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david-talks-sw · 2 years ago

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Doylist outlook on the Anakin & Council scenes during "The Phantom Menace"

About 4 years ago, I'm talking to an older friend of mine who grew up with the Original Trilogy.

He tells me that one of the disappointments of the Prequels, for him, is that the Jedi Knights had been built as these "Knights of the Round Table" and, instead, what his generation got was "monks who'll pick on a 9-year-old for being afraid".

Which makes sense in a story about their corruption and downfall, but he'd have preferred to root for them, see them in their heyday.

And, like, I agreed.

I didn't necessarily feel they were picking on him when I watched the scene as a child, my takeaway from that scene was the "fear leads to anger" part. But when I was thinking back on it as an adult, what my friend said seemed to track, and it was in-line with the "Jedi are corrupt" prism through which a lot of people see the Prequels, 2018-me included.

But nowadays - having read a whole bunch of George Lucas quotes and rewatched the scene - I don't think that it's meant to be perceived that way.

I've briefly touched on this last year, but if we look at this scene from a Doylian perspective, rather than a Watsonian one, it's clear to me that the point of this scene is three-fold.

1) Moving the story along, making sure Anakin is present in the third act.

"This was a little tricky, when writing the script, in that I didn’t want Anakin to become a Jedi yet, cuz I’m saving that for the end of the movie. But at the same time I still had to have him tag along. (laughs) And I was able to use, really, the device of the fact that Anakin had been put in Qui-Gon’s care and that he had promised his mother that he would take care of him as a way of allowing him to take the boy along with him on this trek… to the next third of the movie. But one of the difficulties of writing a script with lots and lots of characters is rationalize why everybody’s along." - The Phantom Menace, Director’s Commentary, 1999

This one's pretty simple to follow.

We need Anakin in the third act so he can blow up the big ship at the end. So the Council doesn't take Anakin in, but let's Qui-Gon keep him as a ward until a more definitive decision can be made.

2) Foreshadowing Anakin's inevitable downfall.

"We have the little testing scene which is really designed to allow him to be accepted as a Jedi, eventually. Because he has the powers… but as Yoda points out, there’s a lot of fear in him, and anger. That’s why they actually deny him the chance to become a Jedi. But it’s also - when they relent later on - it’s the thing that ultimately begins to describe some of his downfall". - The Phantom Menace, Commentary Track #2, 1999

Also straightforward. Anakin will become Vader, so let's hint at this.

The Jedi are clairvoyant wizards, they see all the red flags but must also admit that his future is clouded. In doubt, they'd rather err on the side of caution and not train him.

As George explained in Cut Magazine, in 1999, both the Council's prediction and Qui-Gon's decision are ultimately correct and wrong; Darth Vader does plunge the galaxy in darkness, but he will also bring back balance to the Force.

3) Illustrating the Jedi's principles by injecting his own values into their teachings.

"Ideas don't come into a story that easily. A lot of the time the characters have to say what you mean, and to do that the characters usually have to have differing opinions about the idea so they can discuss it." - (collected in The Star Wars Archives: 1999-2005), 1996

This is where things get tricky. What did George mean?

Well, there's plenty of quotes where he says Jedi can feel emotions, namely love... what does he say about fear, specifically?

Okay, so that sounds a helluva lot like what Yoda says. Or rather, Yoda sounds a helluva lot like George.

If we go by the idea that the Jedi are, "dunking on Anakin and chastising him for being afraid because they've lost their way and now repress their emotions"... then it's inconsistent with what George Lucas was saying in the above quotes, because he clearly agrees with Yoda and uses the character as a vector to get his own ideas across.

It'd also wouldn't track with what we see in The Gathering, during The Clone Wars, in which we see that to gain their kyber crystal, a Jedi must overcome their weaknesses - including facing their fears.

So either George wanted us to think the Jedi Council collectively decided, on that specific day, to say "to hell with everything we stand for: fuck this kid in particular, just because"... or that's not how we're meant to read the scene.

I'd say the only reading that is consistent with everything George said is the following:

Anakin is afraid, he misses his mom. Which is normal.

The Jedi sense this and ask him how he feels, hoping he'll have the sense of admitting to this feeling (first step towards solving a problem is acknowledging there is one).

