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generalluxun · 4 months ago

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Half-Baked, An ML fanfiction.

So this comes out of my 'Chloe goes back in time' AU. set after she's stolen the black cat Miraculous, but before the repercussions of that have really gone full swing.

This AU came about mostly from asks, so the tag can be searched on my blog for getting up to date on our collective ramblings for it.

Super short Summary: Post S5 Chloe goes back in time into her Origins-timeframe body. She is angry at everyone and everything. She gets herself akumatized early on and steals the Cat Miraculous from Cat Noir(who wasn't taking things seriously, it's S1) Seeing it's Adrien she freaks, breaks akumatization and runs off before Ladybug arrives. Adrien is keeping who stole it a secret(though he tells LB he lost it) hoping he can get it back himself to make up for losing it.

Fic is under the cut because it is 4172 words. I'll also be posting it on AO3 tomorrow.

With the smell of fresh baked goodies taunting her nostrils, Marinette dodged between racks laden with hot trays and mixing bowls of fresh dough. She was already late for school, but seeing her parents frantically running around made her pause.

“Dad?”

Tom flashed her a big smile but immediately turned and fled into the back. Her mother turned from where she was scooping still-warm pastries off cooling trays and into boxes too soon. “Honey, your father and I are very busy today. A large catering order came in unexpectedly. It was extremely short notice, but you know your father.”

Marinette couldn’t help but puff up a little, “It’s the Egyptian opening at the Lourve, right?”

Sabine paused. “Why, yes honey. How did you-”

Marinette gushed, “I knew dad was bummed about missing out on it, so yesterday I took a few freshly baked pastries over to the museum before school. I managed to find a way back to the curator’s offices and wouldn’t leave until he tried one. You should have seen the look on his face! ‘Young lady I think that is the best confection I have ever tasted.’ It looks like it was worth being an hour late.”

Marinette froze mid-pantomime. Her story had run away with her again, perhaps to a few places her mother didn’t exactly need to know.

Whatever Sabine’s thoughts, she kept a gently serene face. “That’s… very clever dear. Only… perhaps you could ask before helping next time? This really is such short notice.”

Marinette winced. “Is it really? I could help! I can just call in sick, then I would be able to-”

Rushing back towards the kitchen, Marinette snagged her foot on one of the giant mixing bowls. She tripped and collapsed into it as it spun, coming to rest blinking up into her mother’s even more concerned looking face. Sabine reached down and helped Marinette extract herself, brushing some wayward flour dust off her backside.

“No, no, that’s quite alright, dear. Your father and I will handle it. It’s not as if sleep is necessary every night. On your way now. You don’t want to be late, again.”

That last word carried the only hint of maternal reprimand, but it was enough. Marinette let herself be ushered out the door. On the way to school she managed to convince herself everything would be okay. It would be fine. It wasn’t the end of the-

The Agreste Limo pulled up in front of the steps to the school, and ‘end of the world' took on new meaning. Adrien got out, but his walk up the steps had none of its usual spring. Even knowing the truth, it was hard for Marinette to overlap the image of him with Cat Noir. Hard, and maybe a moot point.

Marinette shook herself. No. Not a moot point. We will get the ring back. I will get it back. Anyone can make a mistake. She hop-stepped to catch up with Adrien and gave him her biggest smile, “Morning, Adrien!”

He might not know it, but he’d helped her become Ladybug. Now it was up to her to return the favor.

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Time was not on Marinette’s side though. Not even half the day had gone by when the school shook as if in an earthquake. Sirens sounded in the distance. Alya had her phone open to a news cast before anyone else even had theirs out.

“-eaking News. A giant man…monster…thing… has once again been sighted in downtown Paris. Police are on their way, but as we approach the presumed akuma I have to wonder, what can they hope to do? Will Ladybug and Cat Noir show up once again to save our fair city?”

Nadja’s voice rose clearly from the tiny screen. Marinette couldn’t make out the akuma clearly as the helicopter circled though. All at once the helicopter lurched.

Nadja turned to ask someone off screen, “What’s that smell?”

The camera jostled, the helicopter lurched again, and the image went dark.

Marinette jumped up, “We have to do something!”

“Do something?” Kim blurted out from the back before anyone else. “Ivan got turned into a giant monster and almost turned half the class into crepes! What are you gonna do? …No offense big guy.”

Marinette heard Ivan mumble something even as she watched Adrien’s shoulders slump in front of her. She had to think fast. “What am I gonna do? I’m gonna go to the bathroom! Can’t think on a full bladder, right? Haha. Ms. Bustier can I go please?”

Another rumble shook the entire classroom.

Nino scrambled to his feet, “It sounds like there won’t be a bathroom to go to pretty soon.”

Ms Bustier raised her voice clearly but gently, “Alright class, everyone out. We rendezvous at the park. Stay with your seatmates.”

Sorry Alya. Marinette bolted for the door.

It wasn’t until she set eyes on the akuma that Ladybug’s forebrain took control back from her reflexes. Fear grabbed ahold of her and queasiness dropped her on unsteady legs on the nearest rooftop. The akuma was huge, topping even stoneheart. It was visible head and shoulders above the rowhouses. The only saving grace was a strange familiarity. It was dressed like a baker, complete with toque on its head and giant wooden peel in its hands.

The combination of silliness and fear forced a nervous giggle from her lips. The giggle reminded her that she was alone this time, her partner couldn’t help her. That sealed her lips once more with fear. It’s all up to me, alone.

Doomsday scenarios pressed into her thoughts even as the akuma strode on in the distance. What’s its power? Why is it here? What is the item? Where is it go-

Ladybug’s brain did the math and drew the line from the akuma right through the school towards… Our bakery!

She was in motion instantly, vaulting two streets closer. She was crouched for another leap when her senses shoved another fact through her emotions. Screams.

Screams weren’t surprising, but the tone was wrong. The akuma swung its peel and something scattered below it. If only for a cat’s sight. Screams of fear turned to joy then fell silent.

Ladybug balked again. She had to think. Emotion wanted her to act, but she couldn’t afford to be wrong. How close could she get? The akuma moved on and she followed from a distance, trying to pick up any clues she could. How close is too close? The akuma plowed through a building in its way. More screams of fear, a swing of its peel and fear turned to joy then silence again.

She needed to get closer. But-

Ladybug was stuck.

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“Go away!” Chloé stalked across the square, away from the class.

Sabrina trotted after her. “But, Chloé… we’re seatmates! We’re supposed to stick together.”

Chloé spun around and screamed, “Stick together? Is that what you call it? You sure didn’t stick with me when I needed it! Save me the trouble and go play with your new friends right now. Go!”

She jabbed a finger over Sabrina’s shoulder, but didn’t wait to see the results of her outburst. Her stomach felt hollow and sick. Her fingers tingled and her eyes itched. She wanted to scream until she ran out of air, but that hadn’t done any good before. So instead she was getting away from the others as fast as she could. Chloé jogged across the street from the park and was around a corner in seconds. Sabrina didn’t call after her again.

For some stupid reason that made the sickness in her stomach worse.

Chloé stalked blindly, immune to the cracking of masonry and the heavy tread that threatened to knock her off her feet. Out of her tunnel vision a single figure resolved in the distance. Red, spotted, standing still on a rooftop. Ladybug.

She was just…standing there. The crunch of another building rang out but the hero didn’t move. “DO SOMETHING!” Chloé howled at her, unheard.

She hated Ladybug. Ladybug was lame. Ladybug was a loser. Ladybug was a failure. Ladybug was a traitor. Ladybug… was a hero. Ladybug was supposed to be saving the day. The thoughts rattled around and fought until Chloé squeezed her eyes shut and dug her nails into her hair in frustration.

With a sudden clarity Chloé’s eyes snapped open again. She whipped a hand around in front of her. “You! Come out now!”

The black cat kwami sparked into existence, anger evident on his tiny features.

“Tell me how to transform!” she demanded.

He crossed his arms smugly and replied, “hmmm Mm mffm Hmm.”

Chloé growled, “Talk! You can talk! Tell me!”

The Kwami gasped but still grinned, “That’s the one thing you can’t order me to do, Miraculous or no.”

“Rrraaaaaggh!” Chloé pointed at the distant Ladybug, “She’s not doing anything. Tell me the password or we’re doomed!”

Plagg crossed his little arms, “Give me back to my rightful holder, and she’ll have a partner again.”

Chloé stomped her foot, “No! I can do this! I know what to do better than any of them do right now! I’m the hero!”

Pagg seemed unimpressed. He rolled his eyes,��You? Nobody would make you a hero. What would you even do with a miraculous?”

Chloé's world narrowed again,to a haze of red with a floating black blob in the center. She advanced on him, “I’ll cataclysm the stupid akuma. I’ll cataclysm stupid Hawkmoth. I’ll cataclysm everyone and everything that gets in my way. No one will take you away and nothing will stop me this time.”

She was seething. Memories of disappointment, failure, and humiliation broke down into the core emotions and blended into a hateful spiral. She waited for the next barb to come, but instead Plagg’s green eyes turned towards her with a spark of devilish curiosity in them.

