#i let them sing without being cut off by the gangster

[vaggieslefteye]

POISON ↳ from Hazbin Hotel Season One (2024): 1x04 - "Masquerade"

[tommyspeakycap]

Genuinely think your one of the best peaky blinders writers out there. Do you think you could write something about little toddler Shelby and Tommy. Maybe little Shelby is out in the rain jumping in puddles? Love your work!!!

Thank you!! That’s so kind of you x

Puddles

Polly shakes her head in something of dismay as she holds a cup of tea snugly in her hands, keeping them warm against the winter chill that whips in the open window in front of her. “Mind your sister, Finn!” She calls out it, waiting until she got a “Yes auntie Pol!” yelled back to her from the 11 year old who had become somewhat accustomed to keeping a watchful eye over his only younger sibling. His answer seemed satisfaction enough for his aunt to nod her head and pull that window closed to maintain some semblance of heat in the house, but not enough for her to move away from said window to keep her own eye on the youngest Shelby sibling.

She stands cautionary. She knows better than to trust that Finn will do much to prevent his very clumsy five year old little sister from wandering off and getting herself hurt. (y/n) is notoriously like Thomas is all sorts of ways. She’s always getting into things she shouldn’t, hearing things she shouldn’t, seeing things she shouldn’t. She seems to sit back and observe a lot of things. They’re trying to grow her out of it.

Polly attributes it to the majority of her life being spent in a country torn by war. She was only nearly two when her brothers left, so naturally she didn’t understand much of what was going on. Everything was up in the air and now the war was over, it seemed l to the youngster that a war’s not just over when the fighting ends. It has also become clear that Tommy is her favourite sibling, so her similarities to him can often be attributed to her spending the most time with that brother.

Alas, in all her likeness to Tommy, she is much softer in manner than he is himself. Little (y/n) is like Tommy was when he was her age, incredibly inquisitive. Except softer. She chatters away to herself as she does things and though it takes her time to warm up to people, once she starts talking it’s hard to get her to stop for anything. She’s so kind and so very loving too, she laughs just like Tommy once did and it makes Polly’s heart happy deep down when that little girl falls asleep each night with a sweet little smile.

“Alright Pol?” Tommy greets as he comes through the back of the house from the betting shop to see his aunt standing at the window still. Polly nods, “Just watching to see if that bloody brother of yours is watching your sister like i told him to not five minutes ago.” She sighs as she takes another sip of her tea. Sure enough, Finn had not noticed his younger sister wandering off up the street subtly without even noticing in herself that she was getting further and further from the relative safety in proximity of her home and the brother who was supposed to be watching her. It seemed as though the puddles that filled certain uneven surfaces of the Watery Lane streets were more interesting, and finding more deep ones had stolen her full attention away from her surroundings. Tommy stands next to his aunt, leaning over slightly to spot his youngest sister slowly going further and further away than she should.

“Bloody hell,” Polly curses, sitting her tea down on the table beside her and reaching her hand to the handle of the window, “Don’t bother Pol,” Tommy interrupts her from opening the window fully and yelling for Finn to run and bring you back. Polly looks at him like he’s grown a second head, wondering if he’s completely lost his mind. He would usually have been the one giving Finn a stern word about making sure his sister was safe at all times. He just offered her a smile and says “I’ll get her.” simply, brushing past and grabbing his coat on the way. Polly furrows her eyebrows and watches as Tommy does a slight jog up the street until he nears (y/n) and then stops by her.

Her heart is suddenly warmed when the pair don’t turn back around to head home, but Tommy extends his hand to the little girl and she takes it gleefully to lead him on to find as many more puddles as they could before it got too rainy, cold and dark. He’s been so busy lately it had been a while since she had seen Tommy just be the brother of the little girl he loved so much.

Tommy relishes the feeling of his sisters little hand in his as they walk towards their uncles scrap yard, jumping in puddles along the way. She soaks the bottom of his trousers in dirty puddle water, but his heart sings with her giggles. “Tommy look!” She squeals, jumping in excitement as she spots a huge one near the window of the Garrison. She’s off a few feet before he can do anything other than open his mouth to speak. “Come on Tom!” She calls to him, “you’re so slow!” The tease draws laughter from him that only she can cause. He stops only for a moment in some form of mock shock. “Me?” He gasps, “Slow? Alright then miss speedy pants, wait there and i’ll race you.”

(y/n) does just that, waiting excitedly bouncing on the balls of her feet for Tommy to reach her, both standing still a good few meters away from the puddle near the pub. The streets are pretty empty given the weather conditions and Tommy’s reputation had gone out the window of his thoughts long ago. “Okay then,” (y/n) breathes, “3...2...1!”

The pair take off at a run, the little girl stealing the lead immediately as Tommy runs slower than he probably ever has to allow the five year old to scuttle ahead faster than him. She giggles, elated as she knows she’s in front of her brother. “‘M gonna beat you Tom!” She puffs out, little boots splashing through the barren street as he laughs from behind her. “Not if i catch you first!” He calls back, speeding up his run as he heard the little girl screech in shock at the sound of him getting closer. He can see her putting her all into running from him, looking behind her over and over, laughing only when she realises he’s far enough behind her or screaming again if he’s getting close.

Inside the Garrison, Grace hears a child’s scream and what sounds very much like Tommy Shelby shouting that he’ll get her. It makes her immediately peer out the window just in time to see what most people in Small Health never expect from the gangster.

He runs up behind his little sister quickly, scooping her into his arms with complete ease as she squirms, squeals and giggles loudly. “Faster than me ey?” He snarls playfully, fingers digging softly into her sides to tickle hysterical laughter out of the girl. “No Tommy! Never!” She shrieks, knowing well enough agreeing with her brother was enough to stop his tickles and it clearly is as he places her gently back down on her feet, a sheepish grin overtaking her little features as she looks up at him in adoration. It was widely clear how much she loved her big brother.

Grace moves to the doorstep of the pub, arms crossed over her chest to keep her warm against the chill. “Having fun, Thomas?”

He whips around at the sound of her voice, subconsciously letting go of his sisters hand in surprise, almost as if he was always ready to put up a fight and defend her with everything he had within a moments notice just as reflex. She knows better than to assume he wouldn’t cut anyone who came near that little girl. “Suppose so,” he shrugs when he realises it’s just the bartender he had become rather intrigued by. “Thought i would-“

The sound of loud, proud giggling and the feeling of water hitting the backs of his trousers immediately makes him whip around again, spotting his small little sister grinning up at him like a cheshire cat and his very own devilish glint in her little blue eyes as she stands in the middle of the puddle after having splashed water up at him. “Oh you little buggar. I’ll get you for that.” He threatens, taking a moment to get over his shock as (y/n) laughs at him again but is joined this time by the light giggle of the Irish bartender. That little girl only widens her cheeky grin, her innocence still leaking through her cheeky nature as she looks behind her, knowing her brother would have to run through the huge puddle to get her.

“Only if you catch me first.”

And just like that, the hardened Birmingham gangster bids a quick goodbye to his bartender and is off running through puddles with a five year old little girl who very coincidentally melts his heart of stone down to a puddle each and every single day.

[gilliesmemes]

𝐋𝐄𝐆𝐄𝐍𝐃    !     /    sentence starters pulled from the 2015  movie ‘legend’ starring tom hardy .  some lines may have been edited for  better use,   change whatever you want to suit your character  interactions . trigger warning for general gangster activity . part four of four .

❛ she’s wearing black, that fucking bitch. ❜

❛ i see myself, i see what i could be... ❜

❛ are you absolutely sure you want to go through with this ? ❜

❛ i know love is not an answer to anything, but love is a witness -  ❜  

❛ fucking sing. ❜

❛ the pantheon has stood for 2,400 years. his promise to me ? it lasted two weeks. ❜

❛ you were drunk as a skunk waving around a shotgun.  ❜

❛ i spiced the evening up for everyone. ❜  

❛ you can’t even make a decent cup of tea -  ❜  

❛ you look like a budgie in that dress. ❜  

❛ the rag and bone man wouldn’t pick you up if you were laying in the gutter.  ❜  

❛ i left without saying goodbye ... it was a small, sad victory. ❜  

❛ sleeping pills help sometimes, other pills helped other times. ❜  

❛ they’re like a friend who holds no judgement and only want to be loved in return. ❜  

❛ mothers little helpers... very well named. ❜  

❛ i’ll fucking serve you up, you fucking cunt ! ❜  

❛ you fucking pain in the fucking arse and fuck your fucking brief case ! ❜  

❛ you can kill me and i can kill you, that way, we’re both fucking dead ! that’s a genius idea.  ❜  

❛ listen to yourself, you’re fucking nuts. ❜  

❛ people who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones. ❜    

❛ in our line of work, it’s not good to be famous. being anonymous is the goal. ❜  

❛ what exactly are you asking me to do ? ❜    

❛ there’s nothing i can do.  ❜  

❛ you say that one more time, i’m going to hit you. ❜    

❛ don’t say anything. it’s alright. ❜  

❛ can’t you handle it for yourself ?  ❜    

❛ you come in here with your fucking nose and your tea - your fucking exotic tea and you say that. ❜  

❛ this matter, i’ll deal with it for ya.  ❜    

❛ i didn’t say anything about killing anyone.  ❜

❛ there’s death in your eyes and you’re fucking threatening me ? ❜

❛ you’re not laughing now, are ya ? ❜

❛ are you mad ?  ❜

❛ don’t moan about it. it’s done now.  ❜

❛ you are fucking unbelievable.  ❜

❛ will you be useful for once and when you take off his shirt and trousers tonight, take ‘em out back and burn them.  ❜

❛ you got plenty of trouble if what they’re saying is true. ❜

❛ what about your loyalty to me is that not a measure ? ❜

❛ no wonder you’re not making any sense, you’re popping pills everywhere.  ❜

❛ what you’re saying is that in order for us to be free... we all have to be on our own ?  ❜

❛ fuck your mum ! ❜

❛ i wish i could make you go away. ❜

❛ it surprises me that some people still manage to survive these days. ❜

❛ it looks a bit fucking fucked to me, mate. ❜

❛ speaking of, you look like shit n’ all. ❜

❛ sometimes to achieve greatness, you have to cut off little pieces of yourself no matter how much it hurts, in order to grow, in order to move on. ❜

❛ to be honest, i think you’re getting out just in time. ❜

❛ sooner or later, someones going to talk and it’s going to all be over.  ❜

❛ i think god ought to cut us some slack, don’t you think ?  ❜

❛ that is bang out of order.  ❜

❛ we shall just have to see what happens when we get to heaven.  ❜

❛ you have the ability to see in to the future, the same as me.  ❜

❛ i haven’t seen you like this in a long time, i forgot how delicate you were.  ❜

❛ go inside and put the kettle on.  ❜

❛ i want you to remember that i existed - always, that i once walked beside you. ❜

❛ it’s something you say out of loyalty - to something that didn’t exist in the first place. ❜

❛ please let me make amends. please, please. ❜

❛ ibiza... let’s go there i like the way the word sounds. ❜

❛ god doesn’t ask if we accept this life. there is no choice, life is forced upon you. the only choice is how you live it... or not, that’s a choice as well. ❜

❛ a cup of tea can solve everything. a bit under the weather ? tea. you left your husband ? tea is the answer.  ❜

❛ god had finally cut me some slack.  ❜

❛ what do you do when the only person who could ever get to you is gone. cup of tea ? i don’t think so. ❜

❛ don’t stand around here like some sort of lamppost. ❜

❛ go on put it in your fucking pocket, we all know you ain’t got any money. don’t be daft. ❜

❛ you killed her and your hundred pound a week on flowers wont bring her back ! ❜

❛ before i talk, i want my safety guaranteed.  ❜

❛ oh, fuck off, soppy bollocks.  ❜

❛ cheer up, twinkle toes, its nearly christmas. ❜

❛ encase you haven't realized, i don’t fucking answer to you, sweetheart. ❜

❛ what the fuck were you thinking ?  ❜

❛ you got a tin of worms in your head, mate.  ❜

❛ you’ve got to be joking, are you fucking joking ? ❜

❛ go on, say her name again, say it - ❜

❛ why would you do that ?  ❜

❛ i can’t kill you. no matter how much i fucking want to. ❜

❛ what the fucks wrong with you ? you kill a geezer in a room full of people, are you fucking mad ? ❜

❛ the world is quite like london... it’s not good, it’s not bad - it just is. ❜

❛ it’s just your own lonely code, until your race is run. until the end. ❜

[byorder-fanfic]

How They Look After You When it Gets Bad: Bonnie

Preference Masterlist

Requested by anonymous

Word count: 1727

Warnings: Reader going through a hard time, suggestive comments, swearing, Bonnie gets hurt (emotionally), not favourable descriptions of Small Heath (apologies to any Brummie readers- it’s for the plot)

Author's Note: Hi! I’ve had some trouble with the Ada and Finn preferences so I’m mixing up the order a bit. Those who’ve requested, your fics will be out soon! If there’s any other characters you want me to write for, feel free to make any more requests. Hope you enjoy and I’m wishing you all my best

(Gif by @sophieshelby) 

The Golds were travellers. It's what you loved the most about their life, the life that you jumped into in the greatest leap of faith that came with loving Bonnie. Now, whilst watching him ditch button-ups in favour of short vests, giving you full view of his lean arms attacking bags and people with so much strength was fun, it was the wind in your hair as you sat behind him on his horse, arms wrapped around his middle, it was huddling up in your shared bed in the caravan and arguing as to whether or not you could fit another ugly knitted blanket on top of the rest of them, and the maps you kept in a drawer that was slowly becoming more crosses than roads with all the places you've visited- it was that which made you love this life all the more. Plus, living with you Bonnie and his family (who had welcomed you with open arms the second Bonnie introduced you) created a second home, a home that lived on wheels and trotted down dirt paths. You knew that Bonnie getting his boxing licence would make the travelling come to a halt, and Small Heath would have to be home for as long as there was a job to be done and a reward to be reaped. And you were okay with that. You really were. Maybe there were a few tears as you hugged Esmerelda, Naomie and especially little Floss (she was desperate to see Bonnie go head to head with the Peaky Blinders!) goodbye as they continued travelling, you knew Bonnie felt the absence of his sisters more than you would. So, you made sure he never felt lonely, and the bed never felt empty; well, it wasn't as if it was a particularly difficult task to keep him company.

Small Heath was not a particularly enthralling place. Although you were on friendly terms with the Shelbys and their clan (and that was no exaggeration, they multiplied like rabbits!) and, after many, many threats from both the elder and younger Gold, none of the younger Peakys were planning on making a move on you, it was the place itself that seemed to bore you. All those things that you'd learned to love from your life on the road- the fresh air, the constant movement, the friendly welcomes when you saw another caravan cross your path, and the freshly caught food cooked over an open fire- there was none of that here. The sky was full of fumes that burnt more than the dark char of over-exposed meat, there was no patches of grass or flowers and everything was so fucking grey. Grey streets, grey sky, and a very grey mood for you. Sometimes, when Bonnie and Aberama were busy with the Peaky business that they left you out of, you'd just go over to the Cut and sit by the water to get even the slightest feeling of being back amongst the rivers and streams where you and Bonnie would set a number of ugly knitted blankets down and spend the night besides. You always thought the sound of water, and the view of the stars was the best way to fall asleep. Bonnie said the best way was next to you. You loved him, you truly did, but things were getting hard. Bonnie was always so busy now, between boxing and whatever the hell Tommy bloody Shelby had him apart of. Wrapped up next to him under all the blankets was the most time you spent with him, and he was usually so spent from work that he was snoring after seconds of laying his head on the pillow. All you could do was hope he didn't wake as you breathed softly next to him, trying to ward off sleep as much as you can just to see him as much as you can. By the time the sun rose, he was already up and at it. In stinking Small Heath.

You didn't want to resent him for bringing you here. You wanted to be proud of him when he boasted about getting his boxing license. You wanted to be happy for him when he came back, completely sloshed, after a night out at the Garrison with the Peaky boys he'd gotten close to, and he smelt like bloody whiskey and cigarettes when he cuddled up to you, drunkenly nuzzling his nose into your neck. You hated whiskey and cigarettes. Well, at least you think you did. You hated everything right now. You had tried to distract yourself from this frustration that was slowly building up in you, especially after you 'accidentally' broke one of the cups Naomie had made. You would pay for that when you saw her again. You had gotten Charlie Strong and Curly's permission to help with the horses in the stables. Eventually, though, you just felt sorry for the poor buggers: trapped in a scrap yard in a place full of people and so little greenery. Of course, you refused to admit you were projecting your own feelings on them. After feeling lonely for too long, you decided to make friends with the Shelbys. The Peaky boys that Bonnie had become fast friends with were nice enough, and Bonnie was happy for the excuse to see you more. As for the Shelbys, you had to be honest, they were a bit bloody scary. Esmerelda had made sure you were prepared for them, and you kept a whittling knife on your person every time you left the isolating sanctuary of the caravan, so you knew full well you could keep yourself safe amongst the blood and gore of the gangsters.

Eventually though these feelings caught up with you. You didn't even bother leaving the caravan today, knowing the streets were only going to further sour your mood and, even the bright presence of Bonnie's sleepy, half-awake smile, couldn't stop your erratic scrubbing of the plates. Ever since the Naoime's-broken-pottery-you were-sure-to-pay-for incident, you had only been entrusted with the metal pots and pans that weren't so easy to shatter. Still, you managed to scrub the metal dish in such a way to rouse the weary boxer. He had the day off, as Arthur had told you the night before when you sat in the Garrison, and the rest of the boys gave such a cheer their whiskey splattered on your dress. Bonnie had blushed, but you could see the hints of mischief in his smirk. And, with Aberama taking last night and today back in Small Heath, there was no misunderstanding Bonnie's intentions. You heard his stumbling foot steps as you moved further out of the open caravan door, focusing far too much on the washcloth and the practically sparkling pot that you still scrubbed.

"Hey, dove," he said in  sing-song tone that usually made your heart melt. Now it made your blood boil.

"Mornin' Bon," you replied back, far too snappy for his soft voice. 

He was startled. You didn't have to see his face to know he had flinched, feeling the sudden twinge of pain in the air like a broken string.

"Are you alright?" He asked, kindly, reaching down to rest his hand over yours. Instantly, you dropped the pan and cloth on the floor, hearing it crash against the soft grass.

"Well, you'd know if you'd have been there!" Along with your swift movement to stand up, the fierceness in your voice made Bonnie back away into the caravan. He saw the frustration clear in your face, and his shoulders hung in shame. He knew he'd been busy- too busy- and it must've hurt you.

"I'm so sorry, dove, I swear I'm trying to do this for us." 

"For you! And all I fucking do is stay in this fucking city!"

"It's not for long- then we can have that life we planned, with the boxing licence and our own caravan and-"

"And I don't wanna be here!"

You screamed it so loud that you were sure the birds in the trees surrounding you had flapped away from your voice like a shot had been fired from one of the Golds' many, many guns. And Bonnie seemed like he wanted to flee too, face so smushed up and hurt.

"I hate this place! It's dirty and cold and it smells like fucking shit!" 

Bonnie felt his whole body crumble at the tightness in your face, the look of pure anger making your fists squeeze in so tight he knew your nails would be digging in. He was the boxer and it was of his opinion that you should never have to raise a fist like this. You must hate him. You must do, and he was feeling his broad shoulders dip at the wildness that flickered in your eyes.

"I don't want to be here!" It was the crack in your voice that revealed yourself. A crack that mended Bonnie's wounded expression into that of concern. You didn't hate him. You didn't. You probably didn't even mind stinking old Small Heath. 

