was much too small for him, now Rich was way too enthusiastic about meeting up with Jeremy outside of school.

Unfortunately, it was still too early in their ‘friendship’ – could they really call it that? Was it possible to be friends with the guy who had been bullying you constantly for the past two years? – for Jeremy to feel comfortable going over to Rich’s house. Besides, he didn’t want to have to deal with Rich’s dad, who seemed like a nightmare. Jeremy would rather not have a beer bottle thrown at his head or be accused of being Rich’s secret boyfriend. Despite all the torment Rich had put him through, Jeremy couldn’t help feeling a bit bad. He could tell through their connection that Rich definitely didn’t have an easy time at home. Jeremy’s dad was an embarrassment at worst, but Rich’s was dangerous at worst, and nobody deserved that.

So instead of hanging out after school, Jeremy suggested that they do something on a Saturday. Rich, from what Jeremy could glean, tended to spend his weekends out of the house, usually with Jake. And Jeremy wasn’t exactly familiar with the ‘cool places’ in town they could go to, so he left that decision up to Rich and just prayed it would be something he could handle. There were only a handful of places that he ventured out to when he ventured out at all: the park, the old dumpy arcade, the grocery store, and the mall. The rest of town, despite living here for sixteen years, was something of a mystery to him.

Rich would definitely pick a place that would help Jeremy be deemed as cool, because Rich was cool. And Jeremy bet that Rich’s SQUIP was helping him pick, if it was anywhere near as bossy as his own.

So it came as a surprise to Jeremy when Rich said they should hit up the local Dave & Buster’s. It was like the old dumpy arcade, except less old and dumpy.

Jeremy’s SQUIP didn’t have anything against it, so plans were made. But of course because Rich was going, Jake was going and bringing Christine along. And because Jake was going, Chloe was going. And because Chloe was going, Brooke was going. And because Brooke was going, Jenna was going.

So suddenly this casual hangout with Rich felt a lot more daunting. Because it was no longer just with Rich, who was more than enough on his own for Jeremy to handle.

Nonetheless, the SQUIP urged him not to bail out. “That won’t look good at all,” it warned. “And this is your chance to be in an environment where your…geekier interests and their popular tastes overlap. You can’t give up this opportunity.”

And so Saturday came. The SQUIP convinced Jeremy to eat something before he left despite Jeremy feeling like if he put anything into his stomach, it would immediately come right back up. But by some miracle – or a certain supercomputer’s influence – he managed to get down a half-decent meal, and then off he went. The SQUIP told Jeremy to take his father’s car, since it was highly unlikely the man would notice, and it was of course more convenient than waiting for a bus or having to pay for an Uber.

Jeremy had never actually been to this place before, although from what he could recall it was relatively new. Or maybe it wasn’t, and he just hadn’t cared to notice it because he and a certain hoodie-loving ex-friend of his preferred the local arcade, even if it was more run-down and much less crowded. Or maybe that was why they preferred it.

Because as Jeremy set foot into Dave & Buster’s, he was immediately overwhelmed by the blaring music, the bright neon lights of the countless games, and the crowd of people mulling about.

“Oh God…” he mumbled, feeling his stomach turn.

The SQUIP flickered into existence beside him, giving his shoulder a gentle squeeze. “It’s a Saturday,” it reminded. “This was bound to be the busiest day.”

“Why didn’t you tell me that? I don’t…do big groups of people, you know that!”

“Maybe it’s time to change that. It may benefit you to have an audience.”

“An aud—”

“Heere!” Jeremy’s protest was cut off by a familiar voice and he turned to see Rich bounding up to him with the rest of the popular kids in tow. Great, he was the last to arrive, but maybe he could brush it off as being fashionably late, even though he was pretty sure he was actually a few minutes early. And it was then that Jeremy also realized that he had been speaking out loud to his SQUIP, and he received a small fizzle of static against his back as a reminder to think at the supercomputer while he was around his new group of apparent friends.

“Uh, hey, Rich,” Jeremy returned, fighting back the urge to smack himself for how lame of a greeting that was. “Sorry, I didn’t realize you were all here already. Hope you weren’t waiting long.”

Rich shrugged. “Nah, it’s chill. We were just wandering around checking out all the games.” He grinned and elbowed Jake in the side. “Jakey D here tried to use his fake ID at the bar and got caught.”

Jake’s cheeks flushed and he lightly shoved at Rich. “Only because you look like you’re still in middle school!”

Brooke covered her mouth to stifle a giggle. “It was only because Christine apologized and promised it wouldn’t happen again that he didn’t get himself kicked out.”

Christine smiled shyly. “I wouldn’t want the day ruined before it even started…Besides, who drinks this early in the day anyway?”

The others laughed, to Jake’s chagrin, and Christine absolutely beamed as it sunk in that she’d said something they actually found funny. Well, Chloe wasn’t really laughing, but she was hyper-focused on her phone – with Jenna not-so-subtly trying to snoop over her shoulder – so she might not have even been paying attention. Jeremy realized this place probably wasn’t really her particular speed, but she had come along because, of course, she had to keep tabs on Jake. They weren’t back together, were they? Jake looked like he was still very much with Christine. Or at least ‘courting’ her, if they weren’t actively dating.

And speaking of courting, Brooke chose that moment to saunter over and peck Jeremy on the cheek, making his face warm. “We’re glad you made it, though,” she told him. “And that we didn’t get thrown out and end up leaving you here alone!”

“Ah…” Jeremy gave a nervous chuckle and a little bashful smile. “Y-yeah, I’m glad you didn’t get kicked out. So, uh, what should we do first?”

And off they went. There was a good mix of kids and adults enjoying their Saturday, so Christine made a polite request that they watch their language – which was reiterated after Jeremy beat Rich in air hockey and gave a loud “oh fuck you, tall-ass!”, although Jeremy was pretty sure that the insult was actually more teasing than anything else. It had been quite a match to watch, considering they obviously both had their SQUIPs assisting them. Jeremy tried not to focus on the fact that his SQUIP had laid its hand on top of his to alter his movements when necessary.

Some of the games were rather well-known titles while others were so obscure Jeremy couldn’t help wondering if Michael would know them. They made their way around the entire collection, and to his own surprise Jeremy found himself actually having fun. He was better at the more classic arcade-style games but he still gave the rest a fair shot. Christine, who didn’t seem like she dabbled in video games very much at all, found out she was rather good at Temple Run and some knockoff version of Whac-A-Mole. Rich and Jake of course went right for all the shoot-‘em-up games where they could pretend to blow the heads off of zombies. Jenna was actually pretty talented at the various trivia and timing games, although Jeremy supposed that came from years of sticking her nose into everything. He was pretty sure Chloe didn’t touch a single game in the time they were there, and at one point Brooke tried to drag Jeremy into one of the enclosed games – it was a haunted house or something – to make out, to which he turned bright red and, despite the SQUIP’s insistence in the back of his mind, told her that they shouldn’t abandon the others or they’d get upset.

Jeremy was pretty sure after a couple of hours that they’d gone through almost every game in the building and he was about to suggest that maybe they grab snacks or something, but then Christine suddenly perked up and pointed. “What’s that one?”

They all turned – Jeremy thought he even saw Chloe glance up from her phone – to see a tall game station with a metal platform in front of it, and on the platform were brightly colored arrows.

Jake raised an eyebrow. “Is that DDR?”