“Really?” he drew the word out, “That just might be interesting to see.” One fingerless hand thrust at her face. “Don’t think I’m out of tricks though. You just watch yourself. It’s ‘Plagg, Claws out.’”

Emotion spoke before thought could form, “Plagg, Claws out!”

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The akuma waded through the remains of the school and Ladybug knew she had to act. The bakery was at hand, and though she couldn’t see from back here, she could just imagine her father standing out front with a rolling pin. She still didn’t have a plan. She hadn’t risked getting close enough to get a good look. It had seemed prudent, but a nagging voice whispered she might just be too scared on her own. Had Cat No- Adrien been brave enough for both of them?

She tensed for a leap, but a sound like a thunderbolt stopped her. A black blur streaked at the akuma. It struck clean, staggering the giant, and clung before scuttling across the akuma’s bulk.

Ladybug was airborne before she had time to doubt. The blur had resolved into a person, a cat person. Her foolish heart leapt for a moment at the impossible idea her partner might have returned. No- it wasn't him. This person darted and leapt from point to point, tearing at the akuma. Buttons, hat, pockets were all ripped and torn. The akuma reeled and swatted at the attacker. One meaty hand connected and sent the black-clad fighter into the pavement in an impressive crater. Ladybug didn’t even have time to gasp before the fighter leapt from the cracked road and was back in the fight.

Ladybug landed, still one block away. In part she was still gathering information, in part she wasn’t sure how to engage with that black buzzsaw in motion. She had time now, her partn-

The other fighter was buying her time.

Ladybug was still trying to understand the ferocity of the assault. The -Ladybug mentally decided on cat hero just to organize her thoughts- was fended off time and again, taking blows that had to hurt. They were -she was- was relentless though, rebounding from being knocked clean through nearby buildings.The akuma’s apron fluttered to the ground like a torn parachute.

It clicked, akumatized object!, just as the akuma found space to swing its bakery peel. This time Ladybug could discern pastries showering down from the end of it. The cat hero was crouched for another leap but instead raised her head and sniffed the air. She reoriented herself and pounced… the confections.

Ladybug had her info. She raised her yo-yo, “Lucky Charm!”

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The smell was irresistible. Chloé dove at the showering pastries, and she wasn’t the only one. Civilians swarmed out from everywhere, her classmates among them. Each and every one scrambled for the treats. There was no stopping it. Chloé bit down on a tart even as she scooped up half a dozen croissants. That she was aware of the compulsion made it worse. She growled around oozing jam and ground her teeth on buttery crust.

The too familiar feeling of helplessness was poison in her veins. Control, she needed to have some kind of control. She couldn’t stop so she pushed in the other direction. She crammed her mouth full until her jaw ached and she could barely breathe. It worked! She had a muffin in each hand but she could move freely again.

She launched herself at the akuma again.

A patch, no. A giant thermometer, no. She broke and broke. The muffins were goo, smashed against her palms. She couldn’t breathe but she wouldn’t stop.

Wouldn’t. Did. She bent double while crouching for another jump. Trying to inhale had dragged a chunk of her food-muzzle into her throat. She choked, coughed, heaved, choked again, and gasped for air. Her stomach twisted around the magical treats she’d already swallowed and dropped her to her knees.

Ziiiiip *thwip*

She was wrapped in a too-familiar away, airborne, grabbed, thumped on the back. She was spun again, free, something was shoved up her nose. Her overstimulated senses finally managed to focus. Her vision focused. Ladybug stood before her, with a tissue box in hand and polkadot tissues up each nostril.

Chloé hissed, “What do you think you're doing?”

“Saving you!” Ladybug grabbed her arm, “What do you think you are doing?”

Chloé pulled free and snarled, “He’s got an akumatized item on him somewhere, I’ll find it.”

Ladybug reached for her, “Do you have any idea what it is?”

Chloé recoiled and scanned. The akuma had turned away from them. It looked over the Dupain-Cheng bakery of all things. A petty part of her wanted to let it smash the place. That part of her became one more thing to be angry at.

She bared her teeth over her shoulder. “No, but I’m not the kind of hero who stands around doing nothing.”

She vaulted away with a protest lost in her wake. She landed and jumped again, elation mixing with rage. Her claws scored the doughy skin on the back of the akuma’s neck, checking the downward bakery-dooming swing of his peel. He swung it at her instead, showering her with sugary bait that no longer had any power over her. Her mouth was open, panting as a part of her breathing. What next? She picked a target and broke it. Then another, and another.

“The peel! Destroy the peel!” Ladybug’s voice rang in her ears.

Ladybug was a loser and probably wrong, but that wooden peel sure was big and this sure would be fun… “Cataclysm!”

She met the akuma’s swing with an outstretched hand. A grove’s worth of wood turned to powder at her touch. The butterfly flew free.

*Thwip* -snap- Ladybug caught and purified it. The akuma shrank to a befuddled looking baker. Chloé stood victorious in the center of a wasteland of violence and destruction.

Elation beat out anger, for just a moment. She threw her head back, spread her arms and, “Raaaaaaaaaaaaaggggghhhhhh!”

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The primal scream from right beside her made Ladybug cringe and fumble the lucky charm she had been about to toss into the air. Once she recovered herself the fact that the crisis had passed gave her a moment to actually evaluate her erstwhile companion. Evaluate, and remember that she was not a partner, she was a thief.

A ragged looking thief. Her blonde hair -did the cat miraculous make the user blonde?- was a voluminous mane down her back, bedecked with black metal hooks and barbs throughout. She turned post scream to give Ladybug a maniacal grin, revealing her needle-like fangs in place of incisors. Her heterochromatic eyes, one blue and one green, were feline as Cat Noir's had been, and her pupils were currently giant black moons swimming in color.

“What are you looking at, Ladybum?” The thief drawled, raising the hand still dusted with cataclysm remains and flexing her fingers slowly.

Her gloved fingers ended in wicked looking black ‘claws’. She wore black leather, that much remained consistent too, but her V-neck collar was torn, not tailored. Lastly, in place of Chat’s amusing belt-tail she had a razor thin wire wrapped around her waist with a heavy cat's paw pendant hanging from the end.

Ladybug narrowed her eyes, “You stole Cat Noir’s miraculous.”

The thief turned her hand, revealing the paw print ring with three toes left. “Finders keepers.”

Ladybug swapped hands and spun her yo-yo up, “Give it back.”

“No!” The thief lunged, catching Ladybug’s yo-yo mid-spin.

Ladybug countered, wrapping her line around the other girl’s arm ensnaring her. The thief’s other hand went for Ladybug’s neck. Ladybug blocked the lunge with the remaining length of her string, but the other girl’s palm pressed within scant centimeters. They were locked taut. Whoever gave ground would lose.

Those wild eyes were narrowed to slits. No akuma had ever scared Ladybug this badly. The anger melted from those features but the fingers still stretched for Ladybug’s throat. Ladybug felt a prick against her skin. “It has to be a pun, doesn’t it? Of course it does. Call me… Purrge. I’m going to turn Hawkmoth to dust, and anyone in my way.”

Ladybug strained. Her own anger fueled a push that took Purrge’s claws from her skin. “You’re crazy! I’m taking that ring back. You don’t deser-”

*Chirp* *chirp*

The overlapping sounds cut across the tension. Purrge’s eyes darted to Ladybug’s earrings. Ladybug’s were drawn to Purrge’s ring. Her mind raced. Has it been three or four?

Purrge’s lips curled into a sharp fanged grin, “You used yours first. You think you can take me down in time?”

Ladybug wanted to, oh she ached to, but there was more riding on this than personal satisfaction, but how to- A very slight easing of the pressure against her line; was it a ceasefire? Ladybug took a chance.

She pulled back, letting the line go slack. No claws cut off her breath. She didn’t wait. She scooped up the lucky charm and turned, “This isn’t over! Miraculous Ladybugs!”

Ladybug tossed the charm even as she began her swing. Triumphant cackling bubbled up behind her. She didn’t look back. Paris rebuilt itself as Ladybug swung further away, seeking out a quiet spot and settling for behind a dumpster.

Marinette burst from the shadow of the dumpster at a run. If she got back quick enough maybe she could catch a glimpse. Maybe there would be a clue. Maybe she could get her partner back.

There wasn’t, and she couldn’t. Not yet at least. All that awaited her was the rest of the class. Alya almost knocked her over, grousing and shaking her by the shoulders while delivering a friendly but stern dressing down. At least she wasn’t the only one gone. Chloé had unsurprisingly run off and still wasn’t back. It took some of the heat off at least.

A few of the class, plus her parents, were gathered around a baker who sat head in hands on the curb. Marinette recognized him immediately, from even before the akuma. She scooted into the semi-circle.

“Mssr. Levure?”

He looked up in confusion.

Marinette gave him a guilty smile, “I’m Marinette Dupain-Cheng.”

She saw surprise, anger, then guilt pass over his features.