Anakin refuses to admit he's afraid, even after they explain that they know he is. He doesn't see what him being afraid has to do with anything.

Yoda explains the dangers of unchecked fear. If you don’t address or overcome it, it'll eventually lead to suffering and the Dark Side.

So Anakin being afraid isn’t the issue in itself, it’s that he won’t even acknowledge that that fear is there. Which, again, is completely normal, but a Jedi is supposed to be above that... and Anakin's age makes it so that he'll have a hard time learning this.

Hence why they initially decide he won't be trained.

So Lucas was clearly going for a classic Yoda moment, like "do or do not" in Empire Strikes Back… but to most people, the way the scene is written makes the Council seems cold, unfeeling, and dunking on a 9-year-old and makes Qui-Gon look like the reasonable one.

Could George have conveyed his intent more clearly?

Now, another writer might have decided to illustrate this philosophical lesson about unchecked fear differently, in a way that makes the Jedi seem kinder, less detached and more relatable. Lucas will be the first to admit that he’s not that writer.

"I'd be the first person to say I can't write dialogue. My dialogue is very utilitarian and is designed to move things forward. I'm not Shakespeare. It's not designed to be poetic. It's not designed to have a clever turn of phrase. [...] Dialogue isn't my strength. I use it as a device. I don't particularly like dialogue which is part of the problem." - EMPIRE, 1999

He writes dialog that takes you from point A to point B. The bottom line is Anakin's got too much fear and that he's too old? He'll stick to that bottom line.

It also doesn't help that, well, we're only shown Anakin as a sweet child, without being shown the traits that make the Council go "hmmm maybe not".

Like, the more explicit way would be to show the Council having a vision of death and destruction and Anakin standing in the middle of it... but you wouldn't even need to go that far.

Originally the scene went on for just a tad longer, with the Council prodding Anakin more and the latter screaming "I'M NOT AFRAID!" in anger.

Thus proving Yoda's point, that there's some unchecked fear and anger in him which - due to his age - will be difficult for him to master.

This was cut from the final movie, but was kept in printed editions of the script and the novelizations.

Interestingly, there was also this other deleted scene, where Anakin gets in a fight with a young Greedo, after the latter accused him of cheating at the Boonta Eve race.

According to this commentary, the scene was cut (to Rick McCallum's dismay) because George felt that - while it showed Anakin had a temper - it didn't really establish his character one way or the other, in the scope of The Phantom Menace.

And therein lies the issue, right?

George isn't building a cinematic universe, he's not making a TV series: he's making 3 movies, each about 2 hours long.

There's a short amount of time and a looot of stuff he'd like to say about how a good kid becomes a bad man and how a democracy becomes a dictatorship, and all the other subplots regarding symbiosis etc... that's a lot of things for a movie.

So when he's structuring how the Prequels explore the first theme, it's done as such:

First movie: Show Anakin was a sweet kid, hint at his fear.

Second movie: Show Anakin's other flaws, his love for Padmé & Shmi's death, which will eventually increase his fear and mark the first step toward his fall to the Dark Side.

Third movie: Anakin's fear of losing Padmé causes his fall.

And that's it. Nothing happens outside these movies.

A project with a larger scope (or one that only focused on Anakin's rise and fall) might've explored how Anakin felt growing up in the Temple alongside other already-trained Jedi, his trauma from his days as a slave, his anger issues, whether he ever asked the Jedi to go back and rescue his Mom, more details on his friendship with Obi-Wan, how Palpatine manipulated him from day one...

In that project, you'd put those deleted scenes and lines back in.

But this ain't that project. This is the space equivalent of a fairy tale.

So, to Lucas, none of the above factor into the story about Anakin's downfall, by virtue of not being in the movies.

Which makes it unrealistic to a majority of viewers. But George (indie experimental filmmaker with a vision) had a very specific thesis he was going for:

So at some point we're left with two choices.

1. "Death of the Author"

If George's thesis wasn't conveyed clearly enough, or executed well enough and what you saw killed your suspension of disbelief, or if you plainly disagree with George's view on fear... then obviously, go to town with heacanons, go with the "Jedi are dunking on Anakin 'cause they lost their way" interpretation.