Jeremy frowned and glanced around at the others before stepping forward to get a better look at the game. “No, I think it’s a knockoff,” he replied, looking up at the top of the cabinet. There was definitely a name there that wasn’t Dance Dance Revolution but it was in too many eye-straining fonts for him to actually make out what it said. His gaze swiveled back down to the arrows on the platform. “DDR has the arrows going left, right, up, and down, but these ones are on the corners.”

He realized a beat too late that implying he had played DDR before was probably not something he should divulge to the cool kids, but when he looked around for his SQUIP, he found it giving him a little smile and nodding in approval.

Before he could react, though, he felt a hard nudge at his back and turned around to see Rich snickering. “Well, go on, tall-ass! Dance for us!”

“What?” Jeremy immediately sputtered in a way he was positive was uncool and his face went bright red. “I-I’m not gonna dance!”

Chloe smirked at him, lowering her phone – why did she have to lower her phone now of all times? – and put a hand on her hip. “Come on, Jere. Since you seem to know about this kind of game.”

Brooke giggled. “It’ll be fun, Jer-bear.”

Christine clasped her hands together, grinning at him, her eyes almost shining. “I’d love to see how you dance, Jeremy.”

Jeremy’s gaze flicked around to each of them and he suddenly felt very cornered, sweat slipping down the back of his neck. However, a wave of calm swiftly fell over him and he released a breath he didn’t even realize he’d been holding. He peeked to the side and saw the SQUIP standing there, giving him a confident smile.

It reached up to gently tap Jeremy’s nose, which felt more like a tiny spark of static. “Come on, dear,” it purred. “Let’s dance.”

He knew there was no getting out of it now, so he sighed, pushing his hair back and shaking his head. “It’s not as if these games actually look like dancing,” he muttered as he plodded up to the platform. “They look more like your legs are spazzing out.”

The rest of the group quickly crowded around, eagerly watching as Jeremy stepped onto the arrows to activate the game and pull up the song list. He could almost feel the confusion as they looked over the options.

“What are these?” Jenna huffed out.

“It looks like Japanese,” Jake commented, tilting his head as if that would help him read the foreign characters better. Or maybe Jake could understand Japanese; Jeremy wouldn’t be surprised, considering how much Jake threw himself into extra skills at school.

Jeremy decided it was better to hold his tongue than admit that he actually did recognize some of these as covers of Vocaloid and Touhou songs. He was pretty sure a few on the list were actually Korean and not Japanese, but he didn’t recognize them regardless. He tapped his foot against one of the arrows to scroll through and see if anything looked particularly interesting.

The SQUIP suddenly held up a hand and Jeremy found himself frozen in place, blinking at the screen. The song title was in Japanese, but upon hearing the rhythm and a few of the words in the preview snippet, he recognized it as a Touhou song, although not one he knew well enough to recall the name of. And it sounded like a remix, nonetheless.

“‘Four Seasons of Loneliness,’” the SQUIP translated, smirking sideways at him. “Pick this one.”

Why?

He got his answer from Brooke: “Sounds hard and fast.”

Ignoring the snicker from Rich at the obvious joke, Jeremy selected the song and was about to begin the game when the SQUIP once again stopped him. With yet another smirk, it upped the difficulty to the max and Jeremy had to keep his jaw from dropping.

“Damn, look at you, J-Man, all confident!” Jake whistled, and Jeremy felt his blood run cold.

I’m going to embarrass myself, he lamented as he confirmed his selection and the loading screen came on. Not only was the difficulty at its highest, but it was set so that he’d have to use every arrow, not those just designated for a single player on one side of the two-player platform.

“No, you won’t,” the SQUIP soothed, appearing in front of him and taking his hands. Jeremy couldn’t help blushing as those familiar cool fingers curled around his already sweaty hands. “Just let me do all the work.”

Jeremy had thought that the SQUIP wanted him to become more independent. Then again, it had also recited his lines for him during play rehearsal so he didn’t have to take the time to memorize them. Maybe this was along the same lines. But this wasn’t going to be like when the SQUIP had led him in a slow waltz – honestly, he wasn’t even sure it had been a waltz, he didn’t know shit about dancing – around the imaginary Hogwarts Great Hall. This was going to be quick-paced – the BPM had been 178 and while Jeremy wasn’t a music expert, he was pretty sure that was fast – and in front of an audience.

So that was what it had meant earlier.

You predicted this, didn’t you? he accused, heart jumping as the first beats of the song came on.

The SQUIP laughed. “Perhaps. Now let’s give your new friends a show.”

The song opened and Jeremy felt like he couldn’t move, frozen with fear like a prey animal, but then suddenly the SQUIP gave his hands a little squeeze and his entire body started moving on its own. It wasn’t the first time the SQUIP had stepped in to autopilot his body but it had never been to move around like this.

He had to make sure to restrain himself from looking too surprised, because as far as the others knew – except for maybe Rich – he was doing this all on his own. So he just swallowed the lump in his throat and let his feet fly across the platform, hitting every arrow in perfect time. When he was on one side of the platform and had to get to an arrow all the way on the other side in less than a millisecond, he was suddenly over there, which he didn’t think would be possible. Even if someone was controlling his body, he was still in no way built to be a dancer. Or at least, a cool and popular one.

He looked up at his SQUIP, who was still holding his hands and grinning widely at him. When Jeremy peeked down, he saw that the SQUIP’s feet were moving in time with his and, unlike when they’d slow-danced and the SQUIP had been dancing in front of him, now their feet blended together.

One of the others whistled and whooped from behind him. “Go, Heere!” Rich called, and Jeremy could feel his excitement buzz through their connection.

And despite his earlier nerves, Jeremy found himself breaking into a grin, adrenaline pumping through his veins. To the others it would seem like he was intently watching the screen, but he was truly just watching his SQUIP in absolute awe. He didn’t even need to know what arrows to press because by the time they popped up in the game, he was already there and moving on to the next arrow.

The SQUIP even let him show off a bit – although could it be considering ‘showing off’ if he wasn’t the one actually doing it? – and threw in a few spins and jumps for flare, earning him more cheers from his friends. He would think that this entire display would be considered rather dorky, but his body was moving so fast that even if the game was childish, his so-called dancing was too unreal for it not to be impressive.

All that existed in that moment was him and his SQUIP. Even the music, upbeat and catchy as it was, faded into the background. It wasn’t like he could understand the lyrics anyway. Jeremy had had moments before when he’d felt unusually close to the SQUIP – he knew, in reality, they were always close considering that the SQUIP was inside his brain – but there had only been a few moments these past few months where he’d really, truly felt in sync with his own personal supercomputer.

And he liked how it felt.

Before he knew it, the song was over and he found himself striking a pose. He realized he was soaked in sweat, but he barely felt winded, although he had a sneaking suspicion that that was the SQUIP’s doing. He looked up at the SQUIP once more, who smiled and stepped back, dipping down to press its lips to the back of Jeremy’s hand. Jeremy was absolutely dumbstruck at the small but notably warm fizzle of static against his skin, but then the SQUIP’s form blinked out of sight and Jeremy found himself staring at the screen with his mouth open in shock.

The last notes of the song faded and his score flashed onto the screen, a chipper female voice declaring, “Yeah, I knew you could do it!” There were quite a number of ‘Perfects’ but also a good mix of ‘Greats’ and ‘Goods,’ as if the SQUIP hadn’t wanted to make it seem like Jeremy had achieved the impossible on his first try at this obscure knockoff game.

He stumbled as Brooke suddenly crashed into him in an embrace. “Jeremy, that was amazing! I had no idea you could move like that!” She put her hands on his cheeks and pulled him into a somewhat messy kiss, making his cheeks burn, but he didn’t get the same fuzzy feeling in his chest that he’d gotten before, when the SQUIP had had his hand.