She continued, “I’m sorry. I think I’m at least partly responsible for all this. I convinced the curator to switch bakeries. I just wanted to help my family… but I didn’t stop to think about how doing it this way would impact them, or you. I know my dad and he’ll run himself into the ground to do all this work. Not only that but our bakery will probably be closed so he can do it. All our other customers will suffer.”

Marinette looked at her parents, who watched her with proud curiosity. She looked back to Mssr. Levure.

“Maybe… both bakeries can share the catering? I’ll make signs. We can promote both and have an even better, more varied selection for our guests. Would that be okay?”

Marinette held her breath. Mssr. Levure, her dad, and her mom held one of those ‘glance and head tilt’ conversations adults so often did. Then he stood and brushed his hands off before holding one out to Tom. “A temporary partnership?”

Tom shook hands, smiling. “Done.”

A small cheer erupted from the half dozen onlookers, and Marinette had the satisfaction of righting at least one wrong today. Still, there was one other… She looked around and spotted Adrien sitting by himself.

“What a day huh?” She announced her presence.

She might be right next to him, but he was still sitting far apart. “Did you see? Ladybug’s got a new partner.”

“Partner?! Oh no no, that’s not what it looked like to me at all. More like a new enemy, or a stray cat, or an enemy cat, or a stray enemy. There’s no way Ladybug would just replace her partner.”

Adrien turned to face her for the first time. The hope on his face was heartbreaking. “You really think so?”

Marinette fidgeted. Instinct said he needed a hug, but, but… he was… and she was… Nervous laughter bubbled up without warning, “Ha! Sure sure No way! Oh look! It’s Alya! No one knows Ladybug like her. She runs the Ladyblog! Why don’t we go ask her together? I’m sure she’ll know! Come on!”

She waved her arms frantically to signal Alya, kicking herself internally the entire time.

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On a rooftop balcony nearby Purrge landed hard. What should have been a hero landing turned into a stumble, a stagger, and a few lurching steps. A flash of green enveloped her, then Chloé collapsed face first onto the pavement.

Plagg zipped in a wide loop through the air, “What a debut! I think you broke three whole blocks before Ladybug put it all back together. Crack! Boom! That was fun, and you still beat the akuma, so Master Fu can’t yell at me!”

Chloé’s persistently prone repose caught his attention.

“Kid? Kid?”

He floated over, sitting atop her head, no response. He turned an ear down against her skull, then floated to her back to do the same.

“Tsk, You gotta let the timer run out when it wants to, kid. You’re still pretty small.”

This got a response. The fingers of one of Chloé’s hands curled into a white knuckled fist for the space of a breath before uncurling again.

Plagg hmphed.

A CCTV camera, set up for security footage but never watched, recorded something odd that day. The blanket from Chloe’s bed lifted itself by a single point and dragged itself out to the balcony(after one of the balcony doors mysteriously rotted off its hinges) The blanket was spread haphazardly over the recumbent heiress.

A little later the trashcan in the suite tipped itself over, and trash began emptying itself onto the floor.

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“Master Please! Calm, Master! Here, your beads.” Wayzz hovered nervously with the prayer bracelet in his hands.

“Calm? Calm!” Master Fu paced between the gramophone that hid the miracle box and the small TV in his room. He would stare at the TV, then go reach for the gramophone, then pace back to the TV.

When he turned to Wayzz his face looked pained and afraid, not angry. He pointed at the TV, “How can I be calm when… that?!”

Frozen on the TV was a still frame of Ladybug and a Black Cat wielder who was obviously not Cat Noir, locked in a struggle.

“The Cat Miraculous is out there in an unknown holder’s hands. It could be in danger. The Ladybug could be in danger. If Hawkmoth were to get his hands on the Ladybug…”

He went back to the gramophone again and laid his hands atop it,

“We must get it back. We must be careful, but we cannot delay. Ladybug will need help in the meantime, someone she can rely on, a power that can aid her when there are so many variables in play.”

“Master, do you mean…?”

Fu keyed in the secret combination to open the antique player, and reached for the Miracle Box hidden within. “Yes Wayzz, him.”

#miraculous ladybug #ml fanfic #Chloe goes back in time AU #marinette dupain cheng #chloe bourgeois #adrien agreste #plagg #original akuma #ml au

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jackslesbiansubconcious · 7 months ago

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dead boy detectives is the first show in so long that I am actually addicted to. Like the fangirl mentality is strong with this one. I finished it yesterday and I’m already re watching. This hasn’t happened in so so long. I need more Edwin content or I think I will explode!! I need s2 rn like it’s unfair that it only came out in a 1 season increment. (Even tho that’s normal) I just think that I need a million more hours of Edwin pursing his lips and standing like a ballerina. I just need it in my soul.

Istg if it isn’t renewed im going to bomb Netflix (after stranger things s5 comes out if course, im not evil) just like BOMB THEM KEEP BOMBING THEM AIRSTRIKE!!!!

I need it and that’s all I have to say.

#dead boy detectives #edwin payne #charles rowland

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mulders-too-large-shirt · 1 day ago

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s5 episode 19 thoughts

last night’s episode had me singing. clapping my hands together and rejoicing. doing a little twirl, even. so i wonder where we will go from here?

if i may be so bold as to venture a guess: i would say a two parter leaving on a cliff hanger that is resolved by the movie?

hmm. i would be happy to be wrong, but we shall see.

post episode thoughts: i think i need to ponder this one for a few months and get back to you. there were things i liked, and other things that frustrated me, which i ended up spending quite a bit of time analyzing. still, i do not mean to be a total hater; my heart was melting at the hospital scene!!!

anyway, back to me from yesterday!

let's read the episode description... mulder is taken hostage?!?! oh, is scully going to go berserk? i am willing to see this. HOWEVER, i would prefer if my boy was left unharmed. maybe the captor will be polite. his poor finger probably still hurts!!!

but, a mulder kidnapping arc is good for me, because i believe being a damsel in distress ought to be a gender neutral role. so let’s see what we have going on

(and the episode is called folie a deux… shoutout to the best fall out boy album)

what if your job was to type into a blocky white computer and call people all day? this could be you, but it is the case for this man, named gary.

he is talking to an uninterested man about siding, and then auto calling someone else. i know these callers well. they plague my job.

an insect is here too, but we don’t have to worry about that. surely the sound design team did not put that in there purposefully for me to notice /s

gary is nervous as he makes another call and hears more insects. i don’t like this. wait, have i seen things about this episode before….?

BUG GUY????

gary is shaking with fear. WHAT IS HERE? the bug guy?!?!

(loud cheering as the intro plays)

short intro….. i clock thee once again

skinner time!!! my heart rejoices at this. why does he have multiple globes in his office? and some books and what looks like trophies under his bill clinton portrait. i wonder if he plays around with them.

agents mulder and scully are here!!!

uh oh… are they in trouble?!?!

they need to go to chicago to conduct a threat assessment. mulder wants to know why them. “because i prefer you did” <- ohhh yeah, give him the “i told you so” reasoning, skinner 🔥🔥

BAHAHA mulder picks up that the manifesto has “bizarre undertones” right away, which i think is a great way of describing something. and it speaks of a monster stalking employees!! augh. i hope the monster at least allows the workers their legally required breaks.

(scully looks frustrated)

(mulder nods) "monsters. i’m your boy" <- LMAOOOOO STOPPPPPP WHY IS HE LIKE THIS I’M CRYINGGGG

he’s angry!!! he thinks skinner is mad at him

“have i finally reached that magic point in my career where every time somebody sees bigfoot or the virgin mary on a tortilla, i get called out of my basement ward to offer my special insight on the matter?” <- oh. oh. i’m laughing, but i do feel a little bad. yeah buddy. that is kind of how you make a living. said with kindness though.

(i know he wants to genuinely know the Truth and find the answers and save his loved ones and learn the mystical secrets of the universe, and that there is angst in this genuine belief being misconstrued as the bigfoot guy, but you can see why such a mistake could get made when he is. you know. the way he is)

“you’re saying i a lot. i heard we” <- YEAHHH SCULLY! GET HIM!!!!!