Sure, it's not what George Lucas was going for, but as my friend who I mentioned at the start said to me more recently: "Who cares? Either the Jedi are intentionally meant to be seen as arrogant, emotionless a-holes, or the Prequels are bad movies."

Which I disagree with, but hey :D

2. Seeing the scene the way it was originally intended.

This is the one I'm going with. If you still like George's thesis and see it clearly when you watch the Prequels, then great.

In that moment, Qui-Gon - while ultimately correct about Anakin being the Chosen One - is being rash and trying to force Anakin in a mold the Council and Obi-Wan know he'll struggle to fit in. In that moment, they're in the right, he's in the wrong, and Anakin is caught in the middle. And that's pretty much it.

In the end, the most important part of that whole scene is the message "fear leads to anger, hate and suffering". And these are movies for kids. And as a kid... I got the message.

So the scene did its job with high scores, as far as I'm concerned.

#I already touched on this scene before a couple of times so I thought I'd put all my thoughts in one post #jedi #attachment #anakin #george lucas #sw meta #bts tidbits #star wars #tpm #the phantom menace #jedi order #meta #anakin skywalker #long post #this has been in my drafts for months ffs #need to find the time to complete this stuff

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peppermint-monster · 3 years ago

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Ennoshita Chikara x Perv. Chubby Reader

Sadly Tumblr wants to be mean, but that's fine, hopefully, this won't be flagged. if curious to see the whole photo here is the link. 😊

Warning: Unprotected sex, dirty talk, mention the use of Toys, Pet names (Precious girl and Pretty girl), Mean!Ennoshita (You really be testin' his patience), Public display, Being caught..?, mention of Fem Masturbation, mention of body hair (of female). Basically, NSFW 🤷🏻‍♀

Also be mindful that I didn't really mention much of the reader's appearance (Besides she's female) since I wanted to keep it vague for everyone to relate as much as possible, though it is definitely for the more voluptuous side of ladies.

Please be mindful that all photos are not mines, but the making of the collage is.

MINORS DNI!!! 🔞🙅🏻‍♀️If you're not comfortable with this, please ignore!

Ennoshita with a Perv. Chubby Reader! who in everyone’s eyes, seems like a shy, quiet girl that no one seems to notice in their classroom, just the average bookworm with a boring look. However, as time progresses, she's seen as the girl who enjoys watching her boyfriend practice, but in reality, Ennoshita knows that’s not the case. Before they were together, he actually believed she was an innocent, shy type who was afraid of speaking to others, which was fine for him since he could have her all to himself. This was the case when first dating, but as their relationship seemed to grow, Ennoshita seemed to know her little antics.

The first time they did it, sure, she’d be nervous since it was her first time and she was feeling embarrassed cuz of her weight, but he reassured her, making it sensual and intense for their first time giving into each other. Yet the more ‘making love’ they did, the more he seemed to notice how adventurous she’d become.

It started with asking Ennoshita to try different sex positions that she read in a magazine on: mating press, reverse cowgirl, body surfing, and more that he can’t seem to remember. Then there were moments she would tease him if she had to do stuff after school she would come up behind him wrapping her arms around his waist pressing her soft form that he knew all too well against his back flustering him as he felt her soft plump stomach and breast. Or when Ennoshita was busy with practice would receive text messages from his shy girl sending lewd and filthy photos on his screen. Photos of her wearing lingerie that were posed in sexy angles with text messages to provoke him.

How do I look?

I wanted to surprise you but you seem so busy all the time that I never get you for myself…

If only you weren’t practicing right now. But it’s fine I’ll just use my toy that you bought me. 😊

And would send him a video with her fucking the small dildo that Ennoshita had bought her (which was much smaller than his. Ennoshita doesn’t like to compete with plastic) while using a mirror to show the whole scene. Having him frantically mute, pause, and close the phone when hearing her sweet moans crying out to him in the echoing gymnasium. With practice long gone from his mind, he quickly made up an excuse to leave practice early while grabbing his things, ignoring his teammate's question and statements, or caring to change to his uniform before dashing to her place.

Shyly, she'd ask Ennoshita if he wants to fuck her in different locations, and he applauds her, taking her to more commonplaces such as the living room and the restroom. But it didn't seem to be what she meant.