“Ah…” He smiled shyly once they’d broken apart for air and his chest heaved, the exhaustion from his dancing suddenly setting in. “Th-thanks. I just kinda…went for it.”

Jake grinned, flashing him a thumbs-up. “Looks like all that DDR and dancing alone in your bedroom didn’t go to waste, huh?”

Jeremy tried to come up with a retort, but he quickly realized that more than just his small gathering of friends was watching. Quite a few of the other patrons were looking at him, muttering to each other about how remarkable that had been. He even heard one little girl squeal, “I wanna dance like him!” which earned an amused chuckle from her parents.

Jeremy gently pulled away from Brooke, rubbing the back of his neck. “Thanks, guys. Uh, you can stop staring now.”

It looked like the group wasn’t going to drop it any time soon, though, as they led him off to find a place to sit down. Jeremy couldn’t help peeking over his shoulder, expecting to see the SQUIP right by him as it usually was, but instead it had reappeared beside the dancing game, watching with a surprisingly fond smile as the little girl bounded over to the platform and started tapping away at the arrows.

Jeremy’s heart squeezed. Maybe he’d ask Rich if they could meet up here again at some point.

[ellasprouts]

you don’t need or want this but I review the TUA characters

im bored and its Saturday night so I plan on reviewing characters from the best show: the umbrella academy

TUA SPOILERS OFC!!!!!!!

1. Luther

Luther is a character that’s really hated on, but personally I don’t hate him all that much. Sure, he makes a lot of mistakes throughout the season but he really doesn't know what it’s like to live without his everyday actions being approved by Sir Reginald. He’s got a lot of issues, and is a dick sometimes, but overall 5/10.

2. Diego

I love Diego and he’s such a good character with great development. In the beginning of episode one, I immediately thought he was a douchebag but I ended up loving his character. He’s so nice... in his own way, of course. But you can see as the series goes on how much he cares about his family and Eudora... :(!! Overall, 10/10. Kind of a dick, but I’m letting it slide because he loves his mom and his knives which makes up for it.

3. Allison

I love Allison so much, even though her “big-sister skills” are questionable. Her character is so *mwah* and I can’t help but love her. She has a big, big heart but sometimes she focuses more on herself than others in the heat of the moment. She made a lot of mistakes with Vanya in the season, which put me on edge, but I thought the scene at the concert with her, Vanya, and the gun <3, really made me SOB. Her character really portrays how nothing can stand in-between sibling bonds, especially when she chooses to save Vanya instead of the world. 8/10.

4. Klaus

I love Klaus and he’s one of my favorites, (him, Diego, and Ben). I truly LOVE how much he progressed through the season. I relate to him most out of all character’s by far. When Dave died it was so amazing how Klaus pulled through his addiction just to see him again, which I think is so wonderful. I can’t wait for next season when we get to see more of his powers!! 11/10.

5. Five

Five’s a real dickhead, but I honestly love how he risked everything to save his family from impending doom. His cocky and ambitious character lowkey annoyed me throughout the series but I was also soft for the other side of him which was trying so hard to save the world. He may not show it, but he loves his family a lot. And he loves Delores which adds 0.5 points. 7.5/10.

6. Ben

I love Ben so much. I feel so utterly bad for him and I’m dying (lmao) to find out how he died. His character is so wonderful and just improves the show by 100% anytime he’s on screen. I love and think it’s so amazing how much he’s trying to help his brother be the amazing person he sees him as. Ben is so wonderful and he needs 800 more minutes, at least, of screen time next season. Ben is one of the best characters in the show for his heartfelt nature. 11/10.

7. Vanya

I’m in love with Ellen Page Vanya. Her beautifully portrayed character makes me SCREAM. Yes, she tried to end the world and had already once killed everyone in a different timeline but that doesn't matter. She is so kickass and awesome. I feel horrible for how she was treated by her father and her siblings, which Allison tried to make up for during the season. Her powers are so cool, too. I love Vanya, but I feel as though ending the world because of your childhood trauma is a bit much. But we also should remember she didn’t have much control over her powers and her anger must’ve taken the best of her. Her sibling, Luther, also put her in the one place of her childhood that was most traumatic which was so horrible. I’m going have to take away 0.5 points, though. She kinda slit Allison’s throat :/. 9.5/10.

8. Hazel and Cha-Cha

The two most badass characters of the show. I love them so much even though their relationship is a little toxic. But that’s not completely their fault. 

Hazel: 6/10

Cha-Cha: 5/10

9. Leonard Peabody/Harold Jenkins

I hate him, I don’t even know why I included him in this. -1/10.

10. Grace 

I love Grace so much! She is the best robot mom in history and I feel so bad for how Reginald treated her. Grace gets a 200/10 from me, chief.

11. Sir Reginald Hargreeves 

Who hurt this man to make him such a monster? Reginald is the worst character by far, he hurt and traumatized all of his “children”. Sure, they’re superheroes and need training to save people or whatever but they were just kids. They didn’t deserve to be hurt so badly by the man they deemed their father. 0/10.

12. The Handler 

“Wow, what a bitch,” I said ten seconds before falling in love with her. So, whatever. She’s kind of the bad guy but she’s so funny, idk why. I love her. 4/10, just because she did a lot of messed up shit but she just gave me vibes whenever she was onscreen.

13. Pogo

Pogo was an enabler to Sir Reginald’s abuse which makes me give him a 2/10. Yes, he cared for the kids but he was an enabler to his abuse and could’ve told them the secrets Reginald kept hidden instead of forcing them all to slowly suffer as they uncover more and more. 

14. Agnes Rofa

I LOVE HER SO MUCH SHE IS SUCH A SWEETIE. 1000/10.

ok that’s pretty much it of all the characters I wanted to review/that’s pretty much all there were other than side characters. I love this show so much so :) enjoy my dumbass review

you guys should go follow me and like all my other stuff cuz I kinda post a bunch alright thank u <3

[anunvalidcritic]

The Boys: SN1.4

(DISCLAIMER: MY OPINION IS MY OWN AND CAN BE DEEMED INVALID TO THOSE WHO DON’T CARE FOR IT.)

My dudes here is the fourth episode for ya...

                               THE FEMALE OF THE SPECIES

I’m assuming that the episode could be the climax since there are only 8 episodes in this installment... I’ll stfu... moving on...

I’m sorry but the lovemaking scene isn’t needed... there I fucking said it!

This female lowkey looks like an older version of Joey King

Butt ass naked eatin’ hot pockets while watching an old video of the female he was in bed with... this must be BECCA.

I’m surprised the DEPUTY DIRECTOR/SUSAN hasn’t gotten used to these surprise yet. 

SUSAN’s bossy but I like it!!

POPCLAW = SNITCH 

“You know I’d rather be rubbin’ them toes.” - M.M. (SMOOTHIES)

“If you and Monique so something pure then why are you lying to her about where you are?” - FRENCHIE

Damn, they really just walked down there like it was nothing... nobody even tried to stop them...

What the hell... is that J-POP?!?!

FRENCHIE >> I spy with my little eye a female.

oHHH SHIT that BITch IS FAST!!!!!!!!

DAAMMMNNN THAT DUDE KILLED HIMSELF JUST SO HE WOULDN’T GET FUCKED UP!!!

Is THE DEEP really in therapy??

-___-

.... I hope he doesn’t get jiggy with the animals....