(augh. and this plot once again fell victim to too much mulder saying i and not enough mulder saying we. probably my biggest complaint with this whole show)

she doesn’t think this case will be a waste of their time, but he says it won’t waste hers, because he will just go by himself! and he’s all pouty as he stalks off, leaving her looking confused. come on, monster boy. stop being emo.

oh, you know the episode is gonna hit when it says written by vince gilligan. i think? he’s the shippy guy, right? i normally don’t pay attention to these things, but people in the comments point out the writers, and he is spoken of positively

(i googled his name to make sure i was spelling it right, and it turns out he also wrote breaking bad and better call saul. wow! that is a man with some serious credentials!)

so mulder takes off to chicago all by himself to listen to the taped manifesto at the vinyl shop call ceneter. it was sent to the local radio station with the instructions to play it over and over 24 hours a day. the subtitles allow me to know that this is the voice of gary, warning of an evil monster who hides in the light. mulder looks very very bored.

the boss guy says he’s conducting his own internal investigation, which leads me to believe that he is the bug beast.

not even TWO STEPS OUT THE DOORWAY of that guy’s office and he’s calling scully LMAOOOOO I AM CRYINGGGGG... they cannot be separated or disaster ensues!!!

he wants her to check on the phrase “hiding in the light”. OH she swivels around at their desk :,) her at the desk makes me so happy!

he recognizes it from an old file!!! “which one? there’s hundreds” “i’m not sure, but i appreciate it” <- AWWW poor scully has to go through 8 million x files looking for a phrase… deep scully sigh as she resigns herself to the glamorous field of archival work. at least he said he appreciated her hard work.

gary sees mulder here and is watching him…. and gary sees his coworkers being called in to talk with the manager. he tells nancy not to go in there!!! “gary, i love you buddy, but you’re really, really weird” damn nancy, get him again lmao

and gary sees the boss go bug mode!! and hears her screaming!! he’s crying while the other manager guy tells him to dial and smile!!

bro is having a complete breakdown… nancy returns to her desk looking like a zombie????? at least to gary. to the camera, she looks pretty normal. things are unclear, narrative-wise.

pretty mulder is listening to the manifesto and taking notes; he has this sort of loopy handwriting i really like. it's a little messy. and he’s written down and then crossed out "obsessive compulsive disorder". “formality of phrasing: desire for authority - to be taken seriously” YEAHHH GO MONSTER BOY GO🔥DO THAT PSYCHOANALYSIS YOU LOVE SO MUCH

meanwhile, gary is gathering ammunition and loading a gun!!!! oh my god????

scully calls!!! she found the phrase and who said it and when and where!!! again, you really cannot out-research her. back in 1992 in florida, a deacon was worried about evil in his church and then showed up and shot people. oh god. and he said “the afflicted ones won’t bleed” hey that’s horrific

“scully, at the risk of you telling me i told you so, i think it’s time for you to get down here and help me” “i told you so”, she says, smiling <3

AUGHHHH i need to scream into my hands for a moment

okay. i'm better now. that was just so damn cute.

mulder shows up the next day at the vinyl office place, but it’s empty!!! nancy says to get down… gary points a gun at him!!!!

scully is pulling in to the parking lot while swarms of police and helicopters are everywhere…. scully introduces herself as agent mulder’s partner. the local FBI team doesn't have any updates on what is going on inside!!!!!

they want to call him and she says NO. it could put him in danger. this other dude is being condescending to her and she again says NO. we need to find another way. so take that.

oh my god??? inside, gary is making some guy tie everyone up and kneel with their hands behind their heads?? he says the boss is who they should be afraid of and to shut up and stop crying. gary. bro. this is not a good look.

and he says he’s not talking to the people who aren’t human, referring to the first three people the boss took in his office…

mulder is coming in to save the day!!! he asks very calmly why they should be afraid of mr. pincus, claiming that he is here to apply for a job. i can only hope that i could be as calm as him in a hostage situation.

gary says that mr. pincus is a monster who will harvest their souls and turn them into zombies. okay. like in a corporate way or a literal way?

mulder’s slowly moving to grab his gun when gary looks away….

he says everyone needs to hold their breath, and as the local FBI team tries to break in, gary fires at the ceiling!!! maybe he’ll use up all his ammo???? and then mulder can attack???

WHY IS NO ONE LISTENING TO SCULLY WHEN SHE SAYS NOT TO CALL HIM???? Y’ALL ARE PISSING ME OFF!!!!

so of course his phone goes off when these fools call him, gary sees mulder’s gun, and they lose their ONE SHOT OF SAFETY, and gary slaps mulder across the face and SHOOTS AT SOME GUY WHO DARED TO MOVE OH MY GODDDD YOU BITCHES WHO DON’T LISTEN TO SCULLY ALL ARE GOING TO HELL!!!!!!!!

and gary finds mulder's FBI badge…. he picks up the phone and says he shot a zombie, but didn’t kill him. because he was already dead.

he says he will start killing actual people if they don’t get him on the TV!!!

scully says PUT HIM ON THE TV!!! WE DO NOT HAVE TIME FOR THIS NONSENSE!!!

can they maybe film him and pretend to get it on the TV, and just get it on the local channel so it only broadcasts to the office TV or something????

gary. bro. i’m scared.

mulder tries to remind gary that the guy he killed was a man, but gary says it was a zombie. and that the boss wants to turn them all into drones.

mr. pincus asks a great question: if he is the monster, what does he need all of these people for?? he says to just wait until they put him on the TV.

when they call mulder's cell again, gary answers the phone with “dial and smile” ohhh…. this is truly a man who has had enough of his job

so they’re sending the camera people in…. and scully sees that gary is holding mulder at gunpoint!!!

ohh, they *are* doing a closed circuit broadcast, so gary sees himself on the office TV and no one else will be subjected to him!!! yeah, shoutout to technology.

the cameraman pretends some wires are twisted, which allows the FBI team to see that the wall is clear…. and mulder is forced to lay down…. and now gary’s addressing “the people”

mr. pincus is being held at gunpoint…. and mulder gets in the way… gary’s screaming and screaming at mulder to get him out of the way, but he won’t do it… and scully is WATCHING ALL OF THIS THROUGH THE CAMERA FEED… WHICH IS SO CRAZY

he hears the buzzing again…. and the lights are out…

does mulder see the bug man too?? or is it all in gary’s mind????

the FBI team enters and someone shoots gary. mulder is splattered with blood, but he is looking at mr. pincus suspiciously……

GARY WHISPERS “now you know” to him as he lay dying…

HOLY HELL?????????????

what. hey guys! what’s up? what is going on here.

poor pensive mulder is looking off at mr. pincus. “you look exhausted”, says scully, which he instantly denies. and oh, he’s going to talk to him.

mr. pincus thanks him for saving his life. but mulder is in questioning mode. so mr. pincus had been, at some point, at the other plant where the incident went down a few years earlier, and had been to florida, where the x file case that scully had dug up in the files earlier was. bug guy… real??

scully is very confused. “what’s going on?” she asks softly, and he says he doesn’t know. ohhhh :( he sounded so lost :(

back to washington dc, where mulder is drawing lines on maps. with his poor busted lip and his poor busted finger. someone get him an ice pack

scully is shocked to see him! “mulder, why didn’t you take the day off?” he looks CRAZY and tells her to close the door.

oh, what must be going through her mind right now…?

he found the phrase “hiding in the light” or variations of it in 5 other x files, but the variations he lists seem pretty different to me. all the other cases were people who said evil was right in front of them but no one else could see it. which seems like a pretty typical x file trope. i'm not sure if he's onto anything here.

she asks what we are all thinking: have you slept? he disregards this and keeps going.

all of the cases with the phrase variations date back ten years, and that is how long pincus has worked for the vinyl company… hmm…

bro is still in his bloody shirt while trying to convince scully that perhaps a human bug creature could hypnotize its prey into not being visible. please get this man some clean clothes. it is not good to sit around covered in the blood of both yourself and others.

scully does not want to play along with gary's delusions or give them any credit. good for her!

“he was mentally ill. this monster was-was a sick fantasy, a product of his dementia”

(angry mulder nods) “i saw it, too.” (surprised scully face) “does that make me disturbed? demented? does that make me sick, too?”

ohhhh, there is panic in scully, i am sure, but she is good at not showing it.

(deep sigh) “no. no, this kind of thing is not uncommon. you… you went through a terrible ordeal, and sometimes people in close associations, under tense conditions, uh, the delusions of one can be passed onto the other” <- ohhhh scully… she is trying so hard to be kind and scientific and to support how he feels without fueling any harmful beliefs. it's a very careful dance.

he is furious though, insisting it’s not a delusion ("it's not folie a deux", he insists in the most american sounding way possible), and i can’t help but think about how his insistence on the existence of bug man fits in with his earlier disgust at being seen as the monster boy. well. you can see how these things happen when we wind up in this sort of situation.

he wants to prove that the people gary pointed out as not human really were turned into zombies somehow… maybe they can give them a checkup under the guise of “damn, y’all just went through some wild stuff”, but all i can think about is getting that man a fresh shirt and a nice long shower. can we give them a check up when you’re clean? please? thank you. bloodborne pathogens are scary.

scully refuses to autopsy the body- saying she won’t feed into the delusions- and he says he’ll prove it without her and storms off.

she must be so worried about him...... he's clearly not himself

oh shoot… he goes to gary’s place and finds the same map tracking pincus that he had made!!! and then mulder sees a zombified nancy outside!!! he’s running off, but the guy he's with doesn’t see anyone!!!!

now she’s driving off with pincus… where are they going???

scully is here to talk to skinner. he wants to know: why is mulder being weird?