After practice one day, they head to the metro station and enter the relatively packed train, where she takes Ennoshita's hand and leads him to a corner, where she sits him down before spreading his strong legs to settle right on top of him. He slid his hands down to wrap around her waist as she slowly began to rock her hips against his cloth cock.

That was already hard until hearing Noya and Tanaka loud voices coming their way. It should have ruined the mood for them both; at least it did for him, though it was different for her. While he was awkwardly talking to the two who were towering over them, he seemed to notice that his precious girl still moving her hips, making him pinch her chubby side to keep her in check. But that seemed to fuel her. She enjoyed his giant hands touching her side; the warmth they provided, as well as how heavy-handed he was, made the pit of her belly go up in flames. With a flushed expression, she quietly took hold of the hand as she let out a sweet moan that the two jokesters seemed to notice and asked if she was alright, which Ennoshita quickly brushed off while noticeably knowing she had just come by the wet patch seeping through his pants and to his hard-on, plus by her lewd expression that he knew all too well.

Shit.

Yet here he is now, Ennoshita doing wall sits from what couch had told him would help increase his strength and endurance outside the gymnasium that was too stuffy and hot to do them in. Until noticing his pretty girl walking towards the gymnasium for what he assumed was to watch him practice which isn’t too new. Since being together, he somewhat forced her to come watch him so later on, he could take her home.

Whereas this time it seem like she wanted to show her brattier side, her doe eyes that make her seem innocent were now glaring at him with tears in the corner.

“Am I not good enough for you?”

“Of course you are, baby.”

“Then why won’t you fuck me!"

"I do-"

"-in public!”

The reason? Another one of her ‘curiosity’ (the same lol) she wants to try, though in Ennoshita’s defense he just doesn’t want what happened in the metro to go down again. He loves his girl, really he does and wouldn’t mind doing the deed in public but he refuses for some guy to see his girlfriend in her most vulnerable state.

Only he could.

“Cuz it’s a no. Are you questioning my authority?”

“It’s cuz you had enough of me? It’s because of my weight, isn’t it? And don’t like me anymore?” She sniffed, ignoring what he just said.

Turning away from him just for a moment before turning back with anger in her eyes. She finally seemed to snap, making rude remarks to him as she towered over his sitting position before saying a one-line killer. “It’s fine I’ll just find someone else who’ll want to fuck me.”

Oh, that did it.

without hesitation, he took a hold of her wrist pinning her down on his thick thighs while taking a hold of her jaw -well cheeks. “Oh really? Some guy when it took you how long till you finally show me this sluty side?”

She bit her tongue.

“Haha right like that would work. And even if that were to happen, I won’t let you go, pretty girl.”

Fine if she wanted to be a brat and have these little temper tantrums he could deal with that. Going in between them he rips off her panties and throws them at the conveniently closed bushes before sliding down his shorts and boxers to free his member.

“E-Ennoshita~” She cries out when feeling him slide into her already soaked cunt while keeping a stronghold on her trembling form.

“Look what you made me do!” He would hiss against her ear while moving their hips in rhythm.

“You wanted this, remember? So why cry now?” He continues thirsting, taking a hold of her soft doughy thighs to spread them more apart. All while she was in a daze, drool slipped from her lips and down her chin while wrapping an arm behind them to grasp the back of his head as she only gave a weak moan in response to what he said.

“Haha, you think another man could take you like this? Hmm, he wouldn’t know how to satisfy you, that's why you need your poor boyfriend, k. You know what? I don’t think you even deserve to cum…” that seemed to have woke her.

“Nnhhh~ what! no, I do deserve it! I promise I promise, to be good. Please, I'll be good!”

He knew as much as she got him craving her that he had also gotten her obsessed over him.

“I know you would.” Before continually stuffing her, making her flushed and crying to cum.

“Good evening sir.” He almost wanted to laugh at how her eyes that were close from ecstasy were now shot wide open from hearing Ennoshita talk to someone and that person being the principal.

She wanted to pull away and tried so until noticing she couldn’t even touch the ground with how Ennoshita had angled them as well as keeping a firm grip nice and tight on her thighs.

“Sorry if we’re disturbing your walk -oh what are we doing? Just some wall sits, well, I am she’s just helping give me some more weight to help with my strength that’s why we’re moving so much as you notice.”