Back to the boys

M.M. has finally found the Compound V

looks like FRENCHIE has sort of train ticket

While HUGHIE has a whole date with STARLIGHT.

“As a rule, I kinda don’t go out after gorey murders.” - HUGHIE

QUEEN MAEVE huffin’ and puffin’ like she already knows what this motherfucker HOMELANDER is going to do. 

CHERIE baby girl FRENCHIE is cheating on you, my dude. 

Homeboy pullin’ out the bodies looks like DAVE CHAPPELLE. 

A-TRAIN know she’s lyin’... bruh... don’t tell him...

THE FEMALE JUST FUCKED THAT BITCH UP!!!!!!

STARLIGHT was really holdin’ back for this dude... that’s so sweet...

Damn that bowling ball kinda startled me too

Of course, the people hijacking the plane are Arabic...

So they got all 3 of the hijackers. 

Well, I’ll be damnd there’s another one. 

HOMELANDER is still that fake ass bitch

Dang, he really needs to watch where he’s aiming his fucking eyes.

HOMELANDER AIN’T SHIT HE COULD’VE SAVED EVERYONE ON THAT FUCKING PLANE!!!!!!!!!! CAPTAIN AMERICA WOULD NEVER!!!

how many languages does M.M. know??

FRENCHIE puttin’ all this shit together. 

There goes that J-POP music video again. 

FRENCHIE + THE FEMALE = OTP

Remember HUGHIE you’re doing this for ROBIN.

HUGHIE = WHITE URKEL

damn so that’s what happened to MALLORY

SPICE GIRLS

SPORTY SPICE > pretty much not doing anything

POSH SPICE > “Making clothes for anorexics. Not much of a growth market.” - BUTCHER

BABY SPICE > “Fuck all. Not even page six of the daily mail.” - BUTCHER

SCARY SPICE > “Up to her eyeballs in lawsuits and sex tapes.” - BUTCHER

GINGER SPICE > “Has 3 albums: Passion, Schizophonic, and Scream If You Wanna Go Faster.... They’ll all make your ears bleed.” - BUTCHER

“When they’re apart their absolute fucking rubbish. But you put them together they’re the goddamn fucking spice girls.” - BUTCHER

Maybe that’s the concert BECCA was talking about when she was in bed with him. 

THE DEEP has lost his fucking mind he stole a dolphin ladies and gentlemen...

I think he fucks the animals...

OH MY GOD PLEASE DON’T LET THE DOLPHIN DIE..... NOOOOOO

A-TRAIN SNATCHED HER ASS UP REAL QUICK!!!!!!!

MY GOD HE IS REALLY MESSING THIS GIRL UP!

FRENCHIE + THE FEMALE = <3

THE FEMALE is non-equivalent to a spice girl

you know I’m getting really tired of this facade that HOMELANDER is showing towards these people. 

______

Episode 5 is done I just have to upload it. 

[black-john-lennon-archive]

I Got Bored and rewrote season 3 of Glee..:

If i’d written season 3 of Glee it would have been senior year shenanigans.

- Will can’t get the seniors to care as much as he wants because they’re getting senioritis.

- Kurt has the worst senioritis, he has extra credits from Dalton, doesn’t have to go to school full time and wants to spend all his time banging Blaine like a screen door in a hurricane.

- Finn is still complacent so he’s upset that people aren’t taking Glee club seriously, he takes it out on Blaine.

- More focus on Mercedes trying to convince her Dad that pursuing the arts is okay. Parallel with Mike.

- Kurt and Rachel apply to multiple schools. Kurt considers fashion, interior design, culinary school and theater. He gets into a top fashion program and NYADA, he has to choose. Rachel’s feelings hurt because he is torn and not as 100% sure about NYADA as she is.

- We see the arc of Mike and Tina’s breakup. Her parents don’t like him, his parents don’t like her. He’s too timid and traditional for Tina’s family, she’s too Americanized for his.

- Shelby does not come back. So Puck never bangs her.

- Cooper stays for two episodes and we get a glimpse of Blaine’s parents

- Rachel and Finn are insecure about their futures so they dive head first into Glee club, that along with Will’s “booty camp” causing the group to splinter. Mercedes is the first to go when Will calls her lazy but holds Finn’s hand. Blaine joins her when Finn keeps being mean to him, Tina follows when Mike sides with Rachel, Sam returns and joins the rival glee club to get Mercedes back started by Roz with ND members that jumped ship

- Rachel and Kurt fight when she tried to make him choose between ND (her and Finn) and Blaine

- Roadtrip to visit colleges

- Yearbook photo montage

- The musical is Little Shop of Horrors, Blaine gets Seymour and Kurt steals the show as The Dentist. Rachel is Audrey. Mercedes, Tina and Santana are Chiffon, Ronette and Crystal , Artie is Audrey II.

- Quinn rejoins ND but keeps her skank look after an intervention from Mercedes who convinces Quinn to talk to Emma who gets her into therapy

- Santana comes out but not to her grandmother (some people come out in bits and not to everyone all at once because reasons)

- We see Mercedes meet Shane at church. Share her frustration that Mr. Schue and Rachel don’t count her work in the choir and accuse her of laziness because it’s not what they deem “hard work” and he supports her. Just as she decides to date him, Sam returns.

- Rachel still chokes. She stalks Carmen. Carmen doesn’t give a shit. Rachel gets wait listed. Has to decide if she wants to go to another school or pound the pavement with a headshot and a dream.

- Cooter never dates Sue and he never hits Beiste.

Things I’d keep the same:

- Dance with Somebody

- Sebastian (except Michael happens way differently)

- Blaine transfer, is still a junior

- Everything about Sugar

- Winning Nationals

- Harmony

- Unique

- Joe (but not his boner poking Quinn)

- Burt running for Congress and winning

- Disco

- David Martinez can stay but the actual episode can go

- God Squad

Things that don’t exist in my version

- Rory

- Kurt giving the tape back to Sebastian

- Dave’s suicide attempt

- Quinn’s car accident

- West Side Story

- Santana’s weird beef with Finn

- Shelby

- Klaine’s invisibility during the Tongue Tied Montage

- Kurt dedicating I’ll Remember to anyone but Blaine

- Rachel winning prom queen

- Santana being outed

- Finchel’s engagement and stupid chair talk

- Student elections

- Sue’s baby

[writehardwhumpharder]

Suits fic.

So this ended up pretty long, I got a little carried away. I’m not even sure if tumblr will let me post it. I hope you guys like suits as much as I do. Prompt: Okay can I see, like, early Mike just started working at the firm and he's trying to keep up with Harvey's almost non-stop schedule and ends up sick but tries to keep going? Cue "annoyed" (but actually worried) Harvey?

Mike eyed himself in the mirror subconsciously wearing his too-cheap suit, and too-skinny tie. His first couple days had gone well enough, but now he knew what was expected of him and boy was he out of his depth. Sure he could recite the Harvard law book by memory, but that didn’t help much with all the little nuanced details each draft needed. He slipped his files into his bag and slung it over his shoulder then grabbed his bike to lug down the stairs over his head.

By the time he reached the Pearson Hardman building his heart was racing, and not from the 3 miles he just biked through traffic. What the actual hell did I get myself into? he wondered. Mike had made sure to get to the office 40 minutes early in hopes that he’d have time to review the files Louis requested to be done by this morning, but when he got to the office every other associate was already at their cubicles. Only the senior partners weren’t there yet and even they got there a fashionable 15 minutes early. Mike had hardly sat down when Donna came bustling past the cubicles.