AND WHY DID HE GET HER SCHEDULED TO DO AN AUTOPSY AFTER SHE SAID NO???? skinner KNOWS something is up and asks if there’s something she wants to tell him. she says “no, sir” and walks away, leaving him behind, confused

okay. so i feel like plotwise, i’m going to be annoyed if mulder is right, because he is acting really wild, and i get that it’s an intense situation, but you need to respect your partner. and listen to her and not make her do things that she refused to do. if he is behaving like he is having a break in his sanity, and scully is treating him with the care that this sort of situation affords, but then it turns out he was the only one clever enough to see the truth for the billionth time, making scully the scorned skeptic... well, it gets old after 5 seasons.

and we know that while he is often right about things, he is also incredibly prone to believing, and this can take him to self-destructive lengths, such as letting a guy put k in your brain until scully has to throw herself on him like a weighted blanket so he doesn't end things permanently. so. i don’t always trust his judgement.

but maybe she’s thinking, if i just autopsy the damn guy, we can get this over with.

all that being said: skinner’s confused face is so funny, lmao

scully does not want to do an autopsy. she’s outsourced it to someone else! i appreciate her sticking to her guns.

she’s trying to call mulder, but the guy doing the autopsy says it looks like the shooting victim has been dead for 2-3 days… and she says no, he died yesterday. HMM. weird. you can see the realization on her face…. something weird is going on here. but is it as strange as mulder claims?

pincus is going… somewhere. well, you better believe mulder is tailing him. hard for a guy that tall to be stealthy.

he moves the picnic table to look into the window of this house, and he sees the bug guys!!! then he breaks in, seeing an eyeless woman and a bug guy crawling behind him!!! breaking and entering... not a good look

the CGI is killing me lmao. bro is leaning out the window. LMAO WHAT THE HELL I’M HOWLING LOOK AT THE BUG GUY SCURRYING AWAY BAHAHAAAAAAAAAA

we need to appreciate this for a moment. crazed mulder breaking into some rando's house and shooting at the human-sized bug.

bug guy jumps off of the roof!!!

skinner is listening to the woman whose house he broke into testify… she says she felt a presence creeping towards her… and then this madman was in her house (pan to mulder) uh oh!!! one of many times mulder could have been fired, tbh!!!

she says he was screaming about monsters more than gary!! and then she leaves saying he shouldn’t carry a gun!!!

oh, mulder... what are we going to do with you?

pincus stays behind… oh, skinner is going to go nuclear on mulder if he opens his mouth to call him a monster one more time… poor skinner…….. pincus says he still considers mulder a hero for helping with the hostage situation, which is why he wants to handle this privately

LMAOOOO WAIT MULDER YELLED MORE AND NOW SKINNER IS SCREAMING AT HIM AND MULDER SEES PINCUS TURN INTO BUG MAN RIGHT BEHIND HIM!!!!!!!!! HOLD ONNNN IT’S NOT SUPPOSED TO BE FUNNY BUT IT LOOKS SO SILLY I CANNOT HELP BUT LAUGH

skinner has to pin him down after he pulls out his gun!!!! oh my god!! he is gonna get fired for real!!!

(funny how often skinner and mulder come to physical blows. i just think it's neat)

mulder is in the hospital in chicago, and scully slips her hand into his (stop. i’ll cry. hey i’ll cry) and he says “five years together, scully. you must have seen this coming” <- HEY IS HE GETTING FIRED FOR REAL?? or just announcing the formal loss of his sanity?!

she says they more or less found what they thought they would find in the body… it looked more decomposed than it ought to have… but that really isn't unusual

oh, look how pained she looks as she listens to him try and explain the monster. he says pincus bit the lady whose house he broke into's neck. now is this a bug or a vampire? i guess those two categories have some commonality

she says the case is closed, and she only has hope he can see past this delusion AUGHHHH

i am imagining being scully in this situation and how much it would hurt to see your bestie and partner like this.......

“you have to be willing to see” “i wish it were that simple” “scully, you have to believe me. nobody else on this whole damn planet does or ever will” OUGHHHHHHHHH

:( :( :( monster boy......

“you’re my… one in five billion” OHHH. HE SAID THE THING. THE BLOGS QUOTE HIM SAYING THE THING ALL THE TIME. AND HE SAID IT!!! AND MY HEART DID A FLIP.

look at her looking at him……

that feeling when your bestie is out of his mind, begging you to believe in the bug men, and he says you're his soul mate.......... yeah.

back to autopsy land. this other dude is very confused as to why she wants to flip him over. AUGH. bites! bug bites!

she is shaving the dead body's head. which is not something i ever thought you had to do, but here we are. she shaves that dead body like a pro. and AUGH. more bites.

poor mulder is being restrained and shot up with stuff :( our pathetic man is suffering……..

he hears insects!!! did they bite him too???

NOOO!!! he sees the insect!! he’s screaming for the nurse!!!

he sounds absolutely wild as he tries to convince her there’s something at the window, and for her to let him go. oh, she opens the window…. is there something on her neck……. it looked like... juice?? gag.

he hears more insects…. i think it’s coming in his room?? it’s climbing on the wall??

OH SHIT!! the nurse is not letting scully in!!! and she sees her as a zombie, too???

SCULLY PARANORMAL MOMENT?!?!

OH, SHE BURSTS INTO HIS ROOM AS HE’S SCREAMING, AND SHOOTS THE BUG MAN!!!!

she’s looking at the window like wtf… am i going to have to pay to get that fixed…? and also was that really a bug man...? a lot of important questions are being communicated despite the lack of works

while he’s still fighting his restraints…

cut to a baffled skinner. “agent scully, i have to say, i’m at a bit of a loss here” LMAOOOO me too girl

“do i infer correctly from this that you believe there’s some… merit to agent mulder’s claims?”

(god, i typed "clams" at first. i wish there was merit to his clams)

this is shocking, but not unheard of. listen! scully just wants answers, okay? and sometimes they lie in the category of science yet to be explained.

(long scully pause) “i believe that agent mulder is mentally sound and fit for duty. aside from that belief, i can only present to you the few hard facts that i've been able to gather” <- queen of giving a measured response in a purple suit

oh shoot!! there was a toxin in the spine of the shooting victim!! and pincus is gone without a trace, with 6 other key witnesses!! including the nurse!!!

skinner wants to know what the intruder looks like… she deflects that it was dark. that is all we hear her say, even though i wouldhave loved to know how that conversation ended.

scully and mulder reunite as they enter an elevator. “what did you tell him?”, he asks her. “the truth… as well as i understand it” “which is?” (long scully pause) “folie a deux… a madness shared by two”

hey. why does it sound like she knows french when she said that? because i know that mulder took french, but he said it as american as possible. however, she took german and said that pretty darn well.

blushing a little.

AUGH, and a new company for WINDOWS has insect noises going on at the call center!!!

and so, the monsters continue to spread, ready at any moment to end humanity; a typical ending to an episode.

well. what did i think of this one?

hmm. i’m not sure. i was hoping mulder was going off the deep end rather than him being the most specialist boy of all who can once again see what the rest of the world cannot. he’s right too often, and we end up in the same situation where scully refuses to listen to his theories on account of the fact that he sounds crazy, and then he lowkey bullies her into doing what he asks rather than always considering her input, and then he ends up being right.

someone once got mad on one of my posts and said scully hates mulder (lmao. can you imagine?) because she never believes him even though he tends to be right. and buddy, i cannot really accept that as valid criticism, even beyond the whole point of the show being that yeah, they don't see eye to eye on supernatural matters. that is the most watsonian explanation to an incredibly clear doylist pattern, which is that mulder is the most special boy of all in this show and he knows all of the things and everyone else is a mere fool. this pattern annoys me greatly.

i just think it's funny (said with sarcasm) that someone would take the watsonian, in-universe explanation that hates on the woman character rather than acknowledge the fact that the writers clearly had a bias between the two. lmao.

and yeah. there are elements of both. scully is both purposefully written as stubborn in the face of his outlandish theories due to her loyalty to science as an element of her character, AND purposefully written as the one who naively refuses to believe mulder as some sort of audience proxy, because augh, that woman, she just won't believe our most special gifted genius agent mulder!

you can see how those two things work together, but one is clearly the result of the other. character decisions come from writers who often have their own biases and agendas rather than out of some mysterious creative ether from which a character emerges fully formed.

and poor skinner, trying to deal with mulder's often violent impulses.

i think it’s very interesting that scully believes herself and him to be victims of a shared madness. it’s the most logical belief for her to have, but it also places this kind of… like, concerning element to them being together. is everything they have experienced a shared madness? or just this after the trauma of him being held hostage? how can you trust your memory? how can you trust what you see?

i also think it’s very interesting how she refuses to feed his delusions at all when he proposed the idea. she would not do the autopsy. and from his psych training standpoint, i imagine that he knew she would say that, but was still hoping against hope because he was so out of his right mindset. she stuck to what she believed would help him recover, which is really admirable and doctor-y of her.

god, her slipping her hand into his as he’s in the hospital…

see, this is the problem with this show. it’s got me philosophizing on the meaning of the bug men. first of all, if they’re the ones in charge of call centers, i’m not really that surprised. corporate work turns you into a zombie; you don’t have time for passions or pursuits of your own, you just work for the shareholder. i get that interpretation.

but other than that, what are we to think of the bug men? are we to call into question the things that we see? are we to believe the manifestos and ramblings of people like gary?

i’m going to probably just assume it was a sort of “wouldn’t it be fucked up if…” situation the writers concocted. yeah it *would* be fucked up if there were bug guys in the call center taking over america through ceaseless barrages of advertising. you've got me there, vince.