What a liar. Lying through his teeth why he can’t help but continue fucking his girlfriend’s sweet cunt that if you hear very well could hear the slopping sounds. “Enjoy your walk.” Ennoshita fake a smile until the principal was out of sight.

“That was mean of you to tell him I was your extra weight, is that what you think of me?” With a pouted lip, she whispered. However, Ennoshita was unconcerned. With a blank expression on his face, he put a strong muscular arm around her waist, to penetrate deeper. Taking her by surprise.

“Ah~ Ennoshita I-I can’t, s’too much I-I wanna...”

"What is it? Cum right where anyone could see you. What a pervert. You love being treated like a useless toy. Wanting me to play with you in such a public area. We even almost got caught. You must really like being caught while being thrown all around so roughly, -tsk. You probably want me to share you around. Let my teammate play with you also."

“No!” She cried out, turning her head to see her mean boyfriend's face. Gosh did he look hot.

“Hm… I guess I'll let you cum but only cuz you kept those pretty sluty moans of yours down when the principle came.” He hissed while slumping between her shoulder and neck.

Ennoshita let go of her waist and pressed two of his thick fingers onto her swollen clit. "But…" Taking a break from his cervix-kissing abuse, he sits there while sluggishly rubbing her clit "the next time you do a stunt like that again, including putting words in my mouth. You will not be given this privilege again. Do you hear me?" He stops massaging and begins slapping the sensitive bud a few times, causing her to cry out as she hurries to bring her thighs together to protect the poor bud from his harsh strikes, only to have them spread much wider to take her punishment: having the hairs on her fupa grabbed on.

Ennoshita wasn't actually asking, more like advising his brat of a whore what she shouldn't do.

"Yes! Yes! I’m sorry, I’m sorry... l-just please let go." She sobs, grasping the wrist that was clutching her pubic hair, anxiously pleading with him to let go.

He lets go, sensing her subservient posture with her flushed, tear-stained face, and closed eyes. He chuckles while slamming right back into her. Now chasing his own high as he continues assaulting her overstimulated clit.

They finally let themselves go. Her greedy cunt milked him for everything he had, with his legs trembling as he gasped from the pure pleasure he was experiencing, Ennoshita was forced to stop stroking her clit and grab both of her thighs to maintain a consistent pace and prevent her from falling out of his lap with the intensity of each thrust.

She squeals, making him cover her filthy moans with the same fingers that were once toying with her, over her mouth, which she gladly sucked. Which he didn't find surprising. When you have a girlfriend that expects you to do a lot of things to her, you quickly become accustomed to it.

"Ah!" She shrieked clinging to Ennoshita's arms as she felt both of them slide down the wall and onto the ground, where Ennoshita and she exchanged glances before chuckling.

"Thank you, Chikara, for giving me what I wanted. You’re the best boyfriend ever!" She kissed his lips before standing up and freshening herself, turning back and blowing him a kiss as she skipped happily away. Ennoshita sits there, with his limp member still out, as he ponders and mentally slaps himself after looking away from his aftermath leaking out of her when she was out of sight.

Damn did she really manipulate him into doing her bidding?

——

“Your girlfriend is so nice.”

“I wish I find someone as cute as her.” Said some of his teammates.

Who are munching down on the homemade cookies his pretty girl had brought with that sweet smile on her face. Not even the next day, he comes in the gym to find his girlfriend already there handing out cookies, appearing like a sweet angel, though he knows her stunts and her meek demeanor was part of an act to get whatever she wants from him. And it’s not even to buy her cute stuff; it’s so she can own him and his cock. And that seems to be what she wants right now.

Speaking to the guy she’s most comfortable with, she notices his gaze on her, making her excuse herself before heading to him.

"Don't worry, Chi-senpai. I made you some as well, but because I was carrying so much, I left them in my locker. Could you take a quick break and come with me? " She held his hand in hers before walking away, leaving something in his grasp.

Opening the folded up paper he read: hurry up before your cookies get cold, you know where to find me~ Before he was able to meet her gaze, he watch as she secretly lifted her skirt, revealing her bare ass with something sparkly in between, before fleeing the gymnasium as their eyes crossed. He inhales sharply when noticing with a taunting smile on her face that she was showing a gemmed butt plug stuff in her.