"Then how about we get outta here?" He suggested, giving you that lopsided grin that always made you childishly giddy. Even now, with frustration embedding your palms, you felt a kinder warmth flood to your cheeks. With more confidence, he moved towards you, cupping your cheek as you felt yourself just drop a little without the weight of frustration on your shoulders.

"Please," you muttered, leaning forward to rest your forehead against yours. "I want fresh air and empty fields and a blanket next to a stream."

"Just you and me lying down and looking at the stars?"

"That's all, Bon."

"Then you'll get it. Let's get changed, pack some food and we can get on a horse and just keep on riding, ey?" You chuckled a little at his romantic proposition, burying yourself closing into his grasp. "And get out of smelly old Small Heath that's been keeping me away from my dove."

"You're gonna have a lot of time to make up for." A little bit of frustration still hung in your mind, but the sweet look of adoration on your Bonnie's face was enough to soothe it into a cheeky remark.

"Indeed I do," he whispered into your neck. His expression got sadder again. "I'm sorry."

"So am I."

[chibivesicle]

Golden Kamuy - Kikuta deserved better - 273-276

As I catch up on things, I’m gonna hit the highlights that really stuck with me.  Ogata is able to escape from Vasily using the tactics he observed from the showdown in Barato with Hijikata cutting through random row houses.  He’s seriously gotten into Vasily’s head as he hesitated to snipe aggressively after killing the wrong guy with Ogata’s cloak.

The only worthwhile thing from this continued and seriously a no longer interesting plot point, is getting to see Ogata wiggle under a fence like a cat.

So, I approve of this at least.  My own cat scores this as an 8/10 in cat wiggling.  Minus 2 points for not enough emotion from Ogata’s face.

Thankfully, Asirpa was able to escape with Sofia after Tsukishima gunned down Ariko.  It seemed to me that Koito froze/hesitated during that situation.  Tsukishima had no problem brutally shooting Ariko at point blank while Koito literally just hung back and watched. 

Asirpa is in a state of extreme shock. She just interrogated by Tsurumi to give up the code, watched Ariko be shot and now sees Boutarou’s corpse in the bottle-mobile.  Our girl needs years of therapy - she’s reaching the same level as our male cast members at this rate.

At least she breaks down in tears as Sugimoto tries to console her.  The artwork for this part of the page is excellent, it really does capture the melting of her mind and how she’s realizing how deadly the gold is.

It ties directly back to her argument with Kikuta before all this shit went down.  I’m always giving Sugimoto crap for being a moron, but it seems that he did make the right action by reaching out to allow her to hug his arm.  There is that soft look as he gazes down at her and just lets her be emotional.  It is clear that his presence is a comfort to her as she takes her time before returning to a more lucid mental state.  This is shown by how she opens her eyes and looks up before declaring that they need to meet up with Hijikata since she’s figured out how to crack the code.

Meanwhile, Kikuta rushed Ariko to a clinic to save his life.  Being the father figure/older brother he is, he tells him that it isn’t his time to die; he never made that makiri yet! And to my relief, Ariko wakes up!  Noda didn’t go for the lazy writing of killing of the minor Ainu character, something I was afraid of.

If his father saved him, it means his makiri was where he was shot in the chest under his uniform.  There is a lovely transition about a makiri in a fictional museum that was made by him, implying that he returned home and did make the makiri and likely resolved some of his identity issues, though it was still likely a tough life for him.  Ariko apologies for not being able to work as a spy for Central and really it isn’t like he’d be able to do so anyways.  But he did verbally point out he’s now politically on the side of someone like Asirpa to fight for their culture and right to exist in spite of colonial powers. The middle panel of Kikuta bidding him farewell just gives me the feels.  It is so clear that Kikuta knows he’s toast.  He saw Tsukishima shoot Ariko and Tsukishima likely watched him as he tried to save the man.

The fact that he said a casual line about going to an onsen.  Ugh, death flag for sure right there.  It seems Ariko knows that as he looks forlorn.  Kikuta is that sort of suave man who is going to look cool even though he’s doomed; he’s that awesome.

The action returns to Tsurumi at the church having solved the code.  With Tsukishima gone off to try to kill Ariko, Koito has remained behind.  All of a sudden Koito reverts to his extreme Satsuma accent when addressing Tsurumi in the absence of Tsukishima.  I think he didn’t even realize it at first, just like how after they escaped the fight with Boutarou, Koito spoke normally to Tsurumi without realizing it.

It is clear it took him a moment to realize he was speaking ‘Koito’ as Tsurumi is unable to respond to him and he then panics.  Koito is more than willing to chase after Tsukishima and support him, but Tsurumi instead recalls him.

At first he consoles himself that everything is okay. 

He is trying very hard to convince himself that everything that they witnessed through the keyhole was all an act to get the key!  Yes, it isn’t that Tsurumi doesn’t have some sort of awesome goal and this isn’t about how the death of his wife and daughter left him unhinged!

But the other random members of the 27th then comment on how strongly Nikaido reeks of beer . . . and Koito then thinks about how he and Tsukishima were hiding in the room at the church when Tsurumi ‘checked’ that he was alone.  And then it hits him - they were also played as a part of the ‘Tsurumi theatre’.  Unlike Tsukishima who has whole-heartily given himself over to Tsurumi, it is clear that Koito can’t.

That monologue sounded too good to be true.  He weakly says Tsukishima’s name into the rain as he then thinks ‘No . . .’  The rain is really fitting in this scene, I think it really is a stand in for Koito’s own disappointment and tears in this entire crazy quest for the gold.  Is he worried about his ‘older’ brother figure?  Himself?  Both of them?

He continues to try to rationalize the performance that Tsurumi gave them - even if Tsurumi lied to them, it wasn’t all a lie.  Oh Koito.  I want to give you a hug and pull you away as your little bon-bon-ness has won me over.  Most of that speech wasn’t for Koito, it was for Tsukishima.  Speaking about helping Japan is what Koito would like to hear but we can tell he doubts that as well.  Hence, his waffling.

But then he realizes that as Tsukishima has given so much - all of Tsurumi’s words, even if they were ‘sweet lies’ as he he referred to them on Karafuto, it was just perfect for Tsukishima.  However, Koito has broken the spell that Tsurumi held over him.  The final page of the chapter of Koito looking at the illuminated Tsurumi and shutting the door on him.  It is the exact opposite of when Tsurumi rescued Koito from the kidnappers when in his youth. I now find myself wondering how this relates to the tiger curse.  It is clear that the curse for Tsukishima will not end well.  After he shot Ariko, his eyes regained their sparkle!  Not good, not good at all!  However, have I misinterpreted it for Koito that by becoming disillusioned with Tsurumi he will be cursed to be miserable through him gaining independence from his hero worship of Tsurumi?  The idea that ignorance is bliss, and now Koito is well in the know.  The fact that when he and Tsukishima were sort of on the same page was when he could speak to Tsurumi but now that he’s on a different path from Tsukishima he’s tripped up again.

Chapter 274 finally allows Asirpa to determine the fake skins after what she witnessed with Boutarou in the brewery and thinking about Ainu garments that she figured out that Edogai likely went above and beyond with his fakes.  Thanks money counterfeiting guy from the fake Ainu village for the inspiration.  It is a lot of pages that tie together other plot points nicely but really doesn’t do anything for me as a reader personally.

The most important point is that as Sugimoto falls asleep while Asirpa and Hijikata work with the skins is that we get another flashback - one that links him to Kikuta!

and even more importantly - Hanazawa Yuusaku!  Chapter 275 starts out with an homage to the classic movie ‘Singing in the Rain’.  As soon as I saw Sugimoto spinning on a lamp post, it was obvious.  Yes, small town boy in the big city - causing trouble.  He gets in some sort of brawl with random guys from the army and is ‘rescued’ by Kikuta, who immediately realizes that he’s hungry and decides to treat him to some lunch.

It shows that Sugimoto has a short fuse and is an impulsive youngster.  Really, he is lucky that he didn’t do more stupid shit to get him in trouble.  We can also clearly see that Kikuta is a member of the 1st Division, the Tokyo based one that Sugimoto eventually enlists with.

Kikuta decides that he wants Sugimoto to impersonate Hanazawa Yuusaku and to go on a marriage interview for him.  This is because Hanazawa Hiro, the now identified wife of Hanazawa, is pulling the strings in the background to prevent Yuusaku from becoming a flag bearer.

This then makes us wonder why these two parents have such contrasting expectations for their only son.  It makes me think back to my theory that Yuusaku was a pretty poor solider and lacked any skill or potential.  Long ago, Tsurumi told Nikaido that Ogata is the ‘true heir’ of Hanazawa inheriting his military and [some] leadership skills as he stood on the watch tower in Barato ordering the random gangsters how to fight effectively.  Yuusaku is a disappointment for Hanazawa - he can only save face by having his son become such a symbolic part of the army.

I laughed at the next page where Kikuta confirms that Hiro is colluding with the young heiress to steal Yuusaku’s virginity and thus preventing him from becoming a flag bearer.  I love the posture of the terrified Yuusaku!

However, Hiro’s plan has been found out by Hanazawa and he consulted with the leader of the 1st Division to assist him with resolving this unpatriotic and embarrassing issue.  Recall that Ogata was born as a result of Hanazawa being posted to Tokyo - this implies that he likely became good friends with the leader of the 1st Division during this time.

To prevent anyone from identifying Sugimoto, he’s the perfect substitute for Yuusaku and changes into Kikuta’s uniform.  He’s one of those guys who just has that look.  Sugimoto immediately thinks that since he’s been treated well by Kikuta, joining the military might be a good way to find security - in food.  However, we get a link of the cap to Kikuta and what appears to be his dying younger brother.

Kikuta looks so sad, like there is something unfortunate with Sugimoto’s statement of food.  We don’t get to see his expression, indicating he’s likely hiding his emotions from Sugimoto and instead tells Sugimoto he’s going to have to train him in food etiquette.

He’s presented with some Western cuisine, something that may blow his cover and something that Kikuta didn’t expect as he watches from a tree outside.  But again, due to his extreme luck, he’s able to use nervousness as an excuse and it gives him time to state his family his super traditional so they wouldn’t have eaten food like this.  When he’s removed the cap, Kaneko Kaeko is smitten with his handsome face. He can use his excuse as a way to have an out for not knowing how to eat that tasty ebi fry (why to I hear ‘ebi fry’ in Nyanko-sensei’s voice?).

As she explains the fancy places she’s dined at, Sugimoto thinks about how he was living off of cat food.  Cue another reason why he just hates on Ogata, since he was stealing food from Ogata’s people! 

The rest of the dinner goes well, and Kikuta checks in with him.  Meanwhile, our wealthy heiress is completely smitten with him!

As Sugimoto mulls over the idea of a somewhat arranged marriage as a negative he spills the beans about Toraji and Umeko.  And Kikuta isn’t having any of his bullshit.  I love how Kikuta points out how selfish and downright stupid Sugimoto is being in all of this.  Kikuta gives Sugimoto good advice - which he’s clearly still never followed.

He makes it clear that he’s got to give up on that hometown and move on.  Which will be completely ignored as Toraji will end up in the 1st Division with Sugimoto in the trenches.  I’m now wondering how Toraji and Sugimoto reconnected.  Hrrrmmmmm?  Is this something that Sugimoto encouraged and that’s why he has all of these unresolved emotions about Toraji’s death in the war?

The chapter reveals to us that Tsukishima’s love ended up marrying the cousin of Kaeko, making Tsukishima’s acceptance of her ‘death’ even more heartbreaking as he thought that Tsurumi had lied to him about her fate.  [weeps bitterly]. 

As Kikuta and Sugimoto discuss what appears to be Yuusaku’s lack of a free will, he’s told not to meddle in others concerns.  What does Sugimoto do? The man just can’t keep to himself and he goes and finds Yuusaku to confront him.  He wants to know if Yuusaku wants to be a flag bearer even though it is a death sentence.  How does that conversation go? Just how we’d expect with all of the information we know about Yuusaku.

I love how he’s like it isn’t to meet my father’s expectations!  It is because understand my father’s convictions and fight for my country.  Okay, you keep telling yourself that Yuusaku, but it still sounds like you are doing this for your father, you know tomay-to, tomah-to.  Sugimoto mulls over what Yuusaku would choose if given the choice.  I just sigh as we know enough about Yuusaku’s backstory that the man only does what his father says - with great conviction. All of our Ogata flashbacks have made this so clear, Yuusaku is a doomed man from the moment he entered the army.  Maybe even a doomed man from his birth even.  Perhaps, he’s acutely aware of this, but based on how freakkin’ awkward he’s with Ogata and his older brother actions, I continue to think he’s not the brightest bulb in the pack and can only be used as a patriotic pawn.

Yuusaku then becomes suspicious of Sugimoto’s line of inquiry and realizes that he’s got Kikuta’s cap.

Not sure how to respond, he runs away and we learn that Kikuta’s younger brother died of illness during the first Sino-Japanese war.   That same war that killed Koito’s older brother and that Tsurumi and Tsukishima fought in as well. With the statement of illness, I know what most likely killed Kikuta’s younger brother - malnutrition - specifically beri beri.  As the Japanese military rapidly modernized using European models, they ran into an issue with many soldiers and sailors dying of some sort of mysterious illness and it wasn’t something that impacted the Westerners at all.  Most of this has to do with the ability to eat white rice which was much more processed.  It made it more expensive, but was nutritionally bad for men who came from lower incomes or poverty.  Remember how stoked Asirpa was when she ate white rice all the way back at the herring fishery?  If anyone has read “House of Five Leaves” by Natsume Ono, you’d know the protagonist is a poor ronin and he falls ill due to beri beri.  The solution was to return to the countryside/hometown to eat a more diverse diet.  For a more detailed explanation of how bad this was for the Japanese military check out the video by Linfamy on youtube here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IzIBpFDRr5g

The video even highlights the fierce (and counterproductive) competition between the Army and Navy which has already been well defined through Koito’s backstory. The chapter ends with Sugimoto dropping the cap and the polite man who picks it up for him is Tsurumi with Ogata, Usami and Tsukishima in Tokyo. The plot thickens . . . somehow Sugimoto got mixed up in the business of the 27th and apparently Tokyo isn’t a vast city that you can get lost in and everyone knows everyone.  Like how I was on flight to Saskatoon and the man next to me started up a conversation how he was from Burlington and went to Guelph and my friend who I was going to visit was also from Burlington and went to Guelph it is a small world kinda moment and in agriculture.  I digress though.  Things are starting to pull back together but I’m still not 100% on with this plot direction/story arc.

[lesvegas]

The Rat Pack Lexicon, or Frankenspeak

In the 1960's the Rat Pack created their own language. It was a mixture of slang and cool terms that helped make them undisputably the ‘kings of cool’ in their heyday in Las Vegas.

Decided to paste the whole glossary from here just so we can have it on tumblr. Under a readmore because it’s long as hell. Original post (some definitions were cut off).

18 Karat All the way, full-out: "An 18 karat idiot."

Baby Used as an exclamation as well as a term of endearment.

Bag A person's particular interest; as in "singing's my bag"  

Barn Burner A very stylish, classy woman  

Beard A male friend who acts as a "cover"; usually for extramarital affairs  

Beetle A girl who dresses in flashy clothes  

Big-Leaguer A resourceful man who can handle any situation

  Big Casino Death  

Bird The male or female genitalia; standard greeting: "How's your bird"?

  Bombsville Any kind of failure in life; see ville

Broad Affectionate term for a girl or woman with sex appeal

Bum A person who is despised, most frequently linked to people in the media

Bunter A man who fails in almost everything he does; the opposite of gasser

Cash Out Leave, as in "Cash me out of this party" = "I'm leaving."

Charley What the rat-packers called one another  

Charlies Admiring word for a woman's breasts

Chick A young and invariably pretty girl

Clam-Bake A party or get-together.

Clyde A word used to cover a multitude of personal observations; e.g., "I don't like her clyde" means "I don't like her voice", etc.  

Coo-Coo! See crazy  

Cool A term of admiration for a person or place. An alternative word meaning the same thing is crazy.

Crazy A term of admiration for a personal, place, or thing; similar to cool.

Creep A man who is disliked for any reason

Croaker A derogatory term for a doctor.

Crumb A person it is impossible to respect

Dame A generally derogatory term for a probably unattractive woman

Dig A term of appreciation; e.g., "I dig that broad."

Dimmer Eyes (as in "I gotta see the croaker about my bad dimmers.")

"Drop it, charley" Change the conversation; see "good night, all”

Duke Tip  

  Dying An exaggerated term to mean slightly upset; e.g. "I'm dying"

End A word to signify that someone or something is the very best; "the living end"

Endsville Total failure; similar to bombsville; see ville

Fink A person who cannot be relied upon or trusted, especially someone in the media; a crumb  

First Base The start of something, usually applied in terms of failure when someone has failed to reach it.

Fracture To make laugh; as in "that fractures me"

Gas A great situation; as in "that set was a gas"

Gasoline Alcohol

Gasser A highly admired person; the end!

Gofer Someone who performs menial jobs and tasks; "go for drinks"

Good Night All A term of invective used to change the subject of conversation

Groove A term of admiration or approval; as in "in the groove"

Harvey A person who acts in a stupid or naive fashion; sometimes shortened to "Harv"

Hacked Angry; as in "he's hacked off"

Hello! A cry of surprise to no one in particular when a beautiful woman is seen

Hey-Hey Indulging in anything of a sexual nature with a woman.

Hunker A jack-of-all-trades; see gopher

Jokes An actor's lines in a screenplay

Let's Lose Charley A term used among intimates who want to get rid of a bore in their company  

Little Hey-Hey Romance; a little action with a broad

Locked-up As in "all locked-up," a term for a forthcoming date or engagement, private or public  

Loser Anyone who has made a mess of their life, drinks too much, makes the wrong enemies, etc.

Mish-Mash Similar to loser, but refers specifically to a woman who is messed up

Mothery Terrific; wild and wicked

Mouse Usually a small, very feminine girl who invites being cuddled

Nowhere A term of failure as in "he's nowhere."

  Odds Used in connection with important decisions, as in "the odds aren't right," meaning it's a no go

Original Loser A person without talent; sometimes more fully expressed as "He is the original Major Bowes Amateur Hour loser  

Pallie Dean's nickname for everyone, whether a lifelong friend or a bellhop  

Platinum Having a big heart, generous. "You're platinum, pussycat!"

Player A man who is a gambler by nature, makes friends easily, and never gives up trying

Punks Any undesirables, in particular criminals, gangsters, or mobsters

Quin Derisive term for a woman who is an easy pick-up

  Rain As in "I think it's going to rain" indicating that it is time to leave a dull gathering or party  

Ring-a-Ding A term of approval, as in "What a ring-a-ding broad!"

Sam Used in the same way as Charley for a person whose name has been forgotten, most often applied to females

Scam To cheat at gambling, as in "Hey, what's the scam?"

Scramsville To run off

Sharp A person who dresses well and with style

Smashed A word used to describe someone who is drunk. On occasions it has been replaced with "pissed."

Solid Definite, reliable. (Note: this was also used by Linc in "The Mod Squad.")

Square A person of limited character, not unlike a harvey.

Swing v. To hang out and drink, smoke, sing, generally get real loose.

Ta-Ta Goodbye

Tomato As in "a ripe tomato" a woman ready for seduction or even marriage.

Twirl A girl who loves dancing

Ville A suffix used to indicate changes in any given situation; see endsville, splitsville, etc

Witchdoctor Member of the clergy.

Wow-ee Wow Wow Figured importantly in the Rat Pack lexicon for a while in the late 50s and early 60s. It was an expression of glee, joyful anticipation and a euphemism for lubricious fun.