my feelings on mulder’s behavior are complicated. maybe it was a shared madness between them *and* there were some shady bug things going on. him sitting there still the day after the hostage situation, having gotten no sleep, still in his bloody shirt, drawing lines on the map… i mean, he did not seem well, even for a guy famed for his bouts of obsessive focus.

i am going to think on this one for a bit. perhaps a more coherent train of thought will arise. but for now, i have written a treatise on the nature of this show's frustrating parts while also highlighting the parts that made me giggle. like "i told you so" and scully's good french and mulder's terrible french and holding hands and undying love <3

#huh. didn't think i would end up writing 4 paragraphs on the narrative misogyny. but then again are we surprised?#anyway did i articulate any of that well? do you agree with me? do you like this episode? please let me know!#bug men: they're out there and they will call you on the phone.#i love you scully! mulder is also my boy but the writers piss me off #poor baby still had his fingers hurt... give him a vacation. let them have a joint vacation.#these nerds need to go queen out at a museum. and if enough time has passed since the gorilla incident they can go to a nice zoo.#yes i will ALWAYS be on my “take them to the zoo” agenda. always #anyway! i have to go wrap some presents. so tell me if you like this episode.#(i am now crawling away like the bug men)#juni's x files liveblog #5x19 #the x files #txf

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bronx-bomber87 · 2 years ago

Text

Hello all :) I wanted to post this yesterday but had some technical difficulties. Also thank you to all those that have liked, commented or reblogged my reviews. Very Encouraging so thank you. Glad to have you all along with me. As always will credit all gif usage at the end.

Onward we go to 1x03 'The Good the Bad and the Ugly.'

Tim is back on duty after his gun shot wound. He’s is not ready physically and most definitely not emotionally. Despite that all Lucy is glad to have him back riding with her. Tim replying like early S1 Tim would in regards to her being glad he's back. Reserved and Cocky.

They Get their first call of the day at a bank with a man trapped behind an ATM wall. Tim takes charge like he doesn't have a wound in his side. Keeps going till he's grimacing and in major pain.

Theme of Tim Bradford in the early days. Man doesn’t ask for help. Ever. So when he’s hacking at that wall he’s trying to prove to himself he’s fine. The gunshot wound doesn’t affect him. When his body is telling him otherwise. Instead of asking Lucy to help to him he barks at her asking why he’s doing this and not her. S1 Tim you’re so rough around the edges my love. Don’t you worry Lucy is gonna soften those edges slowly but surely Haha

After Lucy fails a mini Tim test (gif set I just could not seem to find) Of him stealing her duty belt because she didn't secure the bathroom properly. He receives a phone call about Isabel OD'ing. Another set I could not find is Isabel basically ripping into Tim. Telling him to leave her alone to ‘Save your tough love for someone else’ and boy does he ever.... Lucy gets quite the helping in this episode.

We know he is very much no where close to being 'Okay' After his convo with Isabel he is out of control angry. Doesn’t even realize what he’s doing. Too damn blinded by his hurt. It shows in their next call with the biker gang. By putting not only his healing self in danger but Lucy. He’s so desperate for help but refusing to ask again. So instead he implodes. Fights a biker gang prospect. Searching desperately for an outlet for his frustration/anger. Doing it in the worst way imaginable. He’s in so much pain he cannot see straight. Poor Lucy can only stand there and watch him self destruct. Luckily he wins the tussle but it comes at a cost.

In s5 Tim bringing up his past with Isabel to Lucy. This is what he's referring to. How it cost him nearly everything emotionally. Unless you watch s1 recently you forget how badly he was burned. How she utterly wrecked him. Watching her destroy him with a 2 min convo hurts to watch. He was adrift in his emotions and drowning at a fast pace. He needed a life line so badly. He had no idea that life line would show up in the form of Lucy Chen. The Ray of sunshine that challenges his ass and puts him in place like no one has before.

By the time they get back to station she's crawling out of her skin with worry for Tim. She has no idea what she should do if anything. He is her superior officer after all but he's also endangering them both. By the time she gets their "suspect" into booking Tim is still in a bad head space from his convo at the hospital. Checking out NARCAN clearly for Isabel. They pull up to Isabel's apt and Lucy is restless in the car when he tells her to stay put. She can't take it any longer and jumps out to confront him.

She takes a deep breath and starts her fight to save Tim's sanity. To keep him from going completely off the edge and taking her with him. That’s what makes what Lucy does in this scene so incredible. One she's barely 3 weeks at best into her working relationship with him and two It was like fighting the sun with Tim in s1. She not only stood up for herself she put him in his place. He had been encased in his emotions so long he lost clarity completely. He couldn’t see past his pain. So she took a stand and won.

The biggest part of this moment is he concedes, listens and lets her take control of the situation. Has her run the NARCAN up to Isabel. I can’t even begin with how massive this is. This obstinate, grumpy man who would scare most rookies into washing out didn’t stand a chance against Lucy Chen. Its one of the main reasons he falls in love with her. She challenges him and rights him when he’s on the worst path. That look of defeat and resignation on his face. He know's he in the wrong and can't fight her anymore on this. Eric once again crushing it. Killing me softly good sir. His face says it all.

This following scene back in the shop is underrated and beautiful. Something about Lucy draws out his vulnerable side whether he likes it or not. The crack she started in ep 2 continues its growth in this ep. Her standing up to him, laying down boundaries and bringing him back to earth earned her this moment with him. Tim opening up to her. Sharing what I'm sure no one else has heard.

The most beautiful part is she’s doing it for more than the fact he’s her T.O. She cares about him as a person. He's realizing this and its why he's opening up to her right now. He's baring his soul to her and there couldn't be a better person to accept it. Why she follows up the way she does. Lucy is very aware how precious the information that is being shared with her is.

Her telling him about her apt is her olive branch back. It’s not much in the grand scheme of things just looking at this conversation. Telling him this as her reply. But it means the world to him. She knows this which is why she lets him know her apt is decent. It’s what he needs to hear.

Listening to him let out the deep breathe and tell her ‘Thanks’ it’s a loaded thanks. It means so much more than that single word, but once again this is s1 Tim so the fact she’s getting this is big. Its what he needs to hear in order to to be able to drive away from her apt. She's given him peace of mind to be able to do so.

We barrel towards the end of the episode. Tim and Lucy chasing one of the two remaining suspects. They corner him and once again just like at the beginning of the ep Tim can’t ask for help. He physically can’t climb the top of that truck. Lucy knows this and helps him out. Saying it would be ‘good for her training’ for her to do it. Tim goes along with it because his pride can’t handle it otherwise. She conducts herself flawlessly of course.