‘Oh fuck~’

Without delay, Ennoshita eagerly chased after her. Slowly becoming subservient to his perverted girlfriend’s every request.

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alisonwritesimagines · 3 years ago

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Valentine's Bet ~Rick Flag Imagine~

Summary: Rick asks you, Amanda Waller's assistant/intern, to be his Valentine. Even though the whole staff was betting for you two to get together after a while.

Author’s Note: I know it's late but I had work and wanted to post this.

Reader’s Pronouns: She/Her

Warnings: Amanda Waller (she is a warning in general tbh), unspecified age gap, mentions of June Moone

Please do not post this anywhere!!!

Side Note: This is a secondary blog. If you comment a question down below, I will not answer since this is not a main blog. Please send the question to my inbox if you want a response back!

You had to be tough or incredibly smart to be Amanda Waller's assistant. You remembered talking to your colleagues who said that getting a job with her was almost impossible. However, you were the only one who manages to get the position as her assistant/intern.

Rick could never forget the first time he met you. He had just walked into the base to see you, a freshly new person who still had optimism in their eyes. You were trying to find your way over to Amanda's office but you had gotten lost. Luckily, you came thirty minutes early to find the place and try to be on time after being lost.

"You need help?" Rick asked you. You looked over at Rick with a small smile.

"Is it obvious?" You asked.

"Yeah. Where you heading?" Rick asked you.

"I'm trying to find Amanda Waller's office. I'm her new assistant and intern," you explain to Rick.

"Must be one hell of a woman if you're her assistant or intern," Rick said out loud.

"I guess I am," you smile shyly.

"I'll lead you over to her," Rick said as he started to walk off. You quickly followed next to him.

"The name's Rick Flag," Rick introduced himself to you.

"Y/n L/n. It's nice to meet you," you smiled.

"Pleasure to meet you too."

The second time you two met, you were handing out the case files for the next mission he was assigned to. As you heard about the case from the debriefing, you were in shock. After the meeting, you rushed over to Rick as he was walking over to get ready.

"You do this all the time?" You asked.

"Yeah. They're not so easy but we get the job done," Rick tells you.

"Please be safe and come back alive," you say to him before walking back over to Amanda. When was the last time Rick was asked to come back safe? It was a long time since he's heard anyone tell him to come back safe. Came to think of it, June didn't even tell him to come back safe to her.

As time went on, you and Rick had gotten close. Everyone in the office could see the feelings you both had for each other. However, the two of you didn't push forward, afraid that you would ruin a perfectly good friendship.

So everyone started to make a betting pool. It was to see if you and Rick would get together before Valentine's day. Of course, everyone wanted to win so at the beginning of February, everyone started to drop the hints of getting a date before Valentine's Day.

"So, Y/n, any plans for Valentine's day?" Harcourt asked you.

It was lunchtime and you sat with the rest of the behind-the-scenes team. Rick sat nearby and had overheard what Harcourt has asked you.

"No. I might just watch a bunch of romantic movies or go out for some drinks with my friends," you tell her.

"No guy has asked you yet?"

"I don't think someone likes me in a romantic way. I barely have time outside of work," you tell her. Rick looked over at you before looking back at his team.

A couple days later, Rick's team took action to try to get him to ask you out.

"You know Waller's assistant?" One of the guys asked. Rick looked over, curious about what they had to say about you. The team was to do some sparring or work out as a new mission was to come up soon. At least that's what you warned Rick.

"Yeah?"

"She's hot. You think if I ask her out, she'll say yes?"

"You two need to get back. Break time's over," Rick tells them.

"Colonel, you gotta agree with me. Waller's assistant, Y/n, is hot right?" The guy asked again.

"She wouldn't go out with you anyway," Rick said, avoiding the question.

"Why's that?"

"Trust me."

You sat with Harcourt and Economos as you three were having lunch together again.

"So, Y/n. What do you think of Rick?" Economos asked.

"He's a nice guy. Why?"

"Just asking. I overheard that some girls want to ask him to be his Valentine," he mentioned. You felt a little sad about hearing that. Should you risk it and ask him to be your Valentine?

"Good for them. He's a sweet guy," you say with a small, sad smile.