“Harvey wants these by lunch but if you’re pressed for time, do this one first. He needs it for a client meeting at 1:15pm which you should attend by the way.” She was gone before he could say good morning. She winked at him as she walked away, making him feel a little better about the cut and dry work of a major law firm. Thank god Louis had taken one good look at him and deemed him capable of only the simplest of cases. He meant it as an insult but on a day like this, he took it with a genuine smile. Before getting buried in his work, Mike opted to take a quick trip to the coffee machine, knowing that for the next few hours he’d be glued to his work station.

The morning went by quickly but Mike managed to finish the file Harvey needed and the easy cases Louis gave him. Despite a few things he had to do for Harvey, he was pretty proud of what he’d been able to finish. It was 1pm the next time Mike looked up from his work, almost time to go meet Harvey. Reading the small print for hours on end was starting to make his eyes sore so Mike was grateful for a short break from it, even if it is just to talk to a client. Mike rubbed his eyes as he crossed the room holding the stack of papers he had prepared. Harvey emerged from his office and wasted no time flipping through the papers.

“Um, good morning. Or afternoon…” Mike mumbled.

“Yeah okay, these are fine but they could be a little cleaner.” Harvey commented, clearly distracted. Mike felt his shoulders sag in mild defeat. For his first week of work “fine” was pretty damn good, but he couldn’t help but feel like he was slaving over files only to stay invisible. Harvey looked up long enough to read his associate’s face. “You know you’re doing really well competing against a bunch of people who actually went to law school.” Harvey teased in a low voice so no one might overhear them. Mike trailed after him towards the conference room already rehearsing in his head what he would say to the client if he had to speak.

Turns out he didn’t. Harvey introduced them both and Mike shook the man’s hand but apart from that he was mostly there to observe and supply information. Mike would hand Harvey a paper with the most important details highlighted every so often as they discussed legal concerns over a faulty product.

“Don’t worry Dave, we’ll stay on top of this. We’ll find a way to cover this long before anyone can file against your company. It’s not my area of expertise but I would suggest issuing a press release with this information as soon as possible.” Harvey said, handing the man a summary of what their plan was in simpler terms. Mike flexed his aching fingers under the table, trying to rub away hours or rather days of hard work. As much of a relief as it was to be able to sit for 30 mins and do next to nothing, he caught himself glancing at his watch multiple times, anxious about every second he didn’t spend working.

After the meeting, Mike dropped off Louis’s files and got to work on the other things Harvey had left him. These would take some research, great, off to the file room it is then. He gathered his things and sat on the floor, scanning through bins of information. If his eyes didn’t hurt before they certainly did now. Words were starting to blur together and he kept sagging more and more out of tiredness until he was basically laying on the ground, propped up on his elbows just enough to be able to read the paper.

—-

At first he wasn’t sure what woke him, a sharp knock, maybe someone was calling his name? He blinked slowly and looked up to see Rachel staring down at him disapprovingly.

“Odd time for a nap don’t you think?” she said.

“Oh my god, Rachel, what time is it?” Mike asked suddenly alert.

“Almost 4pm.”

“Shit, shit, shit. Harvey wants these by the end of the day.” Mike stammered combing through the files to see just how much trouble he was in. If Harvey stayed late today he had a chance of finishing them but he probably had more work for him to do by now anyway. Rachel gave him a sympathetic look.

“Fine,” she huffed, “I’ll help you.” Mike grouped up the documents for her, pairing the papers he was going to use to prove precedent to the sloppy drafts he’d started. Luckily for him she didn’t comment on how bad they were and got to work on rewriting them entirely. Having her there was a welcome distraction to how run down he was. He crossed his fingers hoping that these hellish past few days were some kind of trial by fire and things would settle down soon.

“Okay, these two are done. But that’s all I can help with. You better hurry if you want to catch Harvey on his way out.”

“Mhmm.” Mike responded without looking up, “thank you for the help.” Rachel paused by the door.

“Don’t get used to it.” She said in a tone that was both serious and lighthearted. When Mike finished a few minutes later and leapt to his feet to go find Harvey, he found that both his legs had fallen asleep and fell rather ungracefully back down to the floor. He banged his elbow on the shelf on his way down.

“God damn it.” Mike cursed to himself before trying again, much more successful this time. Harvey’s office was empty but it was just past 5pm so with any luck he’d still be in the lobby. Mike took the stairs for lack of time and scrambled down each floor to the building’s main lobby. Despite going downhill the trip sapped up a surprising amount of energy and he was left panting, one hand leaning on the wall before exiting the stairwell.

Yes! Harvey was still here, he probably only stopped to flirt with the receptionist.

“Ha- Harvey.” he said still a little out of breath, “I’ve got those files you wanted.” Mike said. Harvey took them and shoved them in his briefcase, only to pull out an equally large stack for him.

“Thanks Mike, I was going to give these to you earlier but Donna said you weren’t at your cubicle. I need these by 9am at the latest. And do get some sleep Mike, you look like shit, and we have court tomorrow.” Harvey replied. Mike had completely forgotten about their hearing tomorrow. He ran a hand through his messed up hair and straightened his tie in an attempt to look more professional.

“Sure, Harvey, no problem.”

“That’s what I like to hear.” Harvey said before taking off, leaving Mike standing stupidly by the receptionist’s desk. He offered the girl a sheepish smile before heading back up to the office to grab his things in addition to the new assignments Harvey just gave him, this time taking the elevator.

—-

When Mike’s alarm dragged him out of a restless sleep he felt.. bad. Not in any particular way, just bad. And he had a feeling this was the kind of tired coffee couldn’t fix. He’d been up all night, getting only about 2 hours of sleep, which on second thought was more like a glorified nap. After a few more minutes of sulking Mike dragged himself out of bed, hoping a cold shower could perk him up. He grabbed a dull, dark grey suit from his closet and a crisp white shirt, he had to be in court later so now wasn’t the time to be taking fashion risks. He picked up the navy blue tie his grandma got for him when she heard about his fancy new job. The thought put him a little more at ease despite the worsening headache he had. Mike took one glance at his bike on his way out before deciding to just take a taxi. He’d probably puke his guts out trying to bike to work when he felt so crappy.

Mike threw a $20 at the taxi driver before jogging up to the building, he hadn’t planned for the extra time he’d spent stuck in traffic so now he was borderline late. It was clear Harvey was in no mood to deal with his associates lateness. He tried to go easy on the kid but with his schedule, lightening his workload just wasn’t an option. Jessica was already skeptical of his choice so when Mike showed up to his office looking pale and sweaty he had his lecture already planned out, for appearances at the very least.

“Shut the door, Mike.” Harvey said in a clipped voice. “Want to tell me why you’re 15 minutes late and look like you just ran a marathon?” Mike adjusted his tie subconsciously.

“I rode my bike, it’s pretty warm out today.” Mike lied. Harvey was tempted to make a remark about how if he can’t afford a taxi maybe he doesn’t belong here but he knew better. Mike didn’t belong there, and that’s exactly why he chose him.

“Sorry Harvey, I’ve been working really hard to finish these and it’s still before 9am, I- I hope that’s okay.” Mike said. Harvey sighed visibly, looking reminiscent of a disappointed father.

“It’s fine, Mike. Just plan better next time. Be back here in twenty minutes, Ray will drive us to the courthouse and for the love of god, do something to make yourself presentable.”