She’s so proud of herself and he can’t allow her to see he is too. He’s already been too ‘soft’ today for her. He always defaults back to being the hard ass whenever he opens up in the very beginning with her because S1 Tim be S1 Tim.

~~~~

Side Notes non Chenford.

I love Grey taking Tim out for a drink. Poor man needed it so much.

Talia being soft for the train burglar and his son.

Not much side stuff to mention this was a pretty heavy Chenford building ep and I’m happy with that.

Please like/comment if you can I love it when people do either hehe

Gif Credit To

Chenfordsbee

Chenfordsource

Chenfordgifs

#Caitlin rewatches the Rookie #chenford #chenford hiatus #the rookie #Tim Bradford #Lucy chen #1x03 The good the bad the ugly #s1 #tim x lucy #Eric winter #melissa o'neil #summer rewatch #otp: doing my job #chenford nation #tim bradford x lucy chen

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buffyfan145 · 4 months ago

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do u have any theories on sauron x galadriel interacting bfr the finale?

tbh when i finished the ep i didnt dislike it so was a bit surprised that a lot of folks took it negatively. i understand the complaints and agree that galadriel's and sauron's relationship + individual storylines drag quite a bit but i think this ep laid the ground for galadriel to feel even more alienated/bitter about elrond and other elves and showcased even further just how shaken she is by sauron + she needed to get to adar. im massively disappointed about her lack in ep3 and probably ep5 too tho.

but when it comes to sauron/galadriel i think there is still a time to make them interact more via their minds? wasnt there a shot of sauron in s2 promo that looked exactly like the fireplace scene in s1? + adar arc is going to be the highlight imo besides the finale.

and maybe im wayyy too hopeful and delusional but the lack of haladriel + gal being too confident about where shes headed + trusting the ring too much + elrond warning her, makes me feel like her ending up with him in the finale is more likely. unless they resolve 2 seasons long character conflict in 1 fight scene ofc.

I'm with you and I enjoyed today's episode too. I don't have any issues with what we're seeing at all, and for both of them their scenes still revolve a bit around the other. It's actually more than I expected. LOL Does make me wonder though if this show was a binge release with all 8 episodes at once if those "it drags" comments would disappear. I like that it's weekly but sometimes binge releases are better especially since a lot of younger generations aren't used to waiting weekly like us older ones (I do miss the 22 to 24 eps a season almost every week).

But back to Haladriel I do think they are going to interact before that even without Nenya. It'll likely be more Sauron doing it since it seems Nenya gives Galadriel a way to do it now and he's always been able to do this as he did it in the s1 finale with her, but then I wonder if Adar is actually going to help her out and maybe teach her to do it as some think he used to be able to communicate with Sauron mentally before he "killed" him and severed their connection.

Still a chance she and Adar's storyline is in ep 2.5 though as the Battle of Eregion is in eps 6, 7, and 8, so they need an episode to set up her and Adar teaming up. I feel 6 would be too rushed if it the battle starts in that episode. She's also already wearing the same outfit she fights Sauron in, in the finale too. So I'd be pretty shocked if she's not in next week's episode.

And I agree with you that it does seem to still be a chance that Haladriel ends up together or on the same in the end and the cliffhanger to lead us into s3. I mentioned this in other posts but it does seem like they could be setting up a pattern where they spend almost all of s1 together, most of s2 apart, most of s3 together, and then he goes to Numenor after they split for good and Celeborn comes back to set up s4, and then the final battle in s5 to set up the 3rd Age/LOTR books/movies. Plans could change in case Amazon forces them to end the show early if they really are getting smaller ratings (still have to wait for the Nielsen ratings but that Samba report yesterday as scared some fans and made the haters thinking the show is getting cancelled), but it seems like this could be the 5 season plan and fit why Charlie said their relationship would be a major storyline for all 5 seasons, so it's not going to wrap up after just 2 seasons.

#asks #spoilers

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aalissy · 9 months ago

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Flirting

Oops so sorry I missed yesterday's chapter! On the plus, there will be two chapters from me tonight :). Hope you like them both! This chapter is set early s5 during the reverse love square btw!

AO3

Marinette groaned at the blaring sound of her alarm clock. Extending her arm out, she swatted at the thing until it finally shut off. With a content sigh at the sudden lack of noise, she snuggled deeper under her covers.

Sleep. Just what she needed after a long night of fighting akumas.

“Marinette,” a tiny voice spoke, giving a huff of disapproval. “You’re going to be late for school.”

“Shh, Tikki,” she shushed her kwami, reaching up to pat her lightly. “Sleep now. School later.”

Tikki huffed again but went silent, sensing that arguing further would be futile. Marinette drifted in between that blissful state between sleep and wakefulness until...

“Marinette! There’s someone here to see you!” Her mom's voice rang through the room, breaking the peaceful morning spell.

Huh?

Her eyes blinked open in confusion. Who could possibly be here to see her this early in the morning? Scrubbing a hand over her face, Marinette slowly sat up. A frown creased her brow as she and Tikki both shared a shrug.

Either way, unfortunately, she was now awake and probably couldn’t fall back asleep no matter how much she might want to. With a long-suffering sigh, she began to get ready for school.

Throwing on an outfit and brushing the tangles out of her bed-ridden hair, Marinette pushed open the hatch to her living room. Blinking in surprise, her startled eyes met Adrien’s.

What was Adrien doing here?

Panic swirled in her gut as he gave her a small smile and wave, his cheeks flushed a light pink. Marinette shifted on her feet, eyes darting up the stairs to her room as she wondered whether she’d be able to make it back upstairs in time.

“Good morning, Marinette.” His bright voice distracted her from her plans. “I wanted to know if you wanted to head to school with me this morning.”

Her parents beamed over at her encouragingly and she exhaled out a slow breath. Why oh why must he be so cute? She had moved on! Was completely focused on giving her partner her love and affection from now on!

Regardless, she couldn’t turn him down now. Especially not with the way her stomach still swirled with butterflies at the fact that Adrien was here. A fact that she was steadfastly choosing to ignore.

With a shy grin, Marinette nodded her head at him. “Sure.”

“You look paws-” Adrien coughed, his cheeks turning a darker shade of pink. “Er, um, positively lovely. Like always,” he complimented, his eyes sparkling over at her with sincerity.

Marinette struggled not to choke. Had Adrien just called her lovely? Surely not. Surely her mind was just playing tricks on her.

With a loud, awkward chuckle, she shifted on her feet once more. “So, I um, suppose we had better head to school, right? D-Don’t want to be late.”

His gaze softened as he nodded his head. Giving a short goodbye to both her parents, both she and Adrien began heading down to the bakery.

Had he always walked this close to her before? His fingers brushed against hers lightly with every step and Marinette had to fight the bright blush from completely overtaking her face.

Stop this, she scolded herself internally. You’re being ridiculous! Adrien Agreste does not like you! They exited the bakery, the bell above the door chiming as the cold air rushed to greet them.

“Thank you for coming with me today, Marinette.” He reached down, tugging her hand as they stopped just outside the door. He lifted her hand up, giving her knuckles a light peck.

Her eyes widened in astonishment at the action. Suddenly, it wasn’t Adrien she was seeing at all but rather someone else. Her partner. Black kitten ears and all.

Her eyes scanned Adrien up and down, trying to stop the image but found herself unable to. Marinette shook her head rapidly in an effort to clear it. Now she really was being ridiculous.

Adrien was not Chat Noir. Right?

With a loud, stiff laugh that even made her wince, she gave him a grin that probably looked more like a grimace. “O-of course, Adrien! W-what are friends for after all?”

Turning forcefully, Marinette was grateful for the sight of Adrien’s limo that was parked just outside. Salvation. It took her about five minutes just to walk to school so driving would be even shorter.

She missed the sight of his eyes dimming at her use of the word friend. Adrien recovered quickly, however, dashing over to the door to hold it open for her with a charming grin.

“After you, m’l-M... my Marinette,” he spluttered, cheeks turning a bright red.

Her eyes squinted, staring at him in suspicion. There was that strange stutter again. Just what was going on with him? She had never seen Adrien act like this before.

Though she had certainly seen this behavior many times from... oh.

Oh.

Suddenly, it all made sense now. The odd mannerisms. The inability for her to discern the differences between Adrien and Chat Noir.

Adrien was... taking advice from him! Why he decided to practice it out on her was beyond Marinette. Though maybe it had something to do with the way she had been avoiding him lately.

Alright, well, the least she could do was reward his efforts. With a pair of sparkling blue eyes, Marinette chuckled up at him. “Thank you, Chaton.”

Adrien’s face turned ash-white as his smile completely slid off his lips. A small furrow formed between her brows at the sigh. Did he not want her to know? But it was so obvious.

Feeling strange as Adrien’s gaze turned probing, Marinette slid into her seat in the limo. What should have been a relatively short ride felt like three million years.

The car was filled with pure silence and tension as he continued to stare at her. She, in turn, fidgeted with her hands as she kept her gaze focused outside the window.

When they finally reached the school, Marinette practically bolted outside, thanking Adrien’s bodyguard quickly.

“Wait! Marinette!” he shouted after her as she attempted to scramble her way up the stairs.

She had just managed to take her first few steps inside when Adrien caught her wrist, gently tugging her over to a quieter corner.

“What did you... what did you mean by that?” he questioned, his gaze darting between her eyes.

Pursing her lips in annoyance, Marinette let out a quiet huff. Did he think he was being subtle? Obviously, he wasn’t going to let her go until she answered. With a small roll of her eyes, she eventually murmured, “I mean Adrien, it was a little obvious.”

He grinned at her sheepishly, scratching the back of his neck. “I-I guess I was... wasn’t I? I’m sorry. I didn’t try to be. I guess the only practice with flirting I’ve ever done was with Ladybug.”

“That’s alright.” Marinette had already begun to wave his words off until his last sentence caught up to her.

Wait... what? Flirting... with Ladybug? What was he talking about? She scanned her memories, trying to remember a time when Adrien had flirted with her superheroine persona. Believe her, she would have remembered something like that. The only one who had ever flirted with her like that had been...

She squeaked, suddenly paying attention to what Adrien was currently saying.

“But I suppose, if anyone was going to know, I would want it to be you. You’re the only one that I could ever trust with something like this.”

Choking in a gasp, Marinette stumbled away from him, her back slamming into the wall behind her.

“Marinette?” Adrien asked, his brow creasing with a frown of concern.

She scanned him up and down, taking in every inch of him.

Oh no! It was not supposed to have happened this way.

A shaky hand covered her mouth. “C-Chaton?” she whispered, her heart pounding in her chest.

“Yes? Are you alright?”