The following examples are a fictitious sample of Frank in conversation using his infamous lexicon:

The English version

The bartender gives me another drink. The gathering is dull, with a surfeit of ugly women and men unworthy of respect and an insufficient number of attractive ladies and easy-going fellows. I spot an untrustworthy-looking man over by the jukebox making overtures to a woman. He fancies himself an impressive fellow, flirting with this woman who is more than just another sweet thing to cuddle with. In fact, she is extraordinary. I am awestruck by her beauty.

Now the would-be Romeo is leaning closer, pressing his romantic attack. So I cast my gaze in her direction. She gazes back: A confident connection is made. She crosses the room, stands beside me, orders a drink, tells a joke that I find quite amusing, then says she found her previous companion uninteresting. I like her and believe the reverse is also true. I sense the party is on its last legs and say so. We leave.

The Frank version

The barkeep fills me up with gas. The joint ain't hopping; it's no clambake, brother - too many dames and crumbs, not enough broads and players. I spot a fink over by the jukebox making the moves. He thinks he's a big-leaguer, scamming on a chick who - hello! - is more than a mouse. An 18-karat barn-burner, boy- the end. Ring a ding!

Now the big-leaguer's leaning closer, feeding her a line, but she's not biting. It's bombsville. He's nowhere; he knows it, and so do I. So I shoot the broad a come-hither look, and she shoots back: Solid. She crosses the room, sidles up next to me, gasses up, tells a joke that fractures me and says the big-leaguer was a Harve. I dig her, and she digs me. "I think it's going to rain," I say. And just like that, we're scramsville.

[maxwell-grant]

Any thoughts on Sandman Mystery Theatre and Wesley Doods?

I'll probably write more in-depth about Wesley in particular once I'm more acquainted with his history, because I've discovered recently there is much, much more to the JSA's characters than I had initially presumed, and some pretty massive bits of Wes's own history that I can't overlook in a more in-depth post. But regarding Sandman Mystery Theatre, I gotta talk about my history with it specifically.

I picked up the first volume of Sandman Mystery Theatre by complete accident when I was very young. At the time I was specifically looking for Sandman comics because I wanted to do a school project on Neil Gaiman's Sandman, which I knew very little about, and so I picked up at a store Endless Nights and a comic called Sandman Mystery Theatre that, as you can see in the cropped image above, had his name on the cover, so I figured it had to be in the same series (which it kinda is but not really).

While there's older stuff that's tied up in my appreciation of them, this was my first encounter with Pulp Heroes, even when I didn't know what they were, before I discovered The Shadow for real. Ground Zero, as we call it. And it all starts specifically with this page:

The comic had already started off completely unlike anything I'd picked up before from Marvel and DC. It was an urban story with no superheroes or cartoons in sight, instead there were all these regular, wrinkled middle-aged people with warts and sweaters and pudgy noses at the center of it, people that you don't find in superhero stories where the imperfections of humanity are ever shaved off. It was more akin to what I had only experienced through film, but in a comic, and at the time, that was new to me.

And when it was time for the story's big reveal of it's hero, the big wide shot reserved for a Superman power stance or Batman hunched in the rain, it was with this scene: A weird little creep in a trenchcoat and fedora, with a gas mask barely concealing his startled eyes, shocked by the intrusion of the light that ever so blesses The Superhero Moment, squatting in a dirty bathroom with a hand stretched out menacingly towards the horrified woman, stretching towards you, stretching past the panel borders that should lock this ugly little thing in it's place.

I still think of this image as one of the main signifiers as to what I think sets superheroes and pulp heroes apart. Because at the time, this was a revelation. This costume was a revelation in general.

I was never going to find Spider-Man or Wolverine like this, even their dirtier and less dignified moments were still mired in some form of glory. Even in Spider-Man's lowest points he's still expect to rise above them dramatically or at least suffer them dramatically, when Wolverine prowls in the sewers he does so gleaming with power and ferocity and ripped shirts and immortality. And of course, I was never going to look like, or be like, Spider-Man or Wolverine no matter how hard I worked at it.

But this guy? This is a shitty little bug man caught with it's pants down somewhere it was not supposed to be, as terrified of being caught as we would be to find it prowling around. Painfully humanized, despite it's best efforts. He's dressed in a drab suit with a dorky tie, a disheveled coat, and a gas mask and hat. But the thing about “coolness” is that often the best way to make something genuinely cool is to try to make it uncool to begin with. There's nothing super about this guy, but there's something effortlessly cool about him nonetheless, something that doesn't require a bodybuilder's physique or a model's face, something unlike a superhero but just as cool visually if not more so. Anyone could look like this guy.

I could look like this guy.

And not just visually, the other thing that hooked me into Mystery Theatre was it's characterization. Much like the art, it was different than what I was used to from other comics I read. It dealt with it's drama differently, it's deaths had weight and so did the character's reactions to them. It had gangsters and torturers and serial killers and pedophiles and crooked police officers and none of them were going to get chopped to bits by Wolverine or tied up in streetlights by Batman anytime soon. It didn't have supervillains, it had a mother and son as masked murderers and torturers hiding in plain sight even while mutilating their own families. It had grueling torture scenes and it's female protagonist forcing herself to stare at the mutilated corpse of her best friend just so she can spare her family the pain of doing so. 

Diane Belmont is great and, again, I had never seen a comic book with this kind of story with a female protagonist so strongly at the forefront of it, and with all these other characters getting their side stories in. It was not about the guy in a costume being the center of everything awesome to happen, because there was hardly anything of the sort happening. "Understated" is the key word here for what made Sandman Mystery Theatre special to me at the time.

Wesley Dodds himself is a schlubby, quiet guy in glasses with a pudgy nose and a round face who makes origami and writes poems, who only really has his gun and mask and wits to tackle problems he is not even particularly well-equipped to handle, but goes out there and does anyway. He moves around quietly but still has to escape desperate situations by the skin of his teeth. He doesn't interrogate people in costume by dangling them off rooftops, he threatens to poison their dog if they don't tell him what he needs to know. He sets up little traps with cans and wire to let him know if a cop is approaching his investigation, and he doesn't take down the Tarantula at the end without assistance nor does he linger around to receive any credit for it.

He is not at all an action hero, nothing about this guy even really indicates he's cut out for this life, but he's determined and compelled and tormented by nightmares that don't allow him to refuse the call, so he makes it happen, and throught that, he makes enough of a difference to shift the scales of life and death to those that cannot rely on others to protect them. Those that can't rely on police or family or superheroes to save them. That's when the eerie little nobody in a fedora and gas mask comes in, inadequate as he may be, still desperately trying to do the right thing.

While I did read some of his Golden Age adventures for context's sake, I don't know much of anything about Wesley's other adventures outside of Mystery Theatre or his costumed superhero phase or history with the JSA and DCU and whatnot, and frankly that stuff is so far removed from my enjoyment of Mystery Theatre that it might as well just be a different character (although I will be checking out out of curiosity).

So yes, Mystery Theatre is great, I sing the praises of Matt Wagner often enough and I definitely should look into the rest of Guy Davis's work, but the main thing about it to me is that it was my first contact with pulp in any of it's forms. Sandman was my first Pulp Hero. If nothing else I'll always appreciate the character for that.

[sergeantmiller]

How Serial Killers Dispose Dead Body

Acid

We’ve all seen Breaking Bad (if you haven’t you really should), and the body disposal in a bath full of hydrofluoric acid.  Whilst this may seem an outrageous method concocted by a genius scientist-turned-criminal, it is actually a well-known method that murderers have been using for decades – e.g. Jeffrey Dahmer, John George Haigh.

The show uses Hydrofluoric Acid, which according to my research (not a recommended topic to search for by the way), would work.  Eventually.  Though Mr. White and Pinkman have success with this method, lye (sodium hydroxide) would be the preferred method.  Commonly found as an ingredient in drain cleaner because of its ability to dissolve biological tissues (hair, skin cells etc).

I got as far as I wanted to go researching this without looking for whether 55 gallon drums of lye were even legally available to anywhere that isn’t a registered laboratory!  (I’m sure owning this site has put me on various government watchlists…)

Fire

A widely used alternative to burial for funerals for thousands of years, cremation (the burning of a cadaver) leaves very little remains and essentially no evidence.

Unless you have access to an industrial furnace however, and one you could sneak a heavy body to, then an open fire is probably your only choice if you wish to dispose by fire.

What isn’t apparent until it’s too late though, is that burning bodies stink.  Really stink.  Ever singed your hair lighting a cigarette or using hair straighteners? Times that by a thousand, add in the rotting burning flesh smell and the fact you have no control over the ventilation of the fumes and you’re probably in for a bad time.

It is not uncommon for a murderer’s charred victim to be identified through dental remains (the teeth are some of the smallest bones that fall straight to the bottom of the fire and thus don’t see the same heat).

Let's move on...

Bury

Probably the most obvious of solutions.  What isn’t obvious though is where?  Where do you bury a body?  If you’re John Wayne Gacy then you do it inside of your very home.  Although it might be easier to get away with digging a big hole where potentially no one will see or question you, it leaves the evidence very close to home (literally).

The alternative?

A fresh grave.

Macabre as digging up a fresh grave seems, you already have one dead body on your hands to deal with so if this sounds a step too far you should probably reside yourself to eating jailhouse dinners from now on and turn yourself in.

The idea behind using a fresh grave is to mask the smell to sniffer dogs (especially if you bury your corpse underneath the coffin replacing the coffin back on top).  Alongside that, is the fact you are using a location where the soil has already been freshly dug and doesn’t look suspicious.

I'm gonna guess that you passed on this option?  The next isn't much better...

Dismember

A human body is pretty large and cumbersome right?  So the obvious solution is to cut it into smaller pieces right?  The most gruesome hands on method to body disposal has to be dismemberment.

A very personal affair, chopping off a person’s limbs pretty much secures your invitation to hell, even after the fact that you are reading an entry on how to dispose of a body.

If you can do this in a secluded place, somewhere you can spend a long time cleaning up after, uninterrupted, then your body disposal plans become much easier.  Patrick Kearney utilised this very method to dispose of victim’s body parts in different locations across California.  Wrapped in trash bags and discarded in random garbage cans, any limbs that were discovered became a lot harder to identify and thus finding the killer harder also.

Submerge

A gangsters favourite, the ol’ cement boots.  This method is portrayed in many movies.  It seems to be a very successful option.

Discarding a body in the ocean speeds up decomposition, underwater currents can knock the body into rocks and the seabed, potentially covering any evidence of injuries inflicted beforehand.

If you are lucky, the body will never wash up on shore anywhere.  Not so good if you live inland though

Pigs

Yes, pigs.  You are reading that correctly.  No, I don't mean dress the bodies in pig costumes to disguise them.

Sigh.

Pigs have teeth strong enough to bite and grind through human bone, and if hungry enough will eat absolutely anything.  Digestion may not prevent all of the bone fragments coming out the other end but, honestly, if you aren’t suspected of being a murderer already, who is going to go through pig poop on a whim there might be evidence in there?

It is speculated that wealthy Canadian pig farmer and serial killer Robert "Willy" Pickton fed his victim’s bodies to his pigs.

[mor-beck-more-problems]

The White Crest Job || Morgan & Felix

TIMING: Current

PARTIES: @streetharmacist & @mor-beck-more-problems

SUMMARY: Morgan and Felix take a field trip to rescue a very important item from an auction house on Erin’s behalf.

CONTAINS: gun use, violence

Stupidity got people killed. Talking got people killed. Now both in the same suit? They did a bang up job with that kinda thing. As Felix waited and tapped his feet, he had to attribute that to why he had a cooler full of brain on a weeknight. One man’s stupidity was another’s advantage and the fae kept that in mind. There was that telltale jittering under his skin, that sensation before a job and the wonderment at whether or not it would be pulled off. After everything, he felt more than ready to tag in. Erin had gone through enough and she could use a night off of crime. As it worked out, he could use a night of crime. Desperately. With a little luck and pixie dust, he and Morgan might be able to come bearing good news that would make the whole thing sting a little less.

At the sight of Morgan approaching, he stood up from the rickety bench and adjusted his suit tie. It was a special night at the auction house and he wore some of his sharpest attire. He smiled at her and waved. “It’s real nice to see you, Morgan,” he greeted. “You excited?” They were about to walk into the mouth of some sort of beast but as long as they had their eye on the prize, it should be fine. He reached for the cooler and offered it to her. “I got something for ya. One of Roy’s finest. I wanna say the old sport worked at the auction house.” His grin grew. “Not anymore though.”

Morgan could swear her body was vibrating with the need to do something straightforward and easy. Or at least easier than the past few weeks had been. Sure, the primary criminal activity of her life had been charging people for rocks she transmuted from dirt and trash, but Morgan was nothing if not a good student, and being a walking dead girl leant itself to certain advantages. Mushrooms could strike, ghosts could rise from the deep, worlds could fall apart, but Morgan’s limbs would always grow back shiny and limber no matter how many times they snapped off. And this errand, at least, was for a good cause. Morgan rolled up the sleeves of her turtleneck and beamed at the fae waiting for her. “Sorry I’m late, I wasn’t sure what the dress code was for our clandestine date,” she said with a smirk. “Me? Oh I’m ready to dance. It’s been a rough fall, and Erin’s one of my best friends. It’s kinda nice, having something to do that makes an easy kind of sense. All the steps are clear. No back-and-forth, no second guessing.”

She shook her worries back to the far side of her mind and turned to the cooler. “Mother of earth,” she chuckled. “Dinner and dancing? If this is how you treat your friends, Bea’s a luckier gal than I thought.” Flipping open the lid, she fished out the sliced brain, wrapped in sandwich paper like a happy meal burger. Tentatively, hoping that the old whoever had at least been a nice gangster, she took a bite. “Is this to help me blend in?” She asked between bites. “Because I’ll have you know I’ve killed a woman with just my own sparkling personality bouncing around my head.” She took another bite, moaning with pleasure. “Not that I’m complaining, obviously. Think this’ll magically download everything he knew about this place?”

Felix beamed as much as he safely could in return. He intended to save that old song and dance for a special occasion. One maybe an hour or so away, he thought. They would just have to see how the night went. As it was, he was more than interested in seeing an auction hall go off the deep end. The job that he and Morgan had on their docket took precedence over seeing a few strangers lose it for a bit. He smiled at her and was inclined to agree. He did as much with a tip of his head. It did make an easy sort of sense, didn’t it? Easy as snapping a neck. They just needed to get their hands on it first. “Right there with you, my friend. See, I think this’ll be good for us. All of us.” A brow lifted. “I think we got a real nice night ahead of us. As for everybody else in there?” He shrugged.

At the mention of Bea, an easy smile slid into place and his skin warmed. Buzzed even. He didn’t want to think of the night going any way but up for them. He had a gal to get home to. He was sure Morgan could relate. “You know, I’d say we’re all pretty lucky,” he said as he framed his chin with his thumb and index finger. “You, me, Bea, and Deirdre!” As much as he knew that they could spend the rest of the night waxing poetic about their loves, they had some skulls to crack. Speaking of...It didn’t bother him when Morgan took to the brain. Over the years he had developed an iron stomach, of all things. Blood and brain, guts and bone. It all sorta mushed together. He struck a match and lit a thin cigarette. He considered dust briefly earlier in the evening. The more he thought about it, the more he was convinced he wouldn’t need it. Smoke billowed out of his mouth and curled around his glasses as he laughed. “Oh hell, I believe you,” he said with a smile. “I’m not too familiar with how the ol’ brain works, especially in this sorta case, but I think it’ll be a nice thing to have on our side. Y’know, the whole knowing is half the battle thing?” He offered Morgan the crook of his elbow. “Ready to paint this whole gig red?”

“I guess we are lucky, huh,” Morgan mused, smiling into her next bite. Stars above, it tasted so good, she had to ask herself why she didn’t do this more often. She groaned shamelessly as the rich, meaty flavor spread over her tongue. “Felix, you’re making me miss my Texas burgers,” she said, smirking with her mouth half full. “Tell you the truth, I could use a lucky night. I know you’re not supposed to let the bastards get you down, but stars, it’s...fucking hard sometimes. But!” She scarfed down the last of her brain. Nothing felt immediately off the way the urge to listen to a hockey game that night at Erin’s had felt off, but she did feel a little more verve and fire in her bones as she got to her feet. She took Felix’s arm and grinned up at him. “Felix, pal, I’m ready to dance like there’s no tomorrow. I just got one question for ya.” She quirked up a brow at him, nodding to his car and the joint they were about to bust open. “What kinda guns you got stashed in your car? I’m feelin’ like blowing some fireworks.”

“That’s why I’m a big advocate of getting back at the bastards!” Felix said cheerily. Whether it was through bloody footprints or a bullet in the head, things had a way of coming back around. “Nothing really perks up the spirit like some old fashioned vengeance and looking good while doing it. But this is business tonight. The rest can come later.” Heck, would it. The amount of receipts they owed people had started to stack itself high. “Oh, Morgan, I’m so glad you asked. I think you’ll like it,” he said as he looked at her. The tone of her voice, the fire behind it, danced a little differently and he couldn’t help but grin. It reminded him of an old friend. Tommy Toblerone, a fella that had earned his name from the rather unorthodox and sweet ways he could take a person out. “I had to leave the Tommys at home since I don’t think we wanna get the toys taken away early and all.” After he tugged on a pair of black leather gloves as a safety precaution, he pulled out a .38 Smith & Wesson and a .357 Magnum. Without a second thought, he handed her the magnum revolver and a handful of cartridges. “I think you’ll like that one,” he said smoothly as he slid the .38 into the inside pocket of his suit jacket. “I’m more about slicing and dicing myself but I got this one just in case. Old faithful! Been awhile since she’s seen action but I’m feeling good about tonight. You?”

Morgan loaded the revolver. She hated guns, didn’t know the first thing about them except how to hide from one thanks to all the safety videos she’d had to watch for all her shitty jobs. But her hands spun the cylinder and admired the shine of the metal in the night like it was something familiar. Something powerful, even cozy. She loaded the chambers, then popped the beauty back into place. She stroked the frame, smiling at the moon’s reflection. “I feel like a shiny new penny,” she said.

Millie Mayfield didn’t like being interrupted from her movie time, but Roy wasn’t dicking around when he said please, honey, so instead of watching pretty teenagers get cut up by a chainsaw, Millie was getting her boots dirty slipping in to take some delicate goods off the hands of the less deserving. If she could only do it without the B-Squad posse, she might even have herself a good night. “Hey, Mac?” She asked, twirling her bat as she approached the guy behind her. It wasn’t the same as her cheerleader batons, but it killed the time in a pinch. “Can you run and get me some McDonald’s? One of the really sad, dried up specials. You can tell when their tag says FIVE YEARS! With a party hat sticker. Pretty please with cream cheese?”

Mac would, because Roy also said she was in charge, and he knew she’d bust his kneecaps into confetti if he didn’t.

Something rattled at the end of the warehouse. Company. Roy hadn’t mentioned anything about it being a party, but she was an adaptable girl. Millie sauntered into the warehouse, bat held out and ready to strike. She signaled to Mac to get out his gun. “It’s not nice to gate crash,” she called inside, her voice almost sing-song. “If you came to play with the big kids, let’s play.”

As fun as it would have been to crack a couple jokes at the expense of the rich, Felix and Morgan didn’t have that luxury. They had a docket to make a couple checkmarks on. As it went, his patience was thin to nonexistent. Maybe it was because of the mushrooms or maybe it was because things had a way of not going their way lately. He checked over his knives and the gun in his hand. Even clicked his heels for the knife he kept there. All in tip-top shape. The knives were slid back into place. The back of the auction house had a padlock on it but that didn’t matter much as he jimmied it open with a grin flashed Morgan’s way. The chain rattled as the fae toed the door open. From where they stood, there seemed to be plenty of shadows.