Mike took that as his cue to leave. At first he headed towards his cubicle but a sinking feeling in his stomach had him walking towards the bathrooms instead. He almost felt hungover, the ache spreading through his body from lack of sleep gave him the distinct feeling of being poisoned. Mike barely managed to keep his composure until he got to the men’s room where he ran the last few feet and collapsed on his knees in front of the toilet. He dry-heaved for a moment, using his brief second of relief to lock the stall door behind him. This time he actually brought up the small bit of breakfast he had. It’s just nerves right? Mike rationalized to himself. He just had to get it together. He didn’t want Harvey to regret hiring him, after all he did try to fire him once already.

As soon as Mike was confident that he was done, he exited the stall and made for the mirror to “make himself presentable” per Harvey’s request. Though Mike had to agree with him, his skin was a dull almost greyish color, which his glistening layer of sweat only helped make more visible. His cheeks were flushed a sickly pink. There wasn’t much he could do besides take a few deep breaths and splash some cold water in his face.

When he met back up with Harvey, he looked and felt worse than he did when he came in.

“Mike I thought I told you to do something about-“ he made a vague gesture to Mike, “that.” Harvey scolded, though Mike thought he detected the slightest hint of concern.

“I did…” Mike said, lacking the energy to make a better argument for himself.

“You know that? Why don’t you sit this one out. It’s not that important, I’m sure there’s plenty of stuff for you to do here.” Harvey said. This was his chance to back out, but Mike was too stubborn to quit just like that.

“No, I’m fine. I want to go, really,” he insisted. Harvey gave him a disbelieving look but he didn’t have time to argue with the kid.

“Fine, let’s go. Ray is waiting outside.” Harvey grabbed his briefcase and walked ahead, leaving Mike to try to keep up with him. He couldn’t help but notice the way his associate leaned heavily against the elevator wall, lacking the youthful energy he always had. He should have his earbuds in right now, listening to some ridiculous playlist to psych himself up. The doors opened before he had a chance to comment on it.

Mike felt truly awful at this point. He was starting to doubt whether or not he’d make it through the hearing. As long as he could stay sitting, everything would be fine. He all but fell into the seat next to Harvey and lazily reached up to grab his seatbelt. Harvey saw his minor struggle and opted to just grab the seatbelt and click it for him.

“Get it together, Mike. I’m serious. ‘Cause if you can’t, I’ll have Ray drop you off at home.” Harvey said.

“No!” Mike whined, “I’ve got it.” he said. They continued the rest of the ride in silence, luckily the courthouse wasn’t very far away.

Harvey strode into the courtroom with his usual confidence and grace. Mike on the other hand stumbled a bit, gripping the edges of the rows of chairs to steady himself. No turning back now. It was a simple case, all they were doing was filing a motion to allow them access to a rival companies records, but you could hardly call any case of Harvey’s simple. He was representing some of the wealthiest businessmen in New York. They quickly took their seats and waited for the judge. Mike could practically feel the sweat seeping through his shirt, he was uncomfortably hot now and the nausea was coming back despite his stomach being completely empty from earlier. He stared down at the desk in front of him and tried to focus on breathing.

“Are you okay?” Harvey asked, no longer trying to hide his concern. Mike just nodded in response, not trusting himself to open his mouth. He started shaking his leg impatiently until Harvey told him to knock it off.

“All rise.” A woman said as the judge entered. Mike forced himself to stand but he kept his hands firmly planted on the table. Harvey walked up to the stand and started talking. Okay Mike, just relax, everything is gonna fine, you’re- oh god. The dizziness was pressing in on him from all directions and his vision started to tunnel. He looked up to watch Harvey, though he couldn’t hear much of anything. He pressed a hand to his stomach and closed his eyes as the dizziness and fatigue made his stomach churn. He was pretty sure he was dangerously dehydrated at this point as well since he’s been running on coffee the last few days. Without Harvey next to him to stop him, he started tapping his foot again and used his other hand to rest his head. Mike knew how he must look but nothing could distract him from of primary goal of not throwing up right there in the middle of the courtroom. Harvey kept looking back to him anxiously but couldn’t disrespect the judge by interrupting him to go check on Mike. Turns out, he didn’t have to. Mike swayed slightly in his chair, his head was too foggy to know up from down and before he knew it he was sliding towards the floor, helpless to stop it.

Harvey heard a thud and whipped his head around to see Mike in the floor, struggling to get on his knees.

“Mike!” he called out to him. He knew he should have sent him home, but Mike was trying so hard to impress him he worked himself to his absolute breaking point. “What’s going on?” He asked, trying to sound calm as he moved the chairs out of the way so he could get to him.

“I- I’m fine.” Mike muttered weakly.

“You’re a terrible liar.” Harvey said as he grabbed Mike and hauled him to his feet. “Come on, let’s get you out of here.”

“But… but the case.”

“Already taken care of.” Harvey said. Which turned out to be true when the judge’s assistant ran up to them with the signed documents on their way out.

“Feel better.” she smiled. If Mike wasn’t so out of it he would be absolutely mortified right now. The last thing he remembered before drifting to sleep was Harvey helping him up the stairs to his apartment, taking off his jacket and shoes before letting Mike sleep this off. Despite how terribly the day had gone, Harvey knew he made the right choice.

[gremlinwithacause]

I’m going to date parts of these as I go along because as of when i start this. I haven’t finished the meat epilogue, let alone start the candy one. Dates will be set up the american way.

This isn’t to invalidate anyone’s opinions on the epilogues. You can like it, you can not, this is just what I think.

4/22 - 3:05 pm

I’m about to start chapter 33 of the meat epilogue. I also want to make it clear that Dirk is a character I heavily relate to. I have isolated myself heavily in the past, constantly attempted to solidify my plane in the world, and am known to be “bossy” and a bit of a control freak. I hate failure, as most people do, and often give up or try relentlessly with no in between until i get the results I want.

This is how I read Dirk. I read him as a perfectionist who means well but is also willing to do whatever he fucking can to get the ending he wants. Yes, he shows remorse for the alt version of himself abusing Dave and I don’t believe he’s a heartless (hah) piece of shit. However, I believe this is in character for him.

Another little thing I wanna set up before diving into everything is the blur of canon in the narrative and the largely accepted fanon things.

Most fans had held the idea that Dirk would recognize his mistakes and step back from his usual ways. This is how I thought it was going to go, too! But, maybe I’m associating too much of myself in this, Dirk is also the kind to double down and double down hard. Which is exactly what he’s doing.

We see a bit of his puppet-master esc skills when he orchestrates everything to get everyone into the medium. People mostly attribute it to Hal, which is valid because Hal is fantastic, but Hal used to be Dirk. Dirk as a kid. Now I’m one that argues that no child is incapable of doing big things, but if “Dirk” was capable of doing all that as a child? It’s kinda dumb to assume he wouldn’t continue just because he got a bad outcome once. (The bad outcome being Jake distancing them) His doubling down can also be seen as trying to “fix” or “make up” for what Beta Bro did to Dave.

Dirk does and had done so many things in the way of getting the outcome he deems ideal. He wants his friends to be happy and to make Earth C a decent place. This doesn’t mean that what he’s striving for is the best outcome for everyone. Hell, Dirk killed himself in getting everyone to the medium. He doesn’t give a flying fuck about sacrifices.

Also as Alt-Callie says, he doesn’t make a plan B. He allows for some fuck ups but no alt plan because he believes that his plan will work. He’ll keep going at it until it works. (might be projecting some here, but i think it holds up).

I’ve read some spoilers about his other fates so I’ll leave that part until later.