The week before Valentine's day, some people had already lost their money as they bet that you and Rick would get together sooner than everyone would think. However, you were feeling a little sad as you were waiting for Rick to tell you that some nice girl had asked him out for Valentine's Day.

"What's with the pout?" Rick asked. You both were in the briefing room early as you were setting up for a meeting.

"It's nothing."

"Is it about Valentine's Day?" Rick asked. From what he's heard, no one has asked you out yet despite the many guys talking about it.

"I guess. It's just going to be another night of me drinking wine, eating take-out, and watching movies," you tell him.

"Really?"

"Yeah. Not one's asked me out yet."

"Really?" Rick asked again in disbelief.

"Mhm. What about you? Any plans?"

"Nope. Just a chill night," Rick said. You nodded before finishing setting the meeting room up.

Two days before Valentine's Day, almost everyone was out. Only a few remained left as they waited for Rick or you to ask the other out.

"Guys, Rick just walked into work with a bouquet of flowers!" One of Rick's squad members said to the office workers. Everyone rushed over to see Rick walking over to your small office with a beautiful bouquet of flowers.

"I win," Harcourt smirked.

"Wait. She's gotta say yes first."

Rick knocked on your door to get your attention. You looked over to see him, making you smile. You leaned against your desk as you looked at him.

"Hey. What's up?" You asked.

"I wanted to ask you something," Rick tells you.

"Okay."

You could feel your heart race as Rick got a bit closer to you.

"Would you want to be my Valentine? We can spend the night going to a fancy restaurant or we could do take-out and binge-watch those romance movies you like," Rick said.

"I'd like that very much," you tell him as Rick handed your the flowers.

"These are beautiful," you said.

"I asked for the best for you," Rick said. You felt your cheeks heat up, making you hide behind the flowers.

"Do you want to come over to my place on Valentine's Day at around 5?" You asked.

"Yeah. I'll bring the wine and any dessert you want," Rick tells you. He lowered your hand as

"I look forward to it."

#rick flag #rick flag imagine #rick flag x reader #colonel rick flag #the suicide squad #the suicide squad imagine #joel kinnaman #joel kinnaman imagine #joel kinnaman x reader #dc #dc imagine #dceu #alisonwritesimagines

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anagentinwriting · 4 years ago

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Lifeline - Part 18

Summary: (First Responders!AU) Moving to Los Angeles and living with your brother, Thor, was never part of your plan nor was being a 9-1-1 dispatcher, but plans change when you are faced with your own emergencies. In your case, it was leaving behind a relationship that wasn’t as perfect as it seemed. Will this be the fresh start you were hoping for or will your past find a way to catch up with you?

Pairing: Steve Rogers x Odinson!Sister Reader

Word Count: 3800+

Warnings: Angst, blood, violence

Lifeline Masterlist / Main Masterlist

After receiving information from dispatch about the location of Billy’s cell phone, Thor called in an anonymous tip to Fury’s team, but instead of waiting around, Nat and Thor pulled onto the interstate, following the cellphone south to San Diego.

Thor stared out the window, resting his elbow on the window railing with his chin in his hand. “I’m sorry, Natasha, for acting like a jerk earlier. I know you were doing your job and following orders. I would’ve done the same.”

“We’ve good,” Nat replied, giving him a once over. “You doing okay?”

“I keep thinking everything will be okay, and everything will work out--” he rubbed his eyes “--but um, I don’t know… I don’t know what we are going to find when we get there? Is she gonna be mad at me, is she going to be hurt, is she gonna be…” Thor took in a sharp breath, clearing his throat. “Billy threatened to kill her once before, you know, and he almost killed Steve. I’m afraid of what we are going to find.”

“Don’t think like that,” Natasha reassured, patting him on the shoulder. “We’ll find her.” She bit her lip, nodding to herself for her own reassurance. “YN’s strong…and with everything she went through, she rebuilt her life and herself. Billy might have her, but I have a feeling he has no idea who he is dealing with now.”

Thor nodded, “If Billy lays another one of his grimy hands on her, he will suffer a fate worse than death. He’ll be…”

“More dead?” Nat asked, trying to contain a chuckle in this highly stressed situation.

“Yes, but I was thinking more like being stuck in rush hour traffic for the rest of his life,” Thor smirked, trying to keep the conversation light.

“Oh yes, that sounds so much worse.”