Perfect. That good feeling fluttered in his chest again. Even when a voice called out. As a pair of steps entered the auction house’s backroom. Even better. If there were ever a night to have a tussle, it would be this one. He slipped off to the left. Slipped into darkness.

“Do me a favor and let us know when they show up, yeah?” He took his switchblade in hand. “Much appreciated.”

Millie had two choices. Go for the goods, or go for the party crashers. Roy said the merchandise would be small, easy to miss. Not exactly something you could nab with some sleeze pulling your hair. Besides, Millie never turned her back on a fight. “Real funny, Tricky Dicky. Maybe you should run back home to the kiddie p--” A gunshot burned through the air and into her chest. “Ow!” Millie looked down at the scorch mark in her dress. “That was genuine vintage!” She shrieked.

There was still smoke at the end of Morgan’s revolver when she realized her mistake. This dame wasn’t the kind you pinned down with a bum shoulder or a busted kneecap. For all her grousing about the clothes, there wasn’t even a lick of blood coming out of the wound. It had been a rookie mistake, thinking she’d go down easy. This dame wasn’t human anymore than Morgan was. “Sorry, sweet cheeks. I don’t make exceptions for people who get in my way. Equal rights and all that,” she said, stepping into the light. She risked a glance at Felix, who was visible only by his switchblade. She hoped he was watching too, that he saw her little nod to go for the gold. She could keep one little dame busy for him. “You might wanna dance back to your go-go party before this gets worse. It’d be a shame to knock such a pretty block off.”

Millie was already marching forward, bat ready. “Try me, bitch.”

Nothing like the sound of a revolver and the smell of spent gunpowder to remind Felix of home. Let alone a heist! The fae tipped his blade Morgan’s way before he started to climb over boxes and through shadows. What they were after was small, easily concealed. But if he had heard right, it packed one hell of a punch. A bullet that would be real damn nice for them to have in the chamber. While Morgan dealt with the dame with the bat, he’d get what they needed. The light of a waning moon overhead bled through the smallest tear in the roof. Caught on something that shone with iridescence. He sure as heck hoped it was the something they were after. There wasn’t any hesitance to the way he moved toward it, hard-charging if there ever was any.

A hard charge into a forearm that caught him right across the throat. He puffed out a few breaths as he skittered back and recuperated enough to bring him to his feet, back into the shadows. His throat smarted as he looked at what had caught him. A forked tongue flicked out of a fanged mouth. Their head swiveled to follow him as Felix moved. They had a knife too. One with a jagged sort of blade.

“I can smell you, shadow.”

Morgan had seen too much violence since coming to White Crest to mistake the sound of a fight. The smirk on her lips flickered as she turned. “Felix—?”

“You got way bigger problems than that, Dollface,” the same sneered. She swung her bat, hard enough to knock Morgan off her balance.

Her head felt like it was off kilter, but that was just her skull bones bending around the wound. It was right again in seconds and Morgan leveled her revolver again to fire off another round, this one landing square into the girl’s eye. Faintly, she knew she hated guns. The sound, the way they looked, how they went from zero to disaster with just a bang. But something strange in her liked it too. She readied another shot, but the dame was already charging her, anger blazing out of her now ruined face. She was hell in high heels and creamsicle orange. Hell and payback. The bullet hadn’t even moved her an inch. Morgan threw away her gun, useless, and tried to run. A hand caught her by the hair by the hair and dragged her back.

“Zombie, huh? This is gonna be fun.”

“Morgan, ya alright?” Felix’s eyes were ahead but his ears were behind him. His expression wavered from one of confidence to one of concern. He liked Morgan. A great deal. And they had people to get home to, let alone a fucking point to get across. Any wavering halted. When he moved, the lamia’s eyes followed him. They placed themselves as a body between the box full of iridescence and the lampade itching to get his hands on it. Felix slipped his jacket off and wadded it up. It could be said that Felix was a planner but as he rocked off his heels and went forward, not much thought went into it. The lamia struck out, their knife cutting easy through the fabric. The tip nicked Felix’s palm as he let go and danced back. The lamia’s tongue flicked out again as he stepped through the shadows.

The fae hit his heel against the ground hard enough to spring the knife from his shoe before he lunged forward with a kick. The lamia was larger than him, muscle packed tight together, and he felt it when the knife in his shoe clipped through the lamia’s suit pants to lodge itself in. It wasn’t the strongest of knives and it broke off as Felix pulled his foot back. The lamia jabbed at him again with the knife and cut a line of black, ink blood across his chest. Felix hissed then grinned as he rolled up the sleeves of his dress shirt, switchblade still in hand.

“Alright, alright,” he muttered out with a laugh. “So much for working this out, huh?”

The next time, it was the lamia that moved to meet him in the dark. Knives out.

Morgan caught the dame’s hands and twirled in her grasp, getting enough space to knee her in the stomach, get a new grip on her arms, and throw her into a stack of crates. She didn’t run this time, but picked up her opponent and slam her down again. Maybe if she’d been some lousy human, it would’ve broken her in a couple of pieces, but this girl wasn’t the type to roll over easy. She pulled out a knife from the front of her shirt. It wasn’t big enough to lob off her head, not quickly anyway, but her eyes burned red and Morgan realized she was staring down a bonafide vampire.

They tousled, slinging blows with all their strength and all the ruthlessness of two women desperate for a win. No more maybe this times. Morgan was walking out of here with her prize for Erin. With something done the right way. Crates shattered under Morgan as the dame threw her again. Glass and powder spilled onto the floor. Morgan didn’t care, those goods weren’t her problem. She grabbed some of the broken wood and swung it hard enough to crack the damn thing to bits. When she was through, she had a nice stake sized piece, sharp and jagged, as far as the stuff went.

The vampire dame snarled and leapt out of her reach.

“What’s the matter, doll?” Morgan asked. “I thought we were gonna dance.” If nothing else, she sure as hell hoped Felix found this magic blade soon.

It had been a hot minute since Felix had been in a knife fight. After everything that had happened, he supposed it was only a matter of time. As he weaved through the shadows of the warehouse, the lamia was there with him. His glamour had dropped the more that black wisps of blood smoked out of his dress shirt. Knife fights were ugly, feral affairs. He couldn’t help but grin as he ducked back from the lamia’s swipe. Only for him to come to a stop as a painful tug spread pain along the top of his skull. The lamia’s hand was wrapped around the main beam of his right antler, close to the fork. Felix reared his head back and flipped the knife in his hand to stab at the lamia’s hand. The blade nicked skin but it wasn’t much. The lamia who had him locked in place kicked at the side of his leg and brought him down hard to his knees.

His eyes widened and flashed white as the lamia brought the serrated edge of his knife to the bone. Felix frantically shook his head violently and tried to rear back. Dig his heels into the ground to force himself back into the dark. It didn’t matter. The lamia would find him and he wasn’t going anywhere.

The lamia knew what he was doing. Maybe it hadn’t been the first time for them. But it had been the first time for Felix. Breakage. The crack deafened him. Dulled his senses to anything other than pain and pure, undiluted rage. As the antler separated from him, the lamia stepped back from the force of it. Felix was on them in an instant as he threw his full weight into him. The antler clattered from their grasp and the fae took it in hand. Didn’t second guess when he started to plunge it through the lamia’s scales. The ones that lined their neck, their chest, their organs. All the soft parts that made the rest crumble.

He didn’t realize he was yelling until the lamia went still underneath him and inhuman blood splashed his chest. His chest heaved as he sat back, eyes wide and wild. His throat hurt. His head hurt. Momentarily, he forgot what they were there for until his eyes locked on the box and he brought himself to stand. Antler still in hand, he went to it and looked back to where he could hear the sound of Morgan’s own scuffle.

“Morgan,” he rasped out. “Fucking kill her, huh?”

They were bounding through the warehouse, chasing each other like filthy animals. Somewhere between running around crates, the dame found Morgan’s gun and had herself a nice time driving the rest of the bullets into her body. The steam was still on the muzzle when the wounds healed up, but the rounds must’ve sounded like pennies from heaven all the same. She heard the shouting and stopped to turn. It was the wrong move. The dame’s bat smashed against her skull, hard enough to send sparks through her vision.

“Maybe get the fucking knife, huh?” Morgan called back.

She still had a grip on the stake, but the vampire was hanging around her like a goddamn flying monkey. Morgan lost count of how many surfaces she bashed her into befor she let go and slid off. It wasn’t every day you regretted bringing a gun to a knife fight, but that was White Crest for you. Morgan pinned the dame down and decked her with her fist. Felix hadn’t sounded so hot when he called out to her. They needed to end this quickly. The stake came up--and splintered in the vampire’s grip. Morgan didn't even see her arms come up to knock her down, just the view of those damn go-go boots as she ran away. Good riddance.

“That’s gonna be a ‘negative’ on that kill,” she groaned, easing up to her feet. “But she’s out of our hair. Maybe some son of a gun hunter will have a better night. You find it yet?”

“If not,” Felix started as he approached the box. “I’m sure I can hire somebody. Plenty of fucking nobodies that wouldn’t mind getting a tooth or two from her.”

He tried to ignore the splinter ache in his head. Even as he tilted it, it felt lighter. Unbalanced. Uneven. His forehead felt wet and as he touched his fingertips to it, pulled them back, he saw more bloody wisps. His skin felt cold, his nerves even more so. The fae looked at Morgan with dim half-moon, a fist clenched around his broken antler. The knife sat unbothered atop a heap of fabric. With the exception of its glass blade, it was otherwise unexceptional. Bullets and blades for another kind of destruction. What the fuck else was new.

“I did. You alright?” The question was clipped with an aimless agitation. No, it wasn’t aimless. He knew exactly who he was pissed at. He gestured loosely at the knife and leered at it. “That’s the fucking thing right there. It better be worth it after all this shit.”

Morgan shuffled over to Felix, giving a whistle when she saw how worse for where he was. “You had a worse time than me. Guess Roy got the same tip we did, and wanted to get ahead of the game. And now that dame knows who Erin’s friends are. She’s gonna blab to Roy and give him the scoop.” Morgan spat on the ground, shaking her head. She was too small to see from the ground, but one hop onto one of the few crates that wasn’t busted and she could see what all the fuss was about.

The hilt wasn’t anything special, but the glass was a beaut, thick enough that you could spit on one end and not tell from the other, and serrated, brought to a deadly point. Morgan couldn’t imagine you made something like this in any old forge, but what did she know about this stuff. “In the right hands, it’ll stick Roy in the ground for good, and that ain’t nothing,” she said. “Come on, compadre. I’m feelin’ like a cigar. This ol’ brain is a doozie, and you need to get the edge off before that ride home.”

Felix made a low sound of affirmation. “It’s not every day you break an antler,” he intoned. It truly fucking wasn’t and his lip curled. “That sounds about par for the course in this town, huh? Word travels fast.” He glanced at the dead body of the lamia. Whether or not they had been close to Roy, he didn’t care. A dead body was a message all the same. He shrugged loosely as he looked back at Morgan. The night was still fun in its own way, breakage and bullets be damned. “Lucky us.”

“Think I’ll need more than a cigar but I ain’t about to turn that down,” he said with a glance to Morgan as he pieced his human glamour back together. His glasses were somewhere but he wasn’t in the mood to look for them. He wasn’t in the mood for much other than that cigar she offered. “Roy will be in the ground before he fucking knows it and y’know, I like the sound of that very much. Let’s get out of here. We did good and ought to treat ourselves to something nice.”

With the knife in their possession, they could leave the warehouse and good riddance to that. It’d be nice to burn it down, he thought. Burn it all down. His anger was loud and alive in his head. His hate. As they made to leave, one thought crossed his mind. Just how tired he was of only walking White Crest’s streets. He wanted to fucking own them.

[girllovescomic]

Winter Begonia episode 2 recap

This episode is another beautifully shot, well-acted by all the actors involved.  We get more insight on our main characters, including Er Nainai, a showcase of Shang Xirui’s creative genius, his unwillingness to kiss ass and kowtow to authorities, Cheng Fengtai’s understanding of our artist and his willingness to protect him when the occasion arises, which draws some criticism from his wife. And lastly we get a glimpse at the world of politics and entertainment congregating in Beiping, where Nationalist ministers and warlords vie for power while claiming to fight the growing Japanese threats, and entertainers must thread lightly not to buck tradition and be caught in the middle of this chaotic environment.

 Ok, starting from now I will be using acronyms to talk about our lovebirds  BFF.

We kick off the second episode right where we left off.  President Zheng goes to check out what is the cause of the commotion and our dapper daddy, Cheng Fengtai equally intrigued follows, but not before telling lil’ sis to stay put. 

 He doesn’t understand what could have caused the audience, which was enjoying the performance to suddenly switch and jeer.  President Zheng explains that Shang Xirui changed the lyrics and the opera, going against the rule set by Beijing Opera Mafia erm... I mean Association/community, and they are punishing him for it. Basically, our lil penguin does not play by the rule set by these boring fuddies and they are intent on crushing him.

He goes on to say that SXR is an outsider and a rebel who does whatever pleases him, much to the consternation of the established Beiping clique.  

CFT does not see the issue in him changing the opera since it would be boring if he did the same thing as others.  In short, he thinks being an innovator is a cool thing to do.  Zheng replies that because CFT was Westernized he doesn’t understand the proprieties of Beiping Opera. Being a lone wolf against the majority will draw him the ire of the mainstream.  Hmmm... sounds like someone... 

Cheng Fengtai indeed comments that him and SXR are kindred spirits, since they are both outsiders who buck to the system, which President Zheng is quick to deny, but you can tell that is exactly what he is thinking and Cheng knows.  He adds that giving 50% of their profits to the anti-Japanese effort is a small price to pay to ensure peace and longevity in their businesses and country. Zheng bemoans that SXR antics messed up his possible deal with CFT and leaves angrily.  

CFT sees one of the ruffians get a tea kettle and throw the hot liquid onto SXR, who remains the consummate professional continuing to sing despite the mishap.  CFT walks toward the stage to ask the man who threw the hot liquid why he did that.  

The man replies that SXR messed with Yang Guifei, to which CFT replies that if there is someone to blame for messing with Yang Guifei, it would be her lecherous father-in-law who forced her to divorce his son, go to a nunnery and then become his concubine.  OMG, this is too funny! 

The man tells CFT to mind his business and attempts to climb the stage to probably harm SXR, which CFT stops, telling the ruffian that he has two options: to either listen to the end of the show or get the f out.  The ruffian who doesn’t seem to know that CFT is a big shot throws a right cross onto his beautiful face.  Oh no bish, you didn’t! CFT says this has been a long time someone dare to hit him.  He hits the man back and is roughed up by the man’s crew.  

The theater manager finally steps in (took you long enough) and fight off the ruffians.  CFT asks the manager why he didn’t step him earlier, which the manager feels wronged, informing CFT that he had spotted the ruffians who apparently are well-known gangsters,  but since they didn’t seem to target the VIP area, he didn’t take actions.  This does not please CFT who reminds him about the first floor where the main audience and the performers are located and could have been endangered.  Cha Cha’er runs to check on her brother’s well-being while the manager brings the ruffians to let them know they messed with the wrong man (CFT).  While this is all happening, the opera troupe is still doing their performance, not missing a beat.  The manager urges SXR to end the performance since the entire audience is gone.  CFT reminds him that he is still there, along with his lil sis and since he took a punch for SXR, he better continue his performance.  He sits down with Cha Cha’er and looks on, while having flashback of his mother, who apparently used to perform the same opera, Drunken Beauty for him.  

The person in charge of his costumes tells SXR that the dress is ruined because of the tea, which apparently left a stain and smell.  SXR is chided by one of his troupe member for changing the lyrics, leading to the disturbance.  SXR replies that how is he supposed to know if something is going to work if he doesn’t perform, and ooph, I feel this in my musician soul. He gets up, asking for some wine and spits it onto the dress.  I guess its to remove the stain, but it apparently does not work.  The theater’s manager is walking with CFT and Cha Cha’er through the backstage area and takes him to SXR suite.  He announces to SXR that he has a visitor, which makes the singer to gulp the wine in his mouth.  This is the first time either one are meeting in the flesh and I swear you can feel the attraction in the air. SXR in his beautiful makeup meeting the debonair Westernized businessman.  Sparks are flying guys and I feel a little hot under the collar.  

CFT tells the singer that he must have been shocked by everything while SXR thanks him for stepping in when he did. He apologizes for causing the nasty bruise on CFT beautiful face, which the debonair is surprised the singer even noticed, considering he never stopped performing.  SXR informs him that as performers they are used to such things and are trained never to step off the stage until the last note.  Best girl Xiao Lai comes in to inquire about the bruise on SXR head that was caused by Cha Cha’er perfect throw.  CFT apologizes on behalf of his little sister, to which the guilty party adds an apology, calling SXR “Jiějiě”aka elder sister, mistaking him for a girl.  Oh girl, I understand the confusion.  CFT corrects her that the person standing in front of him, may look like a beautiful girl, but she should call him Gege. SXR tells her that she is right to call him Jiejie since he has not removed his makeup, therefore he can be seen as a woman. This part is so comical that even La Yuehong, one of the troupe members chuckles. 

Does Cha Cha’er sees her Gege’s heart eyes?

CFT offers a ride home, which SXR turns down since he has to move all of his stuff out of the theater since this will be his last performance at Huibin and will look elsewhere to perform.  The manager feels slighted, to which SXR lets him know, in a very subtle way that he didn’t do his job to stop the disturbance and if it wasn’t for CFT, the ruffians probably would have harmed him. The manager offers to compensate as long as SXR finishes his obligation with the theater, since he doesn’t have anyone else.  The singer agrees to do so without asking for more money, but only if the manager agrees to let him do Drunken Beauty in his last show, which the manager agrees.  SXR apologizes to CFT for boring him with tedious backstage squabbles.  CFT understands and tells him he is leaving.  In a gesture of gratitude for CFT standing up for him, he asks Xiao Lai to let CFT borrow one of his best looking coat, since CFT apparently lost his jacket in the scuffle.

 CFT thanks him, to which SXR tells him not to mention those words to him in the future, since he owes a great debt of gratitude for agreeing to repair his costume to the cost of his business and for being attacked in the theater because of him. Xiao Lai buttons the coat and I swear, I wished they had replicated the scene from the novel when it is SXR who buttons the coat.  CFT is surprised to hear that SXR knows who he is and agrees to come again to watch SXR performance.  CFT leaves the theater, looking gorgeous (ovaries exploding) in the coat.  He glances at the poster with a look of intrigue for the man he has just met and I bet his statement about not believing an entertainer could be that charismatic is coming back to haunt him.

At home, his wife is unhappy that he acted like a hero tonight, which he responds that every great hero would show weakness in the presence of a beautiful lady and OMG, I can’t!!!! I can’t believe this was no censored!  He yells out in pain, as he tries to laugh at his joke (really, that was joke, lol, ok). Er Nainai tells him to cut the crap and that for all the years they’ve been married, she never that he could fight.  Gotta say, he cannot hold his own in a fight, that is for sure, but somehow he fought the ruffians for SXR.  