Now, there’s also the matter of his classpect. Prince of Heart. Heart is the aspect of self, and a lot of the epilogue as far as I have gotten focuses on the self. Roxy struggles with their identity, Jake becomes a semi-different self outside of Dirk’s influence, hell Rose and Dirk literally talk about it in depth. There’s quite a bit of talk about the “ultimate self” which Dirk mentions reaching, and him narrating proves it because Princes destroy.

Dirk destroys the selves of everyone in attempting to reach his desired ending.

4/22 - 7:26 pm

I’ve now finished meat and my opinions haven’t changed. Is what Dirk did horrible? Hell yeah. Do I forgive him? Fuck no. Do I think it’s worth whatever the fuck he’s striving for? Not in the slightest.

I’ve said that I relate to him a lot in this ramble and honestly? I could see myself doing this if I didn’t have as much anxieties and such a strong moral compass.

Dirk knows that he’s doing something that everyone will think of as shitty. He calls himself the villain, willingly accepts it. He knows people aren’t going to like it and doesn't care. As for his treatment of Jake especially, it’s horrible. There’s no undoing that. But I could see how he justifies it (note that this absolutely doesn’t fucking mean i agree with it). To him, it was all Jake’s fault because his plans always work. To him, Jake was the reason he got his heartbroken and some of his treatment of Jake is pure unbridled revenge.

Also, an additional thought is that there’s something to be said for the fanfic formatting and Dirk’s POV. The line of canon/non canon is blurred as everyone’s realized and the ending of meat hits it home. But in my eyes this was Dirk’s version of events. His fanfic, so to speak. Starting with minor things before being blatant about it. Just something I found interesting.

I’m so excited to see where the epilogue goes from here. I see why people dislike it, definitely. There’s definitely something different in the tone of it, more grounded and adult? Not sure. But it’s interesting.

PS Roxy’s identity changes/shifts were an odd choice but I like the way it’s handled. I’m not sure of the exact title that would fit, but I’ve seen genderfluid around so I’ll go forward with them as that.

[saxafimedianetwork]

We unearth little-known tidbits of information about the King of Pop Michael Jackson’s life, on what would have been his 60th birthday

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1. He was born in Gary, Indiana. He remains the city’s most famous resident, with Gary never recovering from the loss of its factory industry in the 1960s. That said, it’s also home to Jesse Powell, Kym Mazelle and Sista Monica Parker.

2. His parents had musical ambitions of their own. Mother Katherine Jackson played the clarinet and piano, and aspired to be a country and western singer. Father Joe was a guitarist and made extra cash performing in local R’n’B bands.

3. His first public performance was in 1963. When he was 5 he sang Shirley Bassey’s Climb Ev’ry Mountain at a public event organized by Garnett Elementary School’s Kindergarten.

4. His father was the first to notice the talent in his children. He would invite music executives to the family home, where The Jacksons would audition in the living room.

5. James Brown was his major inspiration. The late Godfather of Soul inspired Jackson to hit the stage. Speaking at his public funeral in 2007, Jackson recalled how, “Ever since I was a small child, no more than like 6 years old, my mother would wake me no matter what time it was, if I was sleeping, no matter what I was doing, to watch the television to see the master at work.”

6. He made his recording debut at 9 years old. It was on Big Boy by The Jackson 5, which was released by a small label in January 1968. It didn’t sell in large numbers, but it was enough to notify the major labels that these kids had talent.

7. His love for books began as a young teen. His early favorites were Rip Van Winkle by Washington Irving and The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway. He reportedly amassed a library of more than 10,000 books.

8. His relationship with his sister La Toya was based on their love of practical jokes. His favorite was tormenting her with fake spiders and tarantulas. He would place a suspect creature on the phone in La Toya’s bedroom and would then call her and wait for her scream.

9. He began touring as an 8-year-old. As part of the first run of shows in America’s Midwest, The Jackson 5 supported soul legends Etta James, Gladys Knight and Sam & Dave.

10. He was never particularly fond of his voice during early recordings with The Jackson 5. Despite the acclaim, he would often lament the high pitch of his voice in later interviews, describing it as similar to that of Minnie Mouse.

11. It could have been The Jackson 6. Nearly 18 months before he was born, his mother gave birth to a set of twins, Marlon and Brandon. As a result of a severely premature pregnancy, Marlon survived but Brandon passed away 24 hours later.

12. Berry Gordy initially wasn’t a fan of Michael and his brothers. The star-maker and head of Motown Records dismissed the idea of signing them to his label, preferring to focus on Stevie Wonder. But he was eventually convinced to give them a shot and he signed them up in 1969.

13. You may not know her name, but Suzanne de Passe had a big role in his artistic development. She was assigned as a mentor and stylist to The Jackson 5 after they joined Motown. That relationship extended to Michael’s solo career, and she was the first one to see him rehearse the iconic dance The Moonwalk in 1983.

14. The Jackson 5’s global hit I Want You Back in 1969, was originally written for Gladys Knight and The Pips and Diana Ross. What’s unusual about the song is that the lovelorn lyrics are sung by Michael, who was barely in his teens at the time.

15. ABC is the first of Jackson’s songs that 50 Cent recalls hearing. Speaking to NME in 2015, the rapper said the track was responsible for him becoming a fan. “I’ve always loved MJ, so I guess it was probably a good place to start music: right here, with the ABCs.”

16. He broke barriers from a young age. When he was a 12-year-old with The Jackson 5, the group became the first black male group to release four back-to-back chart-toppers with 1969’s I Want You Back and 1970’s ABC, The Love You Save and I’ll Be There.

17. There was solo life before Off the Wall. For many, Michael arrived with 1979’s Off the Wall, but he released his debut solo album, Got to Be There, in 1972. It was a solid collection of soul and pop, with covers of Leon Ware’s I Wanna Be Where You Are and Bill Withers’s Ain’t no Sunshine.

18. He won his first and only Golden Globe in 1972. For Ben, a song he wrote for the 1972 horror film of the same name.

19. He always had his ear to the clubs. Jackson was a frequent visitor to the legendary New York City club Studio 54, where he was exposed to beat-boxing, which was an early harbinger to the upcoming hip-hop movement. He went on to incorporate the vocal technique into many of his future songs.

20. His first venture into film was The Wiz. He starred as a scarecrow in the title role of The Wiz, an adaptation of The Wizard of Oz. The film was horrible, but it was here he struck up a life-changing partnership with Quincy Jones, who went on to produce his biggest albums.

21. Quincy Jones nicknamed him “Smelly”. This was during their time on The Wiz. “I used to call Michael ‘Smelly’, because he wouldn’t say ‘funky’. He’d say ‘smelly jelly’.”

22. He broke his nose in 1979 during dance practice. He then consulted Hollywood favorite Dr Steven Hoefflin who reportedly performed Jackson’s first rhinoplasty.

23. He only worked with the best. In addition to enlisting Jones to produce the 1979 blockbuster album Off the Wall, the songwriters who helped him on the record included none other than Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder.

24. Unlike many of his peers, Jackson hated singing from a sheet. While recording Off the Wall, he spent the evenings learning lyrics and harmonies, and would arrive at the studio the next day singing them off by heart.

25. Prince visited him during the Off the Wall sessions. Speaking to The National, Quincy Jones recalled how Prince arrived “into the studio like a deer in the headlight – clothes and shirt off – but he was always competing with Michael”.

26. He was the only musical mind behind one of his biggest hits. Off the Wall was full of songwriting collaborations, but Jackson was solely responsible for one of its biggest tracks, Don’t Stop ’Til You Get Enough. He decided to write the song after constantly humming the melody at home.