All of a sudden, Marinette burst into a roar of laughter. She couldn’t stop even as Adrien’s look grew even more concerned as he took a few cautious steps toward her.

“I-I’m such an idiot!” She finally managed to gasp out in between bouts of giggles, barely refraining from sliding down the wall to the floor. “I-I can’t believe I thought that you were taking advice from him or something.”

“Marinette?” Adrien shook his head, confusion evident in his face and tone. “What are you talking about? A-are you saying you didn’t know?”

“Not until just a little bit ago!” She chortled. “But it’s so obvious now! No w-wonder I fell for the same guy twice. I guess I just like you!”

Her laugh suddenly fell to a stop when Adrien stopped just two inches in front of her. He took one of her hands in his, squeezing it softly. “D-did you really mean that? You like me?”

Her cheeks flushed as she slowly nodded her head. She swallowed a harsh gulp as Adrien tilted her chin up with the pad of his thumb. Leaning down, he whispered, “Me too.”

His lips met hers in a tentative, wonderful kiss. Wrapping her arms around his neck, Marinette smiled with pure joy. He had been right. They had always been meant to be.

#adrinette #adrienette #adrinetteapril #adrienetteapril #adrinetteapril2024 #adrienetteapril2024 #reverse love square #reverse crush #identity reveal #reveal #miraculous ladybug #ml #mlb #ml fic #fic #fanfic

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finnoahsource · 6 months ago

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Yeah, you're right! Filming must've been a great distraction, and he must be happy and proud, since it's been confirmed multiple times that S5 will focus a lot on Will. His coming of age and coming out as a queer young man in the 80s. Not to mention his crucial connection to the supernatural plot. The story began with Will and will end with him. I'm sure fans and casual viewers all over the world will praise Noah's performance, and Will's touching story will inspire many queer kids.

So, just wanna say. Haters who said that the career of a 19 yo boy was "over" because they hated an IG post, are the ones who will need to cope. Or maybe they could finally use their energy for something that really matters. Not harassing and obsessing over a young actor. There. I said it.

I loveee being reminded just how central will is to everything, and how fun this must be for noah finally!

his haters most definitely hate seeing him bouncing back and living life, some have been around feeling that way for years and the newer ones just get to learn how resilient he is 🫶

I think this is a good spot to say since nothing more has come from it I won't be discussing much more about the situation yesterday, I want to keep spirits lifted so 😊

#asks #ns #discourse

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thestrangestthing89 · 2 years ago

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The Inversion of Tropes

This show has repeatedly inverted a lot of common writing tropes. They often give you the narrative you expect to see and then the next season flip it upside down. Not all tropes are bad but ST does try to invert the ones that are. An example of one that isn't problematic is the Chosen One trope. I think we will get this with Will but I'm curious to see if there is a spin on it. I googled a list of common writing tropes and read a few of the articles that came up for this. There are a lot so it's interesting to me when people don't see this or they think that they won't do something like break up Mike and El. There is tons of evidence suggesting that they will. This is in 2 parts.

Nerdy boy gets girl/Born Sexy Yesterday These tropes aren't exactly the same but they are similar so I am grouping them together. In the first one, there is an awkward nerdy kid who ends up with the pretty girl (who is often the popular girl). The second one goes a bit further. BSY is the when the female character is naive and doesn't understand the world and needs the male character to show her and protect her. The male character is usually nerdy or overlooked by other female characters They then end up in a romantic relationship and this is meant to imply that all of their insecurities were magically cured by this relationship and they lived happily ever after. Stranger Things gave us this trope with Mike and El. But they start to invert it in S3. We see how unhealthy this dynamic actually is. They are both still insecure, they lie frequently, and they can't really be themselves with each other. It's clear El still has a lot to learn about the world and instead of learning this from Mike she starts to learn from Max. She learns independence and Mike learns he wasn't being himself. Continuing with this trend in S5, I expect to see a confirmation of a break up and El being independent with Mike getting the boy that he's in love with.

The Special Girl Trope El is described as special by many people. She's a superhero. She saves the world. Everyone, even adults, are dependent on her to save the day. But the inversion of this is that El is discovering she doesn't want to be a superhero. She doesn't want to be the person who always has to save everyone. Her reclaiming her lost childhood is more important than her being a superficial hero who always saves the day. Being normal and average is the thing that she wants. Not being special.

The kid in a horror movie does everything wrong trope This was in the very first episode. Typically we see teens in horror doing every stupid thing imaginable when they are being chased by whatever monster/serial killer the show is about. There is often a run and stumble and that person making so many bad choices that you're often yelling at your screen watching. Will doesn't do this. When he realizes he's in danger he does everything right - runs home, locks the door, looks for his older brother and mom, calls 911 when he realizes they aren't there, runs out back when the monster comes inside, and in a last ditch effort to protect himself loads a gun. But he doesn't get a chance to use it. It doesn't help him and he ends up getting taken anyway. This honestly makes it scarier. Knowing that there isn't anything at all he could have changed. The bad thing would have happened anyway. We see this a few times throughout the series too. The group frequently makes smart decisions to get themselves out of tough situations. They are nerds and their intelligence is what saves them.

The girl who has sex in a horror movie gets killed first trope This isn't just in horror movies but the girl who has sex usually gets slut shamed or punished in some way. In S1, Nancy has sex with Steve but it's not her who gets killed by the monster it's her friend. Nancy does get slut shamed by Steve and his friends later. But the twist here is that Steve realizes he did something wrong. They were the bad guys and Nancy didn't actually mess up or deserve to be humiliated like that. He cleans up the spray paint and goes to apologize to her (and Jonathan) for his bullying.

The bully is 1 dimensional and stupid trope Steve is a bully in S1 and does some awful things to both Nancy and Jonathan. But he genuinely changes and has character growth. He learns from his mistakes and doesn't behave this way again. The middle school bully and his friend are different. Troy is a terrible person. Not only because of the bullying but because of how far he takes it. He holds a knife to Dustins throat and forces Mike to jump off a cliff. Typically in movies, the bully has henchmen who are stupid and blindly follow whatever the bully says. But we see Troys friend get freaked out by his behavior. He tells him this isn't a good idea. He's going too far with this and his friend tries to stop him.

The trophy wife/housewife trope When Nancy describes her family she describes Karen as being younger than her. She married someone rich and settled down in the suburbs. Typically this person is superficial and not a great mom. But we see Karen being attentive to her kids and trying to bond with them. She is tempted by an affair with pool boy (aka the lifeguard) but is hesitant when this starts to become more than a fantasy. She realizes it's not like her to have an affair and doesn't let it go further than this. Her family is important to her.

The tomboy trope When Max is introduced she is the typical tomboy - she skateboards, plays video games, and doesn't have female friends. This is often used to show female characters who are what certain male character like. In this case, Dustin and Lucas are fascinated by her because she's a girl and she likes all the things they like therefore she's cool. We've seen a different side to Max though. She does genuinely like those things, but she also has a feminine side and isn't ashamed of this. Typically this trope involves making it seem like being feminine is a bad thing. This girl isn't like those other girly girls. But Max isn't like this. She wants to be El's friend so they can do girly things like shop and have sleepovers and talk about boys. She isn't shown to be silly for wanting this and she isn't trying to hide this part of herself. It makes her more complex and interesting. Not to mention doesn't insult anyone who is feminine.

The knight in shining armor trope Mike as the paladin is an interesting choice. He's nerdy and scrawny and not typically the person who plays a romantic male lead. But Mike has been shown repeatedly throughout the series to be a great leader and resourceful under pressure. Typically this role would be played by someone who looked like Billy. The strong muscular guy who saves the day and gets the girl. Mike's a little awkward and self conscious but he's smart. And it's his smarts and empathetic nature that save everyone and get him the boy.

The girlboss needs to look hot while kicking ass trope I cannot even begin to tell you how relieved I am that Nancy was never kicking ass in a skimpy outfit. So many times, especially with male directors, if they allow the female character to take the lead at all she has to do it while looking hot. Nancy does wear trendy outfits sometimes but it in no way seems like she isn't being herself when she does. And it's never an impractical outfit that no one could possibly be fighting for their lives in (no 4 inch heels or short skirts - I'm looking at Buffy here) She just likes that kind of style. And they never make her look "pretty" (I put this in quotes because obviously all the actors on this show are pretty, it's tv. But they don't go out of their way to make her look like a model unnecessarily). When she's in the UD or fighting for her life in S3 at the hospital she gets messy. Her makeup is smudged, her clothes get torn at one point, her hair is frizzy. They aren't afraid to make her look like she's been through it because she has. It always irks me when you see any kind of post apocalypse show and all the women still have perfect eyebrows and hair but the men are allowed to be messy and grow crazy beards (Walking Dead comes to mind). They let Nancy get messy in a realistic way - she's not surviving an apocalypse so it doesn't need to be an extreme. But they aren't afraid to show her sweating and messy. And this applies to the other female character as well. I never felt like I was screaming "why the hell is she wearing that in this scene" while watching this show.

The bury your gays trope A lot of shows will introduce a gay character and have them be sidelined as the comedic relief or the gay friend of the main character. They are often killed off as well (again Buffy, still mad about Tara). But that isn't happening with Will. There are a lot of indications that he is taking the lead next season. He has a complex backstory and a full range of emotions. He's also not a stereotype and neither is Mike. Having that relationship be the slow-burn romance will be unexpected. Robin fits here too. After coming out in S3 she wasn't sidelined and we see her friendship with Steve develop. He supports and accepts her. She is also starting to develop a friendship with Nancy. She's her own character with quirks and flaws and a full range of emotions. Vicky belongs here too but we don't know much about her at this point so it's hard to say much about her. I also think Henry and Murray belong in this category but I'm going to hold off until next season to say more here. Part 2

#stranger things analysis #byler

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