She wonders why he would do it for superstar who probably has seen many fans harmed themselves for him.  She adds that if he wasn’t a high status man, SXR would probably not bat an eye toward him.  Wait, is she basically calling my lil honeybun a golddigger?  Lol, his face in this cut is how I felt 

She chides for being a busybody, which he answers that it is not uncommon for a man to get in trouble when fighting, so why is she so mad.  Er Nainai reveals her insecurities as she obviously remembers what Mei Xin told her the day before.  She knows she is too country for the debonair CFT, having paid a dowry to be his wife due to his circumstances and is lacking compared to the socialites in Beiping, feeling inadequate for him.  CFT does not understand why she always bring this ish up, telling her that he is forever grateful to have marry her and remembers all her good qualities.  Yeah, this does not sound like a love declaration but you can tell he does have great affection for her and will probably never leave her.  

She reminds him of Cha Cha’er status in 1930s China, where noble ladies are not supposed to be seen in public (oh boy, did you forget your husband has a Western outlook about things?). Surprisingly he agrees to listen to her, which shows how much he actually respect her point of view.  Seriously, sis, you have a good husband, even if he may not be romantic or see you as his soulmate.

Meanwhile, in la casa de Shang Xirui, the atmosphere is starkly different.  Everyone is quiet, but you can tell there is a lot of tension.  The troupe is looking their leader, with a lot on their minds.  One of the singers broaches the subject of the manager willfully letting the ruffians cause the disturbance and not lifting a finger to help, in an effort to embarrass SXR.  She adds that he was rash for telling the manager he will leave.  SXR knows the whole hoopla is due to him changing the lyrics causing the attendance to leave before the end of the show leading to a major loss in business for the theater.  He realizes this gave an opportunity for the theater to retaliate, hence why he wants to move out.  This displeases the actress since they have not found another theater to perform, which could cost them a loss in revenue.  Stubbornly, SXR informs that he will simply find another theater to play since he has received many offers.  The girl continues to what seems to be the crux of her complaint. She was the one to pick the gift for Jiang Rou Shou and all SXR had to do was to make an appearance at the feast, which he failed to do, causing the Boss Jiang to slam the table in anger.  She wants her leader to go and curry some favors toward the old fart Grandmaster, which angers SXR, who tells his crew that he does not need to suck up to a pompous ass like Jiang Rou Shou in order to perform, that his popularity and talent is enough to carry him and his troupe to fame.  He orders them to eat.

Talking about a pompous ass, we get to see Asian Crispin Glover, Jiang Dengbao strutting in the street.  He is called out by a man who is apparently hiding out. He wants to know what happened during last night’s performance and it turns out he was the one who sent those gangsters to create chaos and harm SXR. The man informs him that his crew was arrested because they encountered Commander Cao’s brother-in-law, Er Ye, and that he barely escaped.  Like the coward that he is, Dengbao tells him to act like they never met and scurries out like the bish he is.  Unfortunately for him, the cops visit his father and Little Bao knows he is in big doodoo.  Senior Jiang asks him if he was behind the ruffians which he quickly denies, but all in vain, since his father knows the truth.  The gangsters sold him out as soon as they entered the station.  LOL, what kind of villain is he!!! He admits that he did send these ruffians because he cannot stand how arrogant SXR is, but his father is dissatisfied because he acted without a plan, which will only cause SXR to be more popular if his involvement is found out.  His father tells him to be patient and to find a way to strike at the right time. His stupid plot only revealed how dumb he is.  

CFT and his socialite brother-in-law, Fan Lian enter what appears to be one of the private salons where the wealthy go for entertainment. There, SXR sans makeup is performing on stage. CFT does not recognize him, asking Fan Lian who is this scholarly looking young man on the stage who seems to have drawn a large crowd.  Fan Lian informs him that he took a punch for him, much to CFT’s dismay at how different he looks without the costume and makeup, in terms of look, gestures and attitude.  

He learns SXR was invited because Fan Lian is one of his biggest fan, but apparently, the singer had always turned him down until today, upon learning that CFT will also be present.  OOOOHHHHHH.  SXR walks straight toward CFT after finishing his performance, much to crowd’s surprise. They exchange handshakes and SXR once again apologizes for what transpired in the theater the other night. Fan Lian reminds CFT their mahjong game is about to start, and SXR tells them to pay no mind to him.  CFT excuses himself and leaves with Fan Lian, while SXR stares at the fine piece of manly man walking away.  Gaze away sis, gaze away!

Apparently this is not CFT lucky day at the game, losing to Fan Lian, who teases him for leaving his lucky charm Cha Cha’er .  Exasperated for losing, CFT tells them he needs to go to the restroom, which Fan Lian thinks its trick to dash.  CFT gives him a look and asks if he is trying to clean out only members of his family instead of the other players on the table. He walks back to the stage where the crowd is urging SXR to do an encore. CFT once again rescues our cinnamon bun from the fans who wants him to continue.  SXR tells him it is okay since these spoiled rich kids rarely get a chance to hear Beijing Opera.  One of the kids comments how dedicated SXR is to his craft, to which CFT jokes that since the young master’s family operates a brothel, shouldn’t he strip dance to show his dedication.  OMG, I love this guy. He invites SXR to follow him onto the terrace.  

Rescuing his beauty from rabid fans

Xirui surprised that he has a hero to come rescue him

Sassy Fengtai

Inviting his beauty to follow

Because they need go have their romantic date, bro. Mind your business! The beauty is happy to be swept away

 Nah Hah, let them go on their romantic date

There, they have a little tete-a-tete and I swear the entire atmosphere is romantic. The waiter comes with hot tea and pours a cup for SXR when CFT realizes the singer may be wary of being drugged or worse, having his vocal cords damaged and takes away the cup. Showing that he trusts the businessman, he grabs the cup back and drinks from it. He tells CFT during autumn his throat is not in good condition because of the weather. 

CFT tells him how surprised to see him, dressed plainly, looking more like a young scholar.  He compliments him for the red flower, which he states makes him look mischievous, drawing a chuckle from the singer.  SXR informs him that one of the fans gave him the flower while he was performing the Emperor and the Country Girl. He usually does not wear fancy bright clothes off the stage because it will be too much. CFT agrees that his costumes are beautiful and extravagant, costing a lot of money.  SXR tells him that since he has no one to take care of, he can afford to spend most of his earnings on beautiful clothing because it enhances his performance and I totally get it! He thinks  Er Ye will see him as foolish, but CFT gets that he is a free spirit. 

 He informs him that what happened with the ruffians was planned and that Dengbao is behind it. He wants to know how SXR wants to handle it.  SXR seems unfazed by the information and tells him to set them free after beating the shit out of them.  He understands why Dengbao did it, since this is par for the course and the slight toward his dad, however since CFT was also harmed, he is afraid CFT might be unhappy. OMG why are so cute!!!! CFT answers the ruffians should be beaten twice then before being let go, eliciting a genuine laughter from SXR. SXR doesn’t know how to thank him, then removes the flower, gets up and puts it on CFT lapel, tells him that he offers the flower so he can be equally mischievous and I swear I fainted.  How is this bromance???   

The romantic scene is interrupting by some rude person who informs him that third wheel Fan Lian is calling him out, probably to win more money off him.  In a soft voice that would make you melt, CFT tells SXR to come with him as he will protect him from the fans.

They sit together in the mahjong parlor and Fan Lian comments about the flower.  CFT tells SXR that Fan Lian does not like to be upstage by someone better looking than him.  Is he talking about himself or Shang Lao Ban? If you are me, you know where my mind is going. He invites him to play, but SXR has no idea how, he should simply pick tiles for him.  SXR is afraid to do so because he doesn’t want his bae friend to lose and having to fork out some money. Even third wheel Fan Lian urge him to pick tiles for CFT, in the hopes that he will get more money from his brother-in-law. SXR does so and places the tile in the middle of his palm, showing his beautiful hand. It turns out to be a winning tile, which prompt CFT to see SXR as his lucky charm.  Our sweet penguin is smiling as bae won big.

Happy penguin

The next day, SXR is once again inspecting his costume when CFT enters the shipping office.  He greets SXR and asks if he is going to nitpick him again. He offers to help inspect the embroidered dress, grabbing a flashlight so he can see better.  While SXR inspects, showing off his well-manicured hands, which makes me envious, CFT is enthralled by the other man and asks if it is to is pleasing.  SXR in his Sheng (male roles) voice responds with an opera lyric that shows his satisfaction.  CFT offers to send the dress to his home.  

Waiting for his senpai approval

On his way, SXR sees a banner asking for donation to help fund the anti-Japanese effort.  We get a glimpse at the arduous training opera members have to go through when Niu Lao Ban comes in to inform him that Kuomintang minister Jin has invited members of the association to sing for the fundraising,  SXR is eager to participate and is informed that he will not do so in costume or makeup, and won’t even have his full accompaniment, just a huqin (Chinese violin). Basically he will not be paid for the performance, which does not seemed to bother SXR.  He asks if two of his idols, Ning Jiulang and Hou Yukei will make an appearance and is disappointed when he learns they won’t. He picks the opera he will sing, which prompt Niu Lao Ban to urge him to change because the opera might be too boring, but SXR tells him the way he will play will be exciting.  Oh this man is quite confident. 

At the event, both Fan Lian and CFT are also attending.  CFT informs Fan Lian the money will partially go to minister Jin’s pocket and the rest to his brother-in-law, Commander Cao, essentially embezzling the money while making himself look good. Apparently, there is confrontation brewing between the two strongmen. 

Fan Lian is not interested in the politics, letting CFT know that SXR will perform, which makes CFT perk up and comments how he will end up an expert in opera for hanging out with both of them. 

 We see Mr. World, weasel Dengbao talking to one of Minister Jin’s people and you know they are up to no good when Niu Lao Bang is trying to coax the huqin player to stay. 

Apparently the man got into an argument with SXR, which pleases Dengbao.  Minister Jin witnesses the outburst and tells Niu Lao Ban to let SXR not to mess things up for him or he will shot in place.  Dengbao scurries toward his father to let him know the good news.  SXR was mad the violinist drank before getting on stage, causing the outburst.

Daddy Jiang sees this as a good opportunity to put SXR in his place.

Minister Jin who has witnessed the outburst with the violinist wants Niu Baiwen to remind SXR that this is his party and anyone who messes with it will be shot in place. No one can be a bigger diva than him.

Daddy overhears the veiled threat and is not pleased.

Meanwhile Niu Lang Bao is fretting while SXR is cool and collected, letting him that he is waiting on an item.  We get a full introduction of SXR huge appetite as Xiao Lai brings him a huge pork trotter, which he literally inhales it in the least elegant way possible, showing he is a man after all.  How he maintains his figure his beyond me and I am jealous.

Seriously no elegance at all!

Weasel Dengbao calls out to SXR letting him know that his father wants to speak with him

We learn Boss Jiang wants SXR to apologize for missing his birthday (dude, let it go!) and do everything he asks.  In return he will be his accompanist. Of course, my lil penguin graciously turns down the offer.  Boss Jiang lets him know not to mess with powerful men like Minister Jin who are capable of doing anything for power, which SXR points out Boss Jiang is the same, sending people to harm him only because he didn’t curry favors. No one puts baby in the corner!

    While our lil bae sneers at the obvious attempt to undermine him

Here comes the dashing hero, which surprises SXR.  CFT tells him that he had planned to stay and listen to his performance, but now that Minister Jin has placed a bounty on SXR’s head, this is no longer possible. 

 CFT wants to sweep his damsel to his castle...hmm I mean hide him at the cargo’s office until things cool down. SXR tells him that despite CFT being the great hero that he is, SXR is no damsel in distress.  He should go back to his table and watch how much of a hero he is. WHAT A LINE!!

Oof, after the amazing premiere episode, the second episode truly kicks things in gear, wasting no time to set up the couple/bosom friends.  They meet and sparks fly.  The instant attraction, the ease of their conversation, the romantic scene on the terrace which I have seen so many times and never get tired of.  CFT seems compel to protect his lil penguin from the spoiled brats who have no regards for his well-being or the corrupt politicians who care more about their image than the music.  However, our lil cinnamon is no damsel in distress, he is a man who can take care of himself and intends to show it to his boo friend.  Normally a drama would settle and slow its pace in episode 2, but not Winter Begonia. The episode served a purpose to flesh out the characters and show how the budding relationship starts. 

[bean-n-shroob]

The Origami King Review/Opinion

(I sorta hate that it has the word The in it cause when I did impressions or this review, it sounds strangely official)

I’m gonna review but if people don’t want spoilers here’s some Pros and Cons that I felt

Pros:

+ Music is fantastic! I love how the battle theme changes with every area/sub-area you go to.

+ Writing is good, it gets you invested in enough to sorta care. Humor is top notch as expected!

+ Olivia is a sweetheart! I love her so much and how she’s so marveled by everything.

+ Boss Battles are fun to figure and deal with.

+ Finding Toads is actually kinda fun, I enjoy figuring out where they’re hidden

+ Badge system is intriguing if not a bit clunkly put together (sorry, this is suppose to be Pros)

Cons:

- Regular Battles get old quick if puzzles aren’t really your thing and its a bit too easy to just not depend on the coins, thus making them pointless.

- Story sorta flops, it starts strong but then just sorta fizzles and all we got left is... fun experiences (I know this sounds like a Con, but while the experiences are fun, it is disappointing the story sorta flops hard)

- Character Design is very meh. The most well written character can’t save it from its extremely generic design

- But also Olly is not... that well written... so...

- Partners and Vellumentals are kinda under utilized to a disappointing degree (baby steps, baby steps ugh)

Anywho, that’s all my feelings (that I can remember and feel I can say without spoilers)

6.5/10 (I’ll explain the scoring under the cut)

Spoilers Under Cut

Hello and welcome to the Spoiler Bits of this Review/Opinion

Buckle in, this is a long one

Now y’all may be a bit curious as to why, with so much big things (music/writing/bosses/Olivia) being good and so little being bad, why a 6.5/10?

Well, I felt a 7 was too generous and would make people think “Oh, its good!” but a 6 is like “Eh... its mediocre” and a 6.5 is more like a “Its Good, But” and I feel that But is important! I know how this may sound, but TOK could’ve been WAY better and Chapter 2 was an example of how good this game could’ve been!

You know how people always bring up Huey, or the “Morton Leston” joke, or the “I would do things that would raise this game’s rating” line as examples as why Color Splash is actually really good and we’re all in denial?

I feel Chapter 2 will be that for TOK and its all because of Bobby! I like Bobby, I like Bobby a lot! I wish he stuck around! I loved how he and Olivia interacted together and how they formed a bond!

But

I sorta hated how overall useless he was to the action and adventuring. He’s the most useless partner that somehow leaves a deep impression on the player!

He leaves such a deep impression that I don’t think anyone noticed how badly written Professor Toad was! He was such a let down as a follow up to Bobby! And worst of all, he was like way more useful than Bobby! He can dig holes, he can wipe out a whole role of enemies, he has a function outside of battle and story.

Seeing how useful Professor Toad was, sorta put into perspective Bobby and his eventual sacrifice to save Olivia (I told ya this was spoilers). He just dies, in a shockingly emotional moment, giving a speech about how Bomb-Ombs live relatively short lives and are always trying to make the most of it.

Wow... I really wish Chapter 6 didn’t have a segment where you were half hazardly shooting bomb-ombs out of a cannon, cause otherwise, this could’ve been way more impactful!

But it also made it seem like "we can't make Bobby too useful, he's gonna die. So just keep him extremely simple and useless in every other aspect of the adventure, besides story."

I don’t get how TOK started out so strong! The intro and Chapter 1 introduced us to the basic loop how what we’d have to do and how stuff will play out and Chapter 2 took that and showed us how far we could go with this loop and how involved the world will be with this loop!

Only for Chapter 3 to just give up on everything and give us 1 expansive dessert to explore, a very one note partner who doesn’t leave a lasting impression, a boring quest of solving an ancient riddle and a very annoying boss dungeon segment that went on longer than it should’ve! And above all else, a very half-assed excuse for why he won’t be joining your journey! Especially since Chapter 4 doesn’t have a partner!

Chapter 4 feels like an overly-long intermission of Mario n Olivia’s adventure to Chapter 5. Legit the purple streamer of 4 could’ve been the green streamer of 5 and it would only flow just a little bit less smoothly. Chapter 4 has this weird send off to the Vellumentals, with the boss dungeon being a mixture of the last 4 Vellumental chambers you’ve explored. Which feels out of place especially since there’s like 2 more chapters of stuff happening afterwards! And like a thunder elemental like boss fight in 5 but I guess they just couldn’t be bothered to create a Thunder Vellumental fight to tack onto the story and just gave it to this Origami Sumo Bro! Okay!

And then the Bowser Castle segment is right when they decide to get creative with enemy encounters, but only 2 enemy encounters (you can fight these two multiple time if you’re neither a chicken nor annoyed with the battle ring system) but then just stop right after cause Scissor makes cut out soldiers was the only excuse why that happened.

Again... I like TOK, I do. If I didn't, I'd rate it a 4 or 5 outta 10. I'll talk about the good, I will, but lemme just rant about 1 thing first! Its actually 2 rants but its gonna be about 1 topic I'm rather passionate about.

Character Design

I hate how generic the Legion of Stationery are! Once again, Chapter 2 wins by giving Rubber Band a very unique design, but everyone else is so generic looking! Remember how I said the personalities couldn't save them from their generic design? The Legion have such fun personalities, its so tacky and fun! But I cannot get over how it contrasts with the fact I'm staring at an object hoping in place or wiggling or jiggling as they talk! It kinda sucks, honestly!

I wish these guys had more creativity behind them, and truth be told it wouldn't have bothered me had Rubber Band not been an outlier! Why them and not everyone else! Its baffling!

But above all else, the worst offender, is the Origami Craftsman! The dude who folded Olly! Is a TOAD! That's it! A toad in an apron! WHY

And I get it, there's story reason behind it! Olly wants all Toads gone cause they all look alike and thus everyone reminds him of the Craftsman who wrote (a very touching message) on him!

And that SUCKS!

(uh oh, i forgot about Olly and his terrible terrible motive to be evil)

Speaking of Olly! Remember when I said he wasn't well written? Well besides being an evil prick who enjoys messing with the heroes (i dont mind that, evil just to be evil is fine), it sorta randomly just comes up that he hates Toads near the end! It just comes up!

And I THINK it was suppose to be hinted at by the fact all the Toads gets attacked and folded by Paper Macho and Folded Soldiers. But my problem with this is:

1. Would they have been daring as making Folded Toads as enemies? Thus the lack of Folded Toad enemies should've hinted at this

2. The enemies were origami version of Mario enemies! So enemies still being enemies but folded would've just strengthen the fact we'd be fighting bowser minions again, making the previous Toad hint moot.

3. Toads have always been in peril in previous PM games so the fact they're in peril again wouldn't have been a point of interest!

I GUESS the fact Folded Peach specifically asks whether Toads should be silenced could've hinted at this, but people just took it as "hah lol Toads annoying" and not "oh, this villain has a thing against toads~". Its just, who else would the villain have pointed out? There's only Toads here! Maybe if there was a bigger variety of npcs and we saw other npcs either becomes folded soldiers or be spared from the folded attack, we could've wondered "hey, why are only the toads getting stuck in places?"

But we don't!

Anyways, huff! Lemme count all the good, spoilery things in the game (that's not in Chapter 2) to end on a good note

I love how Olivia is so sweet, no one could bring themselves to be mean to her (except Olly), even Kamek has a hard time being mean cause she's so bubbly and caring (except for that weird bit in the forest where Kamek had to be all rivalry about it but I digress)

Bowser backtalking Olly was very funny, I loved it a lot!

The fact Olivia asks Olly to come to his senses before Mario smashed his face with the Olivia hammer (i need to specify this cause otherwise it'll look like Mario interrupted this scene with a hammer smash but no, Olivia fully knew her hammer weight was gonna fall on Olly's face and just gave some last words of pleas before not even letting him respond) I loved that.