27. The change on 1979 single Rock with You. It was originally called I Want to Eat You Up, but that was deemed too risque for Jackson’s heartthrob image.

28. Off the Wall was almost a hit for Karen Carpenter. The hit title track from Off the Wall was originally written for the late Karen Carpenter’s debut solo album. She declined to use it and Jackson made it a top 10 hit instead.

29. The tears in She’s Out of My Life are real. Jackson would break down in tears at the end of each studio take. “We recorded about – I don’t know – 8 to 11 takes, and every one at the end, he just cried,” producer Quincy Jones said. “I said, ‘Hey – that’s supposed to be, leave it on there.’”

30. Jackson surrounded himself with talent in both the studio and the boardroom. With Off the Wall he secured the game-changing royalty rate of 37 cents wholesale per sale. It went on to sell more than 20 million copies.

31. Thriller was a blockbuster fueled by frustration. Despite big sales and critical acclaim, he was irked that Off The Wall didn’t win the Grammy Award for Record of the Year. “It was totally unfair that it didn’t get Record of the Year and it can never happen again,” he told manager John Branca. Thriller went on to win a record-breaking eight Grammys in 1984.

32. Billie Jean doesn’t exist. Despite being the subject of one of his biggest hits, the woman – who in the 1983 song admits she is carrying Jackson’s unborn son – is pure fiction. “The girl in the song is a composite of people my brothers have been plagued with over the years,” Jackson wrote in his memoir Moonwalker.

33. Billie Jean was the first video by an African-American artist to air on MTV. The video revealed Jackson’s new look of a leather suit, pink shirt, red bow tie and his signature single white glove. It was a style copied by kids throughout the United States. It caused one school, New Jersey’s Bound Brook High, to ban students from coming to class wearing white gloves.

34. Jackson introduced his famous Moonwalk in 1983. It was during a live performance of Billie Jean for the Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever concert special. He was taught the move by veteran dancer Jeffrey Daniel, who went on to be hired as Jackson’s co-choreographer.

35. Jackson was a music investor from 1983. He bought the rights to select music from funk pioneers Sly and the Family Stone, and the iconic Dion DiMucci songs The Wanderer and Run Around Sue, before landing the rights to the 4,000 song catalogue of ATV Music Publishing, which included the lion’s share of The Beatles’ songs.

36. Jackson’s Beat It was a fiery single … literally. When Eddie Van Halen recorded his blistering solo, the sound of his guitar caused one of the studio speakers to catch fire.

37. The gritty music video for Beat It was a landmark production. The lavish production cost US$100,000 (Dh367,250) at the time. It was set in Los Angeles’ Skid Row and featured up to 80 real-life gang members from the notorious street gangs the Crips and the Bloods.

38. Toto were heavily involved in the making of Thriller. Keyboardist Steve Porcaro co-wrote Human Nature, and Steve Lukather contributed rhythm guitar on Beat It.

39. Thriller was almost Star Light. The lyric “thriller” in the track of the same name was originally “star light”. The decision to change it was down to marketing appeal.

40. PYT (Pretty Young Thing) was never performed live by Jackson. Despite being a well-received single from the Thriller album, the star never featured the song in any of his live sets.

41. Thriller was included in the Library of Congress’ National Recording Registry. The music video for the title track was also placed in the National Film Preservation Board’s National Film Registry of “culturally, historically or aesthetically significant films”.

42. It was with his seventh album, 1987’s Bad that Jackson really came into his own as a songwriter. He wrote nine of the 11 tracks and co-produced the album with Quincy Jones.

43. The title track for the Bad album was supposed to be a duet with Prince. But the latter walked away from it due to the opening line “Your butt is mine”. “Now, who is going to sing that to whom? Cause [he] sure ain’t singing that to me, and I sure ain’t singing it to [him],” Prince said in a TV interview with American comedian Chris Rock.

44. The smooth 1987 ballad I Just Can’t Stop Loving You is a duet with singer Siedah Garrett. She was the third choice after Barbra Streisand and Whitney Houston rejected the offer.

45. The Way You Make Me Feel was his mother’s request. Jackson wrote this track after his mum asked him to write something with a “shuffling kind of rhythm”.

46. Man in the Mirror is one of the few music videos he is hardly in. Other than appearing at the end standing in a crowd, the video is a montage of major events and historical figures.

47. His Superbowl XXVII half-time show in 1993 was game-changing. His pyrotechnics-laced four-song set was watched more than the game itself. It has set the standard for half-time shows ever since.

48. Michael Jackson’s 1991 album Dangerous was hot property. Five days before its release, three armed men broke into a music warehouse in Los Angeles and stole 30,000 copies.

49. The explosive video for Black or White was directed by Hollywood stalwart John Landis. It starred an 11-year-old Macaulay Culkin fresh from his starring role in Home Alone.

50. The music video to Scream was, at the time, in 1995, the most expensive ever produced. It had a US$7m budget. The menacing and arty video starred Jackson and his sister Janet.

51. Even when he wasn’t trying, Michael Jackson broke records. His album Blood on the Dance Floor: HIStory in the Mix, released in 1997, remains the bestselling remix album of all time, with more than six million copies sold, after virtually no promotion.

52. Jackson consistently mixed music with charity work. He was behind a series of Michael and Friends concerts in Germany and Korea, which featured performers such as tenors Luciano Pavarotti and Andrea Bocelli, as well as rockers Slash and The Scorpions. The money raised went to the non-profit organization War Child.

53. Jackson’s final studio album Invincible was the bestselling album of 2001, despite moderate reviews. It features the song Unbreakable, which had, until then, the unreleased vocals by slain rapper The Notorious BIG.

54. After years of scandals and court cases, Jackson re-emerged on the music stage by announcing his final live tour This Is It. The first 10 shows alone, to be held at London’s O2 Arena in the summer of 2009, would have netted him £50m (Dh236.49m). The residency was extended to 50 shows, but the tour was cancelled following his death on June 25, 2009.

55. This Is It was his first posthumous release. With the This Is It tour abandoned after Jackson’s death, the tour’s title track became the first of many posthumous releases. The song was originally written in the 1980s by Paul Anka.

56. The secrecy of Xscape. Michael Jackson’s second posthumous album, released on May 13, 2014, was such a big deal that journalists were invited to secret listening sessions around the world days before its release. The session for this region was held at Dubai’s now-closed Qbara restaurant.

57. The life and times of Michael Jackson were discussed in detail at the inaugural Dubai Music Week in 2013. It featured a sold-out special panel session on Jackson’s career featuring producer Quincy Jones and other collaborators, the late Rod Temperton (via live video feed) and singer Siedah Garrett.

58. Abu Dhabi and China were discussed as possible sites for the world’s first Jackson family-themed hotel called Jermajesty. Speaking exclusively to The National in 2013, Jermaine Jackson said he was looking at Yas Island as a possible site for the hotel, which would be filled with Jackson family memorabilia. Nothing has been built as yet.

Read also: Jermaine says Michael Jackson was on the verge of converting to Islam

59. To celebrate Michael Jackson’s 60th birthday today (August 29), a large street party was held in New York City last Saturday to celebrate his life. It was organized by the director, and his collaborator, Spike Lee.

60. It is only fitting that the Apollo Theater in New York is hosting its legendary Amateur Night today. It was on the same stage that, in 1967, The Jackson 5 launched their career.

60 Things You May Not Have Known About Michael Jackson