I liked how sweet Olivia was to Luigi despite how much he kept screwing up (i forgot to rant about that but tl;dr, he's a bit of a buffoon and its a bit annoying) i thought it was very touching how Olivia kept rooting for him regardless.

The Tape talking like a Gangster was actually really funny, I liked that a lot.

Bowser's pep talk to Olivia was very funny, it was basically "dont be sad, look at me, my muscles are massive and I can punch through walls!"

As jarring as they were, I actually liked a lot of the singing and dancing that occurred through the game.

Olly having his own color scheme for his Vellumental forms was super cool!

The ending was really touching. Olivia wished for all of Olly's creations to be undone, and because you find out in Chapter 4 that she's also a creation of Olly, she is undone too. And they don't spell that out! You just find out she's not around and connect the dots. I think that was very well done.

And these are some of several reasons I liked TOK and why I couldn't rate it lower than 6. It has a lot of things that just doesn't live up to Chapter 2 and its disappointing to realize halfway through that the game peaked in Chapter 2. Its so weird, they showed us how good it can be and then never lives up to the expectationd set by Chapter 2. I wish it did

Thats why I rate it a 6.5/10

[mithranqueersmusings]

Baby, You’re A Rich Man XXII

Chapter: 22/28

Rating: T

Summary: Ringo could never understand why that group of three boys made him feel so uncomfortable, or why the way George looked at him sent him into a panic. After a chance encounter Ringo discovers the truth and has no clue what to do with the information.

Tags: AU - Gangsters, Slow Burn, Smut, Eventual Romance, Violence, Angst

Pairings: George Harrison/Ringo Starr, John Lennon/Paul McCartney

AO3 link here / Fic masterlist here

After settling into their hotel room - by almost tearing the place down with their antics - and unpacking their suitcases, the boys headed out for some dinner. The city seemed to be coming alive now as the sun began to set, with the bright lights turning on and muffled music playing. They decided to eat at a homely looking place called Gretel & Alfons, a rather busy pub which reminded them of all the places back in England; each of them ordered some food and a couple of drinks before they tipsily headed back out in search of the Top Ten Club, where Ringo would be playing tomorrow night. People were littering the streets now and there was a very lively atmosphere all around, a fight or two had already broke out which excited John massively. The four of them meandered down the busy streets until they spotted a luminous sign which confirmed they were in the right place.

Ringo noticed a definite difference in the club than places back home, there seemed to be some sort of electricity in the air, everyone was far more lively and erratic. John headed straight to the bar and the rest of them followed eagerly then they headed to the dance floor to get a better look at the band who were really in the swing of things; they were more energetic than any band Ringo had seen before and deduced it had to be due to drugs. They were a little clumsy, somewhat offbeat and out of tune, but what they lacked in that area they for sure made up for in energy. They played a few more songs which the boys happily danced along to, before announcing they were taking a short break and headed off the stage.

"Go have a word with them, Ringo." John suggested, nudging him with his elbow while he took a sip of his beer.

"And say what?" Ringo asked, the alcohol had calmed his nerves somewhat.

"Just introduce yourself, you'll be playing with them tomorrow after all." George said with a calming smile.

"You do know how to talk to people, don't you?" John snickered.

"Ha ha." Ringo replied sarcastically and started to head to the backstage area.

Ringo found them in a small room just off the stage chugging beers or smoking while some of them were taking small pills. He felt a little intimidated stepping into the room, there was four of them dressed in all black with leather jackets and trousers.

"Hey." Ringo broke the silence but only one of them turned to look at him "I'm- Er... I'm Ringo, I'm the drummer." There was more silence "Do you speak English?"

The one looking at him laughed then, he had messy brown hair and soft blue eyes, then spoke "I'm the only one that speaks English, I'm afraid." He had a thick German accent "I'm Klaus, I play bass."

"Nice to meet you Klaus." Ringo smiled and walked a little further into the room "You guys were pretty wild out there."

Klaus laughed and took a drag of his cigarette "Thanks. Is this your first time in Hamburg?"

"Sure is." Ringo sipped his beer.

One of the other band members spoke to Klaus in German then, giving Ringo a quizzical look, but when Klaus responded he reached out his hand to shake Ringo's. Ringo obliged and shook his hand, which spurred the other two members to do the same without saying a word. It was a strange situation, Ringo thought, he supposed he would have to rely on music being a universal language after all. How exactly he was meant to get information from these people he wasn't sure, he didn't even know what the German word for information was.

"What brings you to Hamburg then?" Klaus asked, he was fiddling with his bass.

"Oh..." Ringo paused, he cursed himself for not having prepared something to say "I've just heard some pretty wild things from the boys back home, decided to come and see for myself."

"I see." Klaus said absentmindedly "You here on your own, then?"

"No, I've got some mates with me. Decided to make a little trip of it." Ringo nervously drank more of his beer.

"They musicians too?" Klaus asked.

"No, no... Just me." Ringo smiled awkwardly, he wasn't a fan of how he was the one answering questions rather than asking them.

"Well it was nice to meet you Ringo." Klaus began, he reached into his pocket and pulled out one of the small pills he'd seen the others taking "But we've got to get back on stage now. Maybe you and your friends will come for a drink with us after?"

"Oh, yeah that'd be great!" Ringo tried not too sound too excited as the band began leaving the room with what looked like a new burst of energy. Klaus gave him a small smile as he stubbed out his cigarette and tossed it onto the already messy floor, then he was heading back to the stage and Ringo was on his own. He scoped around the room before heading back to the boys, he picked up one of the unfinished beers on his way out which John gladly took from him.

"How'd it go?" George asked, throwing his arm around Ringo which was one of the first signs that he was getting drunk.

"Alright. Only one of them speaks English." Ringo said with a laugh.

"Better than none." Paul replied.

"Not as good as two." John retorted, he'd already finished the beer Ringo had given to him.

"They were taking these little pills, too. I guess that's why they're so manic." Ringo explained as he looked back up to the band who were playing even more intensely than before.

"Did you get any?" John asked quickly which resulted in a light smack on the shoulder from Paul.

"Stay focused, Johnny, Jesus..." Paul said half-jokingly "Maybe they're from this other group, that's usually how they try and take over territory."

"Oh and they asked us out for drinks after." Ringo felt somewhat accomplished with this news, even though he hadn't done much.

"Us?" George asked confused.

"Yeah, they asked if I was here with anyone and I said I had a couple of mates with me." Ringo said "Shouldn't I have? I thought it'd be weird if I said I was here on my own."

"No, no it's fine. Just be careful what you say about us, you know?" Paul explained "We shouldn't be seen together too much after tonight though, otherwise you're gonna be in harm's way Ringo, and we don't want that."

"No we don't." George said rather seriously.

"Probably best we cut down on the drinks for now, don't wanna risk saying the wrong thing later on." Paul directed this mostly at John who frowned at him dramatically "There'll be plenty of time to get shitfaced later, right now we've got a job to do."

"Oh come on, one more..." John pleaded, batting his eyelashes.

"Fine." Paul said after a pause "One more."

"Thanks mother." John chuckled, giving him a kiss and hurrying back off to the bar.

"Don't ca-" Paul began but John was already gone, he rolled his eyes and looked at the other two who were laughing.

The band carried on playing for another couple hours before they were finally relieved by another group. John had drank at least three more beers during this time which hadn't put Paul in the best of moods, but ever since Ringo had announced what Klaus had said he seemed to change suddenly into a more serious, perhaps professional was the best word, persona. George and Ringo just danced the time away, they were careful not to get too close as they weren't sure how risky that sort of behaviour was in this place, but they shared a few secretive kisses in the dark. When the band announced their departure, Ringo looked over to Klaus who was looking at him with a smile; he gestured with his head for Ringo to follow him. Ringo found Paul and John at the bar, John with a beer in hand and Paul lecturing him, although it didn't look like an argument. Ringo felt too awkward to intervene, but George stepped in without any issue as though he'd seen this a million times before, and the four of them headed to meet with the band.

"Are you gonna use your real names?" Ringo asked as they began to walk backstage.

"You've been reading too much James Bond." John laughed, he sounded fairly drunk.

"It'd just over-complicate things." Paul said "And I think this one can hardly even remember his real name." He gestured over to John who just smiled at him widely.

The band was in that same cramped room as before, putting away their instruments and grooming themselves in the one mirror available. Klaus looked over at the group of them as they approached and gave a warm smile, his pupils were massive.

"Hey Ringo!" Klaus was almost shouting, clearly the energy from their performance (amongst other things) hadn't depleted just yet "These are your 'mates', then?"

"That's us!" John met his volume easily. "Nice to meet you, I'm John!"

"Great show tonight." Paul smiled. "I'm Paul."

"George." George said simply with a small smile.

"Wunderbar, welcome to Hamburg!" Klaus's smiled widened, he seemed pretty wired "Let's go and get some drinks then, yeah?"

Klaus turned to speak to the rest of the band in German who then approached the group with similarly wild smiles, they did their best to greet them in rather broken English before Klaus gestured for everyone to follow him as they headed out of the building. If Ringo had thought the city was waking up before, it was wide awake and reeling now, with scantily dressed women in high heels prancing about the streets and burly men shouting or singing loudly with bottles in hand. It was an entirely new atmosphere and Ringo began to understand what John had been saying he'd heard about the city. Klaus led them down the illuminated street excitedly, his band members grouped together separately from Ringo and his friends; he didn't find this necessarily hostile, he just supposed there wasn't much use in attempting any conversation.

"Do they really not speak any English?" Ringo asked Klaus as they walked, George was walking close beside him.

"Do you speak any German?" Klaus responded with a grin.

"Fair point." Ringo laughed.

They weren't walking for that long down the Reeperbahn, as Ringo had learned it was called, before they were ducking into another club. It wasn't as busy as the Top Ten Club but was still filled with a lively group of people and music. Klaus found a booth for the five of them to sit in, the other three band members sat behind them in another booth, then vanished off to buy them all drinks.

"We must give you a warm Hamburg welcome!" Klaus had announced before heading to the bar.

Ringo and George were sat together while John and Paul sat across from them, Ringo had noticed that George was being far quieter than normal since they left the club but he tried not to read too much into it.

"He seems nice." Paul said to fill the silence.

"Very friendly." George muttered.

"Ooh, is Georgie getting jealous?" John teased with a grin.

"Piss off, John." George spat but there was a humorous tone behind his harsh words.

"What's the plan?" Ringo asked to break up the tension, he caught hold of George's hand under the table in an attempt to soothe him.

"Well we don't wanna come on too strong, else he'll get suspicious." Paul began "Just play it casual, try and slip in a question or two when the moment's right."

"I've got a plan." John announced proudly.

"Does it involve getting any more pissed?" George asked with a chuckle.

"Maybe..." John's voice trailed off as he began to lose concentration "But, it is a plan."

"Jesus." Ringo laughed "I'm starting to realise why you guys are always getting into so much trouble."

Klaus returned at that moment masterfully carrying five pints of beer in his two hands, he shakily placed them down onto the table with minimal spillage and moved into to sit next to Ringo. They all grabbed hold of a glass and held it up.

"Cheers!" They all shouted, except Klaus who called out "Prost!"

Eagerly, more so John than anyone else, they gulped down their beers then set them down with a collective exhale.

"So what do you boys do?" Klaus asked.

"What don't we do?" John responsed rapidly "Weed, coke-"

"Oh, no... I meant for work. Did I say that right?" Klaus interrupted John gently.

"Your English is fine, he's the problem." George chuckled.

"But hey if you guys are in need of any medication, I can help you out." Klaus lowered his voice and leaned in a little.

"Oh yeah?" Paul asked, leaning in too.

"You guys ever taken prellies?" Klaus began rooting around in his pocket.

"No." George answered, Ringo began feeling a little nervous.

"You've gotta try it." Klaus pulled out a silver cylinder from his pocket and opened it up, pouring out some dark orange pills onto the table.

"What are they?" Paul asked, John was already playing with one of them.

"Uppers." Was all Klaus said before he placed one into his mouth and swallowed it down with a sip of beer "Consider it a welcoming present."

That was all the encouragement John needed, taking the pill eagerly with a wink directed at Paul. The rest of them then followed suit, Ringo was hesitant but George gripped his hand tightly and it was all the reassurance he needed.

"Say, if we're ever in need of any other medication," John winked dramatically at Klaus "Who should we go to?"

"Well if you want any more of these, you can just come to me. They're literally giving it away at the clubs." Klaus' fingers were twitching and Ringo wondered how many he'd taken tonight.

"Why?" Ringo asked, he was genuinely curious rather than trying to investigate anything.

"Keeps us awake." Klaus laughed, taking another sip of his beer "We're working all night sometimes, and half-awake bands don't make nearly as much money. I'm not complaining either way."

"What about coke?" John asked, Ringo noticed his pupils were dilating.

"If you're offering." Klaus laughed again "No, no it's far too expensive. I know where you can get some from though. There's a couple of guys hang about the Reeperbahn, can get you almost anything."

"Oh, great!" Paul feigned "What do they look like?"

"I dunno... Big?" Klaus was fidgeting more now "One of them's blonde, I think. Wear leather jackets. Pretty sure they're new in town."

The boys all shared a knowing look now, although John was beginning to space off somewhere else; even though it hadn't necessarily been the plan to find anything out tonight here they were with a lead already. Ringo began feeling the effect of the drug in his system, and he began to worry that this was a bad idea - accepting unknown drugs from an unknown person in an unknown city wasn't the smartest thing he'd ever done. It was similar to how the cocaine had felt, his heart was quickening and he felt fidgety but there was something a little different this time: his eyes felt like they were moving rapidly and his vision became a little blurred.

"Who's for a fag?" Paul asked, more to the group than Klaus but he still responded positively and they all headed outside.

Ringo's legs felt a little tingly as he walked, he reluctantly leaned on George slightly for support but he was still conscious that such behaviour was potentially dangerous.

"You alright?" George asked in a quiet voice, he was running his tongue across his teeth.

"Yeah, just feel a little funny." Ringo admitted, the cold air hitting his face helped in sobering him up "Should we have taken that?"

"Maybe not, but probably would've looked weird if we didn't." George said "Just let me know if you're feeling really funny, okay love?"

Ringo nodded as the five of them huddled together in a circle for warmth, Paul taking out a packet of cigarettes and passing one along to everyone with a disdainful look - he was convinced the other boys didn't buy any because they knew they could knick his. They all lit their cigarettes and took a drag, Ringo was hoping it'd help set his mind a little straighter but it seemed to be having the opposite effect. He looked over at George but his eyes struggled to focus, when they settled he saw George returning his bizarre gaze and he at least felt a little relieved that he wasn't the only one having a strange experience. He heard John letting out a drunken laugh, saw him leaning against the wall for support as he looked up to the sky with wide eyes.

"You feeling it?" Klaus asked, he'd almost smoked his entire cigarette already "It's brilliant, isn't it?"

"That's one word for it." John giggled, he was running his hand up and down his leg.

"You guys are pretty cool." Klaus said, taking another cigarette out to smoke which earned him a dirty look from Paul.

"Thanks." Ringo smiled, he felt the desire to grind his teeth.

"God I need to dance." George said, he was stepping back and forth on his feet rather rapidly which made Ringo laugh.

"Go in, go in, I'll meet you in there." Klaus mumbled as he tried to light his second cigarette.

George looked at the other three with a manic look in his eyes, they all nodded in unison and headed back into the darkness of the club. The music sounded far louder now, at least Ringo thought, and he felt his body burning with the desire to move. George dragged Ringo far into the dance floor, Paul and John following closely behind him, and they all just got completely lost in the feeling. It seemed to come in waves for Ringo and he kept finding himself closing his eyes, or taking deep inhales for no real reason. Klaus eventually joined them again and he had the rest of the band with him, they all laughed when they saw the state the rest of them were in it but it wasn't mean-spirited. The group danced together for a while, Ringo couldn't have guessed how long it was if he was paid to. He was suddenly pulled out of his euphoric trance when he felt a hand gripping onto his arm and dragging him away, it took him longer than he was proud to admit to recognise that it was George.

"Wha-" Was all Ringo could manage to get out, he felt like his brain had turned to mush.

George just looked down at him with that devilish grin of his, his tongue running sinfully over his sharp canine tooth. Ringo swallowed hard, his mouth was incredibly dry and he hadn't noticed until now, as he simply allowed George to drag him away from the group and into the bathroom. It was a pretty dingy room, if Ringo wasn't mentally on another plane at that moment it probably would've made him gag a little, with writing all over the wall and the floor strangely sticky. The best thing about the bathroom was that it was empty, meaning George could pull Ringo into a cubicle without risking any funny looks. It was fairly cramped, but Ringo wasn't complaining, as George went to lock the door only to find it didn't even have a lock; George looked up at him with a raised eyebrow then pulled Ringo towards him, spinning him around so that his back was pressed up against the door to force it shut. Then George's mouth was on Ringo's, it was hurried and clumsy but Ringo couldn't deny how excited it made him.

Ringo's hands ran over George's body rapidly, like anywhere he touched him just wasn't enough. George began nibbling on Ringo's lip, his tongue entangling with Ringo's as they began moaning openly into each other's mouths. George snaked his hand around Ringo to rub against his arse which made Ringo hiss at the coldness of George's skin. Kissing George like this would have been enough to completely wreck Ringo, but with the stimulant pumping through his body and the alcohol clouding his mind he felt like he'd be able to cum in a matter of minutes. George evidently felt the same as his breath continued to quicken, his moans becoming louder as he ran his tongue down Ringo's bare neck. The voice in Ringo's head which would've told George to stop, to be quiet, was nowhere to be heard. If the floor hadn't been quite so disgusting, Ringo figured he probably would've sucked George off there and then, but even he wasn't that fucked. Their heated moment came to an end when they heard the door open, they froze in place with George's mouth pressed against Ringo's jaw, and Ringo's hand under George's shirt against his chest.

"Helloooo." A voice called out, it was John "Any chance my two faggy friends have vanished off to the loo for a quickie?"

George scoffed as he pulled his mouth off of Ringo's skin, his eyes were still aflame "What do you want, John?" He emphasised his name as though it were an insult.

"Ah! There you are." Ringo could hear the grin on John's face "Paul says we've got to go."

"Why?" Ringo asked in a voice smaller than he'd intended.

"He's tired, apparently." John was standing outside their cubicle now, tapping against it impatiently.

"How the fuck is he tired?" George asked, his tongue was darting over his teeth again.

"Fuck knows, but do you want to keep him waiting?" John asked.

George groaned, rolling his eyes which fluttered rather strangely, pressed a small kiss on Ringo's forehead before the two of them exited back into the dirty bathroom. John gave them a suggestive look as they both walked over to the mirror to assess the damage, but Ringo still found he couldn't entirely concentrate. Ringo began to laugh, he wasn't entirely sure why, but it was apparently contagious as both George and John joined in.

"I feel so fucking weird." Ringo giggled which only spurred the other two on more.

"Didn't I tell you boys? Hamburg is the place to be." John grinned "Now let's get out of here before Paul sends a search party."

The three of them continued in their laughing fit as they headed out of the bathroom and back into the club, it had begun to empty significantly since Ringo last noticed - but he wasn't entirely sure when that was - so it was easy to spot Paul, he was lazily dancing with Klaus and another member of the band. Paul looked relieved to see the three of them, even in their dishevelled state, as a smile spread across his face.

"Finally, I'd ask what you two were doing but I'm not sure I want to know." Paul said, he looked entirely normally. "Thanks for showing us around Klaus, was a real blast."

"Thanks Klaus." The three of them managed to say, John had thrown his arms over both George and Ringo who ducked slightly under his weight.

"No problem! See you tomorrow Ringo, make sure you get out of bed on time." Klaus laughed, he was clearly still filled with energy but wasn't nearly as strange as the rest of them.

Ringo gave him a lazy salute as they headed out of the club, Ringo was very surprised to see that the sky was lightening. Everyone but Paul seemed to be experiencing the same shock, moving their eyes rapidly as they tried to figure out how long they'd been in there.

"What time is it?" George asked lazily.

"Fuck knows." Paul chuckled "Morning time."

"We didn't call Brian." Ringo said, they began walking down the street to their hotel.

"Shit." John laughed "I hope he's not too pissed."

"He'll probably be awake by the time we get back to the hotel. If we tell him we've got a lead maybe he won't completely bite our heads off." Paul sounded exhausted.

"Paul, how are you so bloody tired?" George asked, his fingers were still twitching.

"I didn't take it." Paul admitted and the three of them stopped walking.

"What?" John asked in disbelief which made Paul laugh.

"I didn't take it." He repeated "Thankfully one of us has got some sense."

John pulled his arms away from Ringo and George's shoulders and walked up next to Paul, looking at him with his mouth open wide "I cannot believe you Paulie!"

"What, for not accepting a random drug from a strange German guy?" Paul chuckled.

"Klaus isn't strange." Ringo said quietly.

"It could've been laced with anything." Paul urged, both him and John were smiling.

"So you'll let us all die but you'll save yourself, is that it?" John asked jokingly.

"That's exactly it. Can't wait to be rid of you lot." Paul laughed loudly "It did look like a load of fun though, maybe I'll do some next time."

"Next time? We've got a job to do, if you hadn't noticed." John retorted "Looks like my plan worked out pretty well, if I don't say so myself."

"Pretty convenient your plan perfectly aligned with your goal to get off your face." George chipped in.

"That's why it was such a good plan!" John cackled "So we had a great first night in Hamburg and we have some potential info about who this dodgy group is."

"Jesus, you guys are insane." Ringo laughed.

"Don't pretend like you don't love it." John turned around to wink at Ringo.

He was completely right, Ringo couldn't deny it, he did love it.

[msbeccieboo]

Arrow 8x09 Brain Dump

It was...not all bad. I really want to like this. I love Mia, William and FTA. I want to enjoy BS like I did in S7. I want to see Dinah written consistently with any kind of actual character. Well, at least my love for FTA is still intact 😂😂

Mia

Kat was brilliant in this episode. Her leading lady really jumped out 😂😂 Her emotional moments hit the mark, and I think she juggled her post-Crisis new life with her old memories brilliantly.

We opened on her waking up in the Queen mansion(!), with a very yummy Diggle Jr in her bed, only it’s JJ not Connor 😱😱 She’s also surrounded by adorable family photos, showing that Oliver got his wish of her and William growing up together (and confirmation that the Olicity Love Cabin still existed!) Basically, she’s living the best life that Oliver could have wished for her, without him in it, of course 😭

Probably the most notable change in ‘new Mia’ (other than her being infinitely happier and living in a crime-free city) was her social poise. She’s been brought up in Oliver Queen’s old world, and is quite the socialite, only without any of the haughty frivolity that one might expect (I imagine we have Felicity for that 😍). She loves her life and her friends, and she defends them, especially in the face of Laurel, who seemingly does nothing but scoff at her lifestyle for the whole episode 😒 I loved her addressing the press!! That was pure Queen! Maybe the influence of a certain Aunt Thea?

Source: feilcityqueen

More below the cut…

Basically this Mia is smart and loving and happy, and Oliver gave her a warm and otherwise full life, save for finding her true purpose (which is gonna be vigilanteing, of course). So of course BS and Dinah rock up and upend it all 😂 I really liked how they made the returning of Mia’s memories a source of conflict, as well they should. It was so brutal to just return them with no preamble, to destroy what happiness Oliver had given back to her, just because, what? BS couldn’t complete her own fucking mission? (More of that later lol) Then Mia standing up to BS when she went as far as to mock Mia’s new world, just gave me life!!!

Anyway, with her memories restored, and bad guys to track down, of course Mia couldn’t resist her heroic calling and suited up, then proceeded to be the epic badass that we have grown to love.

Source: kathmcnamara

I loved seeing her struggle with her memories returning, and the guilt that they brought with them of not living up to Oliver’s legacy. At the same time, she appreciates what Oliver did for her, that all he wanted for his family and the city was to be safe and happy. She ultimately decides to remain the Green Arrow, taking up the guard of her city in her father’s memory, to protect the new world that he sacrificed himself to create.

Source: felicityqueen

We’d seen she’d developed her ‘street smarts’ in the flash-forwards, so I think she’ll end up bringing these together with her new social skills, and badass moves, and be an unstoppable force!! Hopefully that will include her old FTA team as well, and not just the two feathered ones 🙄

FTA/JJ

God this needed more FTA.

We got a small amount of William, more of JJ, what with him being Mia’s fiance (!!), and little more than fleeting glances of Zoe (!) and Connor. The disrespect!! 😂

William (who even knows his surname in this new life?) continues to hold my whole heart in his hands 😍😍

Source: oliverxfelicity

LOOK AT HIM!!!!💗💗💗

He seems to have been least affected in terms of his character, post-crisis. It’s implied that he’s running Smoak Tech, and that he and Mia grew up together and are basically each others’ ride-or-dies 😭😍😭 

I truly hope if the show is picked up, that they increase the William content by a solid 1000% 😂 He brings so much heart and a certain humour and lightness, just like Felicity brought to Arrow, and Ben is such an amazing actor. The new show will need a William. BADLY. He really seems to have his shit together (in the very limited time we have seen him of course 😒), but I’m hoping that that doesn’t lead to Mia keeping her memories from him for long (although remembering who their Dad is, I’m guessing she could take a while 😂😂).

So JJ proposes to Mia at the beginning of the episode!!!! Apparently they are the love of each others lives here. Dig clearly learned from what Connor told him, and steered JJ away from becoming a murdering gangster...YAY! Although it seems that in doing so, our darling boy Connor ran into a few issues of his own 😫😫 It looks like there is no love lost between him and Mia, that he has been in and out of rehab, and is now somewhat of a bad boy 😏😏 But when they first lock eyes there is still definite history and heat there and, just HJJHDFVGDFK 🔥 BACKSTORY IS NEEDED!! Then at the end, JJ has his memories restored by scary-dude-in-cloak (who I was totally hoping would be Dig or Oliver tbh 😂), so I’m super interested to see how he copes with his dual memories!! So now Mia loves JJ, but knows he was evil and killed Zoe, and she hated Connor, but now remembers they had feelings for each other and that he is a beautiful soul, and all the shit is gonna hit the fan!!! I usually hate love triangles, but this is so exciting, with the good boy/bad boy switch up, and then the opposite memories being returned...YAAAAASSSS!! Although I’d like to make it clear that, whilst I’m going to enjoy the drama getting there, I am firmly in the SmoaknHawke end game camp!! 

And as excited as I just got, all of this took up just about 5 mins of screen time 😫😫 It reminds me of what Arrow was lacking in its early episodes...heart and hope. They lucked into it with Felicity/Emily, but they have it here, ready and waiting, and are so far not using it.

Kat knows what’s what. This is the show we deserve. 

Birds

There was a lot of bird action. Apparently in shaping a perfect future, Oliver saw fit that Mia never met BS or Dinah...this is why we stan 😂😂 Dinah has also seemingly been erased from the history books 😬, waking up after Oliver’s funeral (😒😭) 20 years in the future, so naturally becomes a bohemian, opens a bar and sings a lot. Cool, I’d probably do the same 😂😂 Laurel, it seems, went off to spend time with Sara, and has apparently become a solo time-traveller, trying to stop 2041 from becoming a really bad year. Righto. 

Dinah was actually ok in this episode, if not hugely out of character, but that in itself has been inconsistent throughout the show, so here’s hoping that the zen-filled peacemaker that she was in this episode continues! Dinah’s new-found peace and bearability seemingly comes at the cost of Laurel being utterly awful. She rocked up in the future like Billy Big Bollocks with a huge chip on her shoulder, just sneering her way through the episode. She had such bitterness, disdain and anger directed towards Mia (and Dinah, at times) for no apparent reason, when they seemed to have somewhat bonded previously?! She spent the majority of the episode sauntering around looking down on everyone, portraying a bitchy-tomboy type, deeming anything vaguely typically feminine or not hard-moody-’badass’ as beneath her. This is not #girlpower. Fuck off.

Then we have that clusterfuck of a scene at the exhibition 🙈🙈 where BS tries to tell Mia that she used to date her Dad, before quickly correcting herself to “some version of him, anyway”, as if they were one and the same 🙄 Laurel’s continual need to imply that she knows, or has history with our Oliver is infuriating as hell. E2 Oliver died on the Gambit in his early 20s. Even if he was similar in character to E1 Oliver up until then, that person bears no likeness to the man he became. Her past with her ‘Ollie’ is entirely irrelevant to the man that was Mia’s father, who she barely even got to know at all save for a couple of episodes in S8. And not only the implication that she knew him, but then to actually try to trash him as well, to his kid?! All to push her idea that all versions of people are the same (which was refuted when JJ doesn’t even turn out to be behind the Deathstroke mask anyhow)? NO! At least Dinah and Mia were cringing along with us 😂

It’s just astounding, the turnaround they’ve managed with Laurel/BS. They already did the unthinkable in S7 and got a lot of people from this side of the fandom to empathise and warm to her, without pissing off her existing fans. I really did grow to like her in S7 (check my reviews, I still can’t believe it 😂), she was snarky, but not bitchy, and showed some heart and vulnerability. So it’s mind-blowing how they took all that growth and just obliterated it this season, and then even more so in this episode where she is just plain nasty and unlikeable. 

I do think, however, that giving BS and Mia a tempestuous relationship from the off was a good idea, cos let’s face it, you can tell there is no love lost between them. But they could have made them clash in a better way than BS just being an arsehole to Mia for most of the episode. My best guess is her anger comes from Mia coming out of Crisis with a life untouched by violence, whilst her earth was still lost? (Was it? I can’t actually remember if E2 came back.) She can’t complete her self-appointed mission on her own and knows she needs Mia’s help to do it?? I don’t know. She had a lot to say about JJ supposedly being a ‘homicidal manic’...pot, kettle much?! She also seemed to find the notion of Mia initially wanting to just appreciate the peaceful life she had been given and not becoming a vigilante reprehensible, but why? BS is the one that needs to atone for past sins. Mia does not. 

Stray thoughts

That cliffhanger!!! WHO TOOK OUR WILLIAM?!?!?!

The music was...not good. Especially during the fight scenes. Arrow was always so on-point with its score. I don’t understand how this can be so bad?! I did like hearing Mia’s theme in there, though, that was a nice tie-in the old flash-forwards.

Who is this Kevin that cheated on William? He must be destroyed!😡

Some of that future make-up was really something 😬😬 2040 is all about the severe/dead and unblended looks, apparently. The fashion was fabulous though!

The dialogue in the action scenes was soooo hammy.

Who is the mysterious, villainous “she”???

“Frack you!” and “I’m not interested in joining your Canary club” YAASS MIA 😂

William and Mia’s “pet rock” talk was super cute 😍 

Oliver’s statue!! 😭😭😭

Hopes for the future, if series gets picked up:

Increased focus on Mia/FTA. We have such a fresh, interesting, diverse cast, with intertwined back stories ready to go for this show here already, waiting to be used. USE THEM.

A deadly outbreak of avian flu 😂🙊

Failing said outbreak...keep the birds in the background or MAKE THEM LIKEABLE. This is a chance for a clean slate!

I wanna see Papa Dig so bad. David had said we’d get to see 2040 Dig in Arrow, but looks like that isn’t going to happen now, and I’d just love to see how he is. I can also imagine David being entirely done, and not wanting to be a part of this, however, but a cheeky little cameo would be amazing 😂

SmoaknHawke to RISE 🔥🔥🔥

As it stands, I’ll watch if it goes to series, but for how long remains in question. I just know I cannot get on board with the faux feminist “heart/vulnerability/girly is ‘weak’! Let’s be hard/edgy/angry badasses and fight men and show the world we’re strong pow pow pow” narrative that BS in particular, but also the general tone of the show overall, is trying to portray. I really think that if the show is picked up that they should look to see what is working and what is falling flat on its arse. It’s in dire need of more heart and fewer birds imo, but we can have both, if they’d just write them as better people.

Thank you to the beautiful gif-makers 😘 Any uncredited gifs are mine.

💗💗💗

[elanska]

Miss not so sidekick - chapter 91

Latte, who we highly suspect also having penchant for violence, thinking inwardly how cutesy and adorbsy the inhabitants of the scary looming black tower were.

Yes, she was seeing blue beating red and thinking it's cutesy. Maybe she's being affected by murderous bunny and his tower's conduct (as it certainly not befitting a lady) (meanwhile our standard reaction is screaming MAGE FIGHT! MAGE FIGHT! but we're not a noble lady)

anyway, Latte noted that the tower inhabitants seemingly young. Combined with the trivia that tower is a place where only the most talented magicians can reside (I'm actually kinda interested to see what will the test to get inside the tower and became its resident be), there seems many young mage geniuses (but bunny is still #1! yeah, errr...so is his childishness as well)

anyway, blue quickly encroached Latte's personal space (again, we see his master's influence there) and *very* formally introduce himself as bluntbob (we're gonna let him keep his name, because, not gonna lie, we don't know many haircuts enough to make a joke)

meanwhile Red goes, "tf u so polite for?" but bluebob (oops sorry, old  habit dies hard) bluntbob remind him that this creature is the master's guest (a RARE creature! ....what, does they suspect her to be dragon-in-disguise or something? that can shoot laser from her eyes?) (oy, what are you thinking about bunny?) (well, if he's interested in something, it can't be good...I meant it must be something unique, right?)

Red, I meant Veryred (not gonna lie #2, it seems the author also didn't have many knowledge about haircut either. Meanwhile, I was very sure that haircut is standard-short-waxy/wavy-cut-with-bangs-on-the-side, but veryred sounds perfect) introduce himself with a wink and teehee - which offend bob's aesthetics somehow and went for a strangle (CHOKEHOLD! CHOKEHOLD!) and both bickering about their preferences of nickname for Latte. my, how childish these two kids are. how immature. heh heh.

(...............) (....what?) (..nothing. just glad you're over that) (? we're not gonna saying how idiot she was last week?) (woah! wouldn't you look at that, psychopath division? what a cute kitty!) (*RUNS OFF*)

AAAAND OUR FAVORITE BUNNY IS HEREEEEEE!!! and send his own crazy underlings with just a mere sentence! damn, like a boss! wait, he's the boss. and not to mention that he's actually the most pyschopath here. A...Anyway, Latte thinking that Arwin's tyrannical presence can instantly scatter the persistent red & bob duo like somebody blewing the dandelion seeds to the remotest edge of a country - and that's a very cute imagery (okay Latte, there's something wrong with you. The smiling dandelion pic is cute tho).

Arwin, the CONFIDENT man who sees female lead Ibelin singing on stage and very matter-of-factly claim 'I'm Prettier." lean close and ask if Latte referring ('that's cute') comment to him. Latte is, hey how on earth are you cute (btw, in case you forgot, she thinks that monster are cuter than him. but don’t worry bunny, you already have your ‘prettiest’ and ‘op as fuck’ throne) so Latte said that comments is referring to her. and Arwin is like 'oho? you're cute?' and Latte is 'Yes, yes, I'm so so very cute, watch my lethal wink beam of cutesyness'  (and we thought to ourselves how veryred would tearfully relinquish his cutest-in-tower throne once Latte reside here. Sorry, red, you just didn't have the chance).

Alas, Latte forgot who her opponent is! As the master of the tower of magic, of course, Arwin will be immune even to deadliest charm spell ever was. Too bad, but don't be sad Latte, it's not your fault, it's just bunny that's abnormal, that's all, feel free to beam us again with your lethal charm spell! (.......are we serious?) (what? you want us to chant SPELLFIGHT! SPELLFIGHT! instead?) (hey, actually, don't you think charm spell fighting between Latte and Arwin will be a interesting?) (yeah, but Latte is not a magician) (and she'll lose once Arwin like, leaned *real* close to her face, no mp need to be involved)

Arwin also asking if Latte is sane (hey! that's rich, coming from you bunny!) (but wait, seriously. Latte just saying something about lethal in front of the tower lord, it could be perceived as threat right? uh? maybe? I didn't know what psychopaths thinks *looking around to check pyschopath division* ('well, hell~o there kitty *low whistle and then start serenading in garbled italian while kitty looks in disgust*) (....forget it, we don't know that shameful creature *nod nod* okay, let's just move on)

anyway, psychopath bunny half-joking (or maybe not, we can't tell) that being in those fools presence seemingly making Latte even crazier and should he *takes care* of them? and by *takes care* he meant kill, as in outrightly says it, because he's the master of magic tower and didn't give a fuck about police.

Latte, though not really right in the head herself (sometimes) but definitely know which one of them is crazier and immediately call it! and also immediately shutting herself up, because reminding a psychopath that he's a psychopath is never a good move. Fortunately (or unfortunately for those who still want a date chapter) in-walked another third wheel-Arobrock.

/by the way, just a quick review on dis pair progress: + Arwin no longer attempt to get into Latte's face (learned the safe distance) + Latte, no longer defer herself as court clown (must appease the sireeeee, if wanna liveeee). She can be the clown at her own pace now, tyvm. (well, she got that super rare 'won't kill you' card) //

Anyway, Arobrock mentioning his surprise that Arwin back so early since he's usually spending his sweet, sweet time pummeling the irritation, so why? Arwin is like, "eh, I feel like it" *steal glance to Latte*

Arwin-Arobrock freely talking about their threatening other country so casually. And the conversation so casually devolves into murder plan. Particularly Arwin mentioned that since he had give the koi country a nice reminder ('I let you go this time with compensation money, but next time, your head will flies off’) - so if the kois still dare to came next time, Arobrock should just kill them by himself *If we’re in gangster movies, this must be where the FBI wiretapper pumps out their fist and shout in joy that they got the murder plan confession on tape or something*

By the way, just for recap: Two kois came to the tower with their guards and wrecking about. The tower owner returned, extremely displeased and delivered them back with a warning and demand for reparation. If we thought Tower as independent nation, it'll be like, Vatican? it's small, and located within another country, but have their own government. To fucking attack it  = declaring war on another country = reparation needed. Honestly, why does princes keep making mistakes like this, do they think Tower as some kind of cheap bar where they can flaunt 'don't you know who I am? I'm a prince!" *gets slapped and then the owner morph to a dragon who breathes fire/pummeling the king or whomever it is until they agree to give compensation*

BTW, why the wizards seemingly like money? well, since they only have small land (only the tower and its surrounding?) they probably didn't have any resources except their wizardly selves (and various magical objects/potions/artifacts they make). It's not like they can tax all the wizards in the world......? actually, that would be....no no no, it's still hard to do, magicians are spread far and wide all across the continents (they're too snobbish to get along together in same place?) but since they're magicians, they are UNDER the tower's administration and jurisdiction. So theoritically, if the Tower Lord issuing command that all magicians gets into war with country A, they must serve? Well, *theoritically* but since magicians are prideful snobbish bunch, they might get 'huuuh? never heard you before in my life and now you told me to kneel and heel? want to taste my fireball?'-> which I think this is why the Tower Lord's seat is only for the strongest - so if it comes to it, the tower lord can just burn that rogue mage with his *stronger* fireball and carry on the plan without any more hitch. see Arwin's laughing face as the tower cower in fear here? It make a good motivational reminder poster.

............but it's kinda makes a question why does the Tower just let the koi princes makes a mess in the first place. and Arobrock just answers that with a money sign.

[uncloseted]

Effy’s Closet Watches Skins: 302 “Cook”

Hey everyone! I'm back with another recap. I've always found this episode to be a bit of nonsense and i've never loved Cook as much as the other characters, but I think it gives a lot of insight into who he is and what motivates him.  More under the cut!

- I’m still annoyed about the music change. I get why they had to do it but whoever chose the replacement music really didn't even try. I've said this before, but the original music isn't just music- it adds emotion, but it also adds commentary and lets us know what the characters are feeling. This is missing that. 

- Cook and the boys are wandering down the street. It's Cook's 17th birthday, and he's having a party. Freddie says he hopes some people will show up; JJ says he invited half the college. It's a throwaway line, but I think it's actually pretty important- Cook wants people to pay attention to him, to think he's funny, to witness his debauchery. He wants people to like him despite how hard he tries not to give a shit about anyone or anything. So he invited everyone to make sure some people would come. Cook almost gets into a fight with some posh kids and looks thrilled about it. They're at Uncle Keith's pub and I'm a bit offended that the bartender is named Christina. It seems like Uncle Keith might be the only adult male influence Cook has had in his life in a long time, which explains some of why he is the way that he is. He introduces Freddie and JJ. Cook has an earring, which I don't think I've noticed before now. Keith is telling stories about his wild days and I think Cook feels like he needs to live up to those stories. Cook claims that Uncle Keith is a legend and JJ asks who exactly Keith is a legend to. Cook, who's looked up to Uncle Keith for a long time, seems really offended by the idea that Uncle Keith isn't a legend to *everyone*. 

- Enter the girls. Cook says, "Look, man. Look at that. Quality totty. That's top shelf shit" about Effy to Freddie and then "hey baby" to Effy and puts his arm around her. Effy looks very uncomfortable. At this point in time, Cook really views Effy as being a hot girl more than anything else. Freddie looks upset by this. Then Cook declares that his party will be legendary, which it clearly is not. There's also an interesting throwaway interaction with this guy who wanders into the pub. Cook says the guy burnt his house, and the guy apologizes. Cook's life is clearly very hectic if his house is being burned down by some random dude, and yet he doesn't feel like that's enough. His party needs to be wild, crazy, legendary.

- Effy and Freddie share a really nice "Cook is crazy" look, and for the first time in this episode she seems happy that she came. They sing "For he's a jolly good fellow" and Effy looks very unamused and bored with how tame this whole situation is. "He's already had half a bottle of vodka" says JJ. "Really? How crazy" deadpans Effy. She looks about ready to leave, except Freddie is there so we all know she won't. The gang does tequila shots, and Cook howls. JJ joins in, excited to be included, and Freddie begrudgingly follows along. Effy gives him this cute little understanding smile. I just noticed that the headband she's wearing has star studs on it. Freddie says that Effy will like JJ's magic trick, and what I love about this is that he's right. Effy is all "what? He does magic?" And then she's totally amused by JJ's magic trick. It's one of the first times we see her smile like that in the series, which doesn't mean anything right now, but it's interesting in the context of her mum saying that she likes magic. I think part of the reason JJ likes her so much is that she really, unapologetically likes his magic tricks. She spends so much time being unimpressed about pretty much everything else that I think her liking his magic makes JJ feel special. She seems uncomfortable with Cook drinking the goldfish- the other girls definitely are. 

- Pandora pukes, and Cook is excited- that means they're having a good time. Freddie and Effy share another glance, and then Naomi enters. She looks vulnerable, like she's not quite sure what she's doing there.  For Naomi, this is being brave. The guy who harasses her and the girl who tells lies about her in one room... all because she wants to see Emily. Katie makes a lesbian joke, and Emily hisses, "Shh... I've told you to fucking... Just leave it, ok?" Clearly they've had this conversation about Naomi before, and it gives us a hint that maybe Emily has been standing up to Katie more in private. Cook tells Naomi that the cure for gayness is his cock. I think he likes the challenge of a girl who won't sleep with him. He's really set on impressing Naomi pretty consistently in the early episodes of this series. Effy is not having Cook's views on lesbians, but meanwhile Katie finds it hilarious, I guess because someone is finally on her side about it. Emily comes to the rescue by producing a cake. I like this because she's saving Naomi from this awkward situation, but without actually having to defend Naomi or tell her how she feels. Very series 3 Emily of her. Also, how cute that Emily made Cook a cake? Cook eats the whole thing and Effy smirks. Everyone else looks disgusted. 

(Also, can I take this time to ask people why on earth they color edit gifs of Skins like this?  The entire show is already color edited by professional color editors.  It’s a big part of its look.  Why make everything orange?!) - Katie is fed up with the situation. She asks where the conversation, the dancing, the men are. Cook is offended and tries to insist that they're men, but the rest of the gang finally says what they mean- this party is shit. Cook stands outside, waiting for a sign from God about how to improve his party. This is really, really important to him, and nobody else seems to care, so he has to make it happen himself. Then an opportunity presents itself- Freddie's sister is at an engagement party. Cook seems pleased at the idea of seeing Karen (he mentions that he's always touching with her and flirting with her, to which Freddie responds that that's why she doesn't like him), and I've always thought they should have delved into that relationship more. They have a really interesting dynamic- both Cook and Karen are characters who will do whatever it takes to be noticed and to be loved. One thing I really love about this episode is the pressure that everyone is feeling to have a crazy night and a good time. I feel like that's such a relatable part of being a teenager that doesn't often get depicted- you feel like you're supposed to be going out all the time, having the craziest moments of your life, but sometimes there's just nowhere to go and nothing to do. This episode captures that restlessness really well.

- They get to the engagement party and are turned away by the bouncer. Freddie talks Cook down from fighting the bouncer, which it seems from his expression like he has to do a lot. Karen and her friend come out, Cook offers them drugs, and finally they get let into the party. It's clearly not exactly their scene, but Cook isn't deterred. He meets Johnny White, a gangster, who threatens him, but he doesn't seem to care all that much. Pandora has decided she loves drugs, I guess because she's on a quest to get everyone to like her and everyone else is doing drugs. Pandora eats all the drugs, which provides a big problem for Cook. Effy, who is used to Pandora, thinks the situation is hilarious. Everyone else, not so much. Kayleigh tells Cook to get her more drugs. The rest of the gang is dancing. Effy's maroon dress has a black diagonal stripe on it, which I guess I always thought was part of her jacket but isn't.

- Cook talks to Freddie and JJ about how he needs the drugs so that he can get with Kayleigh. Freddie says, "I thought you liked Effy", to which Cook replies, "Yeah, she's a peach. But I already tapped that. Top-dollar shag. She's my last resort. Sure thing, I reckon." Freddie didn't know that Cook and Effy had sex, and now he's upset. "But...JJ likes her", he says. Meaning, "I love her. Why would you do this to me?" I think it's the first time he realizes how Cook will never put Freddie before himself, and that he's a way better friend to Cook than Cook is to him. Effy and Freddie steal another glance; she seems to be trying to inviting him over to dance with her with some flirty eye contact, but he's still processing what he just learned.

- Now we cut to Naomi and Emily in their first real conversation of the series. As a sidenote, both of their outfits are utterly ridiculous and perfect for them. I like how the pink in Naomi's top matches Emily's cardigan. Emily asks Naomi not to leave, and Naomi asks her why not, maybe hoping, just a little bit, that Emily will say "because I want you to stay". Here's Emily, being brave, going out on a limb for Naomi. She may not seem like it on the surface, but I think Emily is actually one of the bravest characters in the show.  She knows that if she pushes Naomi too far, Naomi will run away from her, and so she's subtle, gentle, leaving room for Naomi to feel how she feels. Emily starts to say exactly what Naomi wants to hear, "I don't know....because...." and then thinks better of it and backs off.  She knows that even though it's exactly what Naomi wants to hear, Naomi isn't ready to hear it. Naomi asks her why Katie thinks she's gay, and Emily apologizes. Naomi leaves.

- Johnny White gives a speech, and clearly this marriage is political; he's merging two gangs so that they won't fight anymore. Freddie looks upset, in general I think but also because of all the people there, he believes in love, and I think he feels like Kayleigh shouldn't be getting married for politics. Pandora faints and Effy tries to wake her up. Cook gets more drugs from Keith and gives them to Kayleigh. He has this argument with Kayleigh where he tries to convince her to have sex with him, which is gross but also I think shows his desperation. Cook is not someone who knows how to let go, even if he doesn't really care about the endgame. She says that if he impresses her, she'll have sex with him, and so Cook hatches a plan. He does the rest of his drugs (interestingly, he eats them in the same way Pandora does) and then does a whole song and dance number, angering Johnny in the process. Freddie sees danger coming, but not before Cook gets hit over the head with a bottle. Cook continues to poke at Johnny, getting himself deeper and deeper into trouble, and it's at this point that I wonder how prevalent gang activity actually is in Bristol. Every series these kids get into some sort of altercation with a gang. Is that normal for the UK? Anyway, Freddie sweeps in and saves the day, promising that they'll leave, and Johnny tosses Cook off of a balcony, starting a gang war in the process. 

- Cook seems relatively unharmed from this fall, and begins to laugh. He's definitely gotten the legendary night he wanted, and to him that's all that matters. The gang runs away, hooligans that they are, before their situation can get worse. Effy concedes that it was a cool party and has this cute moment in the background where she and Pandora are playing. Freddie says that Cook is "fucking unbelievable", still with a mixture of admiration and disgust, which I think is common for their relationship. Still smiling, Freddie says, "you're always fucking trying to get laid", and it's interesting, because it's friendly but sharp. Cook isn't sensing the escalating situation with Freddie, and just says that he tries and succeeds before turning to the girls to see if any of them want to fuck. All of them evade him, including Effy. She pauses, thinks about it, looks at Freddie (who seems very nervous about what she's going to say), and then turns Cook down, saying that she has to take Pandora home. She looks like she might be wearing some sort of feather in her hair?

- Cook, undeterred, says that he wants to go somewhere with women. Freddie says he's tired, and Cook initially thinks he means sleepy, but Freddie says no- he's tired of Cook. I think Cook propositioning Effy right in front of him is the final straw for Freddie; clearly Cook doesn't care about his feelings, and if Cook doesn't care about Freddie's feelings, Freddie's not going to go with him and protect him from himself anymore. Cook responds with anger, a "fuck you, then" and tries to get JJ to come with him. JJ, I guess not wanting to rock the boat further, only hesitates for a second before he goes along. 

- The rest of this episode is mostly filler nonsense so that Skins can earn its "edgy and provocative" stripes. It feels like a rehash of the events of episode 101, except now Skins has a reputation to uphold. Cook and JJ go to a strip club/brothel situation. Cook says JJ is going to lose his virginity; JJ stands up to him (a bit) and says he's not sure he wants to. I think Cook thinks he's doing JJ a favor, and by getting JJ laid, he'll make sure JJ stays on his side if this fight with Freddie is real. JJ is totally out of his element and clearly uncomfortable. Cook can't afford what he wants, and I think he's surprised that this is not a situation where he can bargain, no matter how good or sexy he thinks he is. JJ just wants a kiss; he's never kissed a girl and doesn't know how.  He realizes that Johnny White is in the other room and goes to get revenge, but not before he sees JJ kissing Megan and calls it "gay shit".  JJ apologizes to him, as if he's wronged Cook in some way.  Cook takes pictures of Johnny in a... compromizing position... and takes Johnny's necklaces.  Like Cook was doing before, Johnny provokes him- he won't let go even when he knows it's in his best interest.  Johnny makes some comments about Cook's mum, and Cook physically fights him.  JJ tries to pull him away and accidentally gets caught in the crossfire, with Cook almost hitting him.  Cook looks disturbed by the fact that he got so angry that he almost hit JJ, and JJ runs away.  Johnny threatens to kill Cook, and Cook, for the first time all episode, seems to realize that his actions have consequences.  

He walks across a park alone at dawn.  He doesn't have anywhere to go, so he goes to see Freddie, the only person who's always been there for him.  Freddie comes out of his house and into the shed, looking like a bit of a grandpa in his dressing gown.  Cook is drinking and Freddie calls him on it, but he's not willing to push the issue.  I think he's hoping Cook has come to offer some form of apology.  But Cook asks, "so what are we doing today then?" And Freddie knows that that's not why he's here.  Freddie says he almost got them killed, and Cook finally offers up an apology of sorts.  Freddie says that it's a first; even Cook's half apology seems to be more than Cook has ever said before.  But Freddie's not having it- Cook says he wouldn't have done the stupid things he did if Freddie was there, and Freddie reiterates that he's not going to take care of Cook anymore, that he's tired of being a bystander to Cook's death wish.  Cook pulls the Three Musketeers card and says he loves Freddie to bits, and Freddie relents.  He knows that he's all that Cook has, and I don't think he's ready to let go of that.  He asks just one thing, that Cook "stops all this crazy shit".  But even that's too much for Cook.  His response is only "shut it, you pussy".  And so he goes right back to his old ways, walking down the street and singing loudly, just like he did before.  Only this time, he's all alone.  In this episode we see how far Freddie has been pushed, how much he just wants Cook to be okay.  How much he thinks that somehow, he'll be able to get through to Cook and save him from himself.  And it's so clear from the ending of that episode that that's not where Cook is,that's not what's going to happen.  He wants to keep things exactly as they are, with Freddie looking out for him so nothing truly bad happens, where there are no consequences for his actions because Freddie will shield him from them.  This conversation marks Freddie's final straw- he's trying again, one more time, hoping he got through to Cook.  Forgiving him for everything with Effy, for creating messes he always has to clean up... offering one final olive branch. 

Bonus: Effy and Freddie sharing glances in this episode:

[xxgoblin-dumplingxx]

Sparrow’s Flight

A/N: Speakeasy AU with Bucky and Steve. I have no idea what I’m doing, forgive my inaccuracies.

The stakeout had been long. Anything to get something on this gangster. Anything at all. The wiretaps and the guys on the inside hadn’t turned up shit. They were fucked. The clock was running out. It they weren’t already out of time and he knew. 

Tommy Toll. He ran Rum, Opium, and girls. Lots of Girls. Sparrows, he called them. They watched as he left the club through the back, getting into a waiting black car. On his arm, shivering in a slinky red dress, covered in beaded fringe was you. 

They’d heard rumors. That he kept his best girl for himself. You were his prize. Jealously guarded. 

He’d killed men for looking at you too long. Soft curls in a short bob, big doe eyes, and skin so flawless you looked carved. A doll of a girl. More half grown kid than a woman. But heartstoppingly beautiful. 

Tommy kept a hand on the small of your back as he guided you to the car. You looked a little anxious. Your smile was trembling as you looked at him. Bucky wasn’t sure but on the inside of your arm, as you reached up to adjust his bow tie, he thought he saw bruises. He glanced at Steve and took a deep breath, “We need to get to the Girl,” he said.

Steve nodded, “That’s our in... But how? He never lets her out alone.” Bucky sighed, “How else? We need a man on the inside to get in close.” Steve smirked, “You volunteering, Buck?” The brunette gave Steve a level look, “You’re too clean cut and anyone else on the force I wouldn’t trust within 100 yards of a little dame like that.” Steve sobered, “You saw it too, huh?” Bucky nodded, “She’s caught between a rock and the muzzle of a gun.”

During the war, he and Steve had seen a lot of shit spying for their country. Atrocities that governments on both sides had decided should never see the light of day.  So many girls with big scared eyes, trapped without options just trying to survive. Desperate people doing desperate things. Steve shook his head as the car peeled away from the curb. You were the Sparrow. 

A rumor. A myth becoming a legend. 

Steve nodded, turning the car towards headquarters. They didn’t have much choice. Bucky was right. Steve was bad at undercover work. He was terrible at lying and worse at being someone else. That was Bucky’s specialty. Steve was his handler during the war. His Follow car. Their official face. The good boy. Bucky did the dirty work. This was another mission. One more dirtbag. One more nasty son of a bitch. One more time.

    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Bucky stood guard, hands behind his back at Parade rest. You were in your dressing room. He could hear the soft rustle of fabric and the clink of makeup brushes being rearranged. Tommy only let you out to sing and when he did you drew a crowd. Bucky’s job was to keep people away. A job that the smell of whiskey, 5 o’clock shadow, and his scowl did admirably well. 

He tapped on your door, “Miss Y/N? Curtain’s up in 5.” he said. He heard a sigh and he expected petulant complaining. Not quiet resignation and a thank you. It only confirmed to him his first assessment of you. When the door opened, you were dressed in white. A vision of sultry innocence. Red lips and an angel’s face in a white dress dripping with fringe. You turn and smile at him, “You’re not Alexei...” you say your smile faltering. You recover quickly but that smile was different from the one you’re wearing now.  The one you gave someone you were fond of. Bucky made a mental note to keep aloof around Tommy. Alexei clearly had not and was probably wearing some lead shoes in the Hudson.

“No Ma’am,” he says offering a curt nod, “Name’s James. James Cole.” You nod and offer him your hand which he doesn’t take, “Pleased to meet you, James.” Your voice is quiet. Your accent is hard to place. A little Irish. Properly Irish. Like you’d come over as a tiny kid. Well, he thought reassessing, A tinier kid. You were somehow smaller up close. Elfin features and dainty frame. Probably spent a nice chunk of time underfed as a tyke. You withdraw your hand and turn away. You know the backstage like the back of your hand and Bucky loses you for a moment in the hubbub. 

But only a moment. The crowd parts for you like Moses parting the red sea. No one will look you in the eye. Let alone touch you. You’re an island unto yourself. Adrift and alone. Tommy played a good game. Kept you under guard. Kept you isolated. Bucky was willing to bet that if you had a mother, she thought you were dead. From the wings, he watched as you took the stage. The audience held it’s breath.

The air changed in the room as the first notes flowed from your throat. It charged. And everyone, Bucky included was eating from the palm of your pretty little hand. 

The Sparrow.

A nickname that was well deserved. And honestly. Upon hearing you; an understatement. 

You sang, you entertained Tommy’s friends. You flirted with Tommy and sat daintily on the piano. You were a natural. At least to a casual observer. There were tells. Tiny tells that Bucky saw. Trembling in your hands when you were too casual with your accompanist. The fact that despite you taking three small sips from your glass of champagne, the level of liquid in the glass never changed. The way you watched Tommy for cues. Careful to appease the man who was footing your bills. 

Good to know. You weren’t oblivious. You knew what happened to men who got too close. You knew and you weren’t callous enough to toy with them. A good girl in a bad situation. No one really knew Where Tommy had found you but Bucky was willing to bet that it looked harder to you than this. 

After your show, Tommy escorted you off the stage and waved Bucky over. “James,” he hollered, “Isn’t my girl amazing?” He said pulling you close possessively. “Her voice is beautiful,” he said politely. The gangster’s eyes were challenging. This was a test to see if he was going to follow orders. To see if he was going to fall for you. His passive tone and neutral compliment did the trick.

“What do a schmuck like you know about good art, huh?” he said laughing, smacking you on the ass as he roared. And then roared harder at your blushing and stammering. Bucky let it pass, chuckling at the bosses joke. He was a bodyguard. A lunkhead. Hired muscle in a cheap suit. It didn’t matter how bad he wanted to haul you out of that place and burn it to the ground. 

It didn’t matter that when you turned away, he saw you blink away tears and turn on a blinding smile through obvious pain. You were an asset. 

An Asset.

An informant. 

A whore with a pretty voice.

He had to tell himself that because if he didn’t... if he didn’t he’d never make it out of this mission alive.