_____________

“Where are we going?” You questioned, sneaking a peek at Billy, gripping the steering wheel.

“We’re starting over. I’m saving us from this tricky situation you put us in.”

You leaned back into your seat, chewing on the inside of your cheek. “Right, because everything is my fault,” you grimaced, rolling your eyes. “Why don’t you get it over with and kill me? I mean, isn’t that your plan.”

“WHOA, WHOA, WHOA,” Billy retorted, widening his eyes. “I can’t imagine my life without you. Why would I want to kill you, YN; I love you. You’re all I have.”

“But, that’s it, you don’t have me,” you mumbled, wringing your hands together. “I just never got a say in the matter.”

He huffed out a breath, shaking his head. “What’s with this attitude?”

“Well…what more do I have to lose? I lost my friends and family…like yesterday, and now, you’re all I have,” you admitted with a shrug. “It’s what you wanted, right? Me and you, both ghosts, living in the shadows, or did this car come with new identities, too? Oh wait, is that what’s in the duffle bag in the backseat?”

“Why would you think that?” He narrowed his eyes, licking his lips.

“Well, a creepy guy with a scar and milky eye drops off a car at a gas station. Now, doesn't that sound like the start of a bad joke? I mean, he definitely didn’t look like a criminal or a bad guy in his dark suit, and his name sounded so original, Agent Orange. I think I know a few people by that name.” You pressed your lips together, tilting your head. “On the other hand, if he looked like a dad, wearing crispy white boys on his feet, jean shorts, and a polo shirt. It would have been an immediate red flag.”

Billy smirked, shaking his head. “Luckily for you, you don’t have to worry. I have our lives all planned out, but I did miss your snarky attitude. Whatever happened to it?”

“I will give you a hint,” you leaned over the center console, “if you look in a mirror, you could probably spot the reason.”

“Touche,” He added, cracking a smile, making the corners of his dark eyes crinkle. He gently grabbed your hand in his, sending an unpleasant shiver through your body, and brought it to his lips, kissing the back of your hand. You tried not to make a face as he lowered your conjoined hands back onto the center console.

“I want you to know it isn’t going to be like this forever. We’ll get past this like we always do. I will forgive you, you will forgive me, and we’ll start over in this new city, meet new people, and create a whole new life for ourselves.” He squeezed your hand. “You can forget about the life you created yourself because you're never going back to that. This is our chance to start over...together.”

____________

Nat pulled up behind two other police cruisers and a Chrysler 300 Black Sedan. Thor jumped out before she could get it into park and jogged up to the Chrysler but was stopped by Fury's hand.

“Thor, for what do I owe this pleasure?” Fury asked, his one eye-widening, looking him up and down.

“Is she here? Is my sister here?” Thor gulped, looking past Fury to try and get a better look, but the officers were retreating away from the vehicle.

“No, she’s not.” Thor’s shoulder sank, letting out a breath. “But, I assume you were the one who called in the anonymous tip.”

“Me… anonymous tip…no, no, that doesn’t sound like something I would do.” He shook his head while Nick stared him down.

“Odinson, I listened to the tape, and it sounded just like you.”

“Did it? Huh?” Thor rubbed his chin, staring hard at the ground.

“Seeing it will be better if we just work together at this point. I want you to know that we were able to recover the video surveillance from your sister's home, and we can confirm it was her husband, Billy Russo.”

“I told you this. I told you the night it happened.” Thor shook his head. “And it’s her ex. Ex-husband,” Thor corrected, placing his hands on his hips. “So what…we have nothing now?”

“Russo is smart and is playing his moves carefully. He knows what he is doing, making all the right moves, but he'll mess up, and when he does, we will find him.”

“Wouldn’t expect anything less from him given his background,” Nat stated, coming up to stand next to Thor. “Are we even sure this is the right vehicle?”

Fury narrowed his eyes at her, raising his voice. “Believe it or not Ms. Romanoff, but we do know how to track a phone and find a vehicle.” She smirked at his change in attitude. “And for your information, there was a 911 call placed earlier this morning from a gas station near San Diego. A mother and daughter found a note with YN’s name, Russo’s name, the vehicle description, and the license plate number. It said to give this information to the police. This would explain how Russo’s phone ended up in this car.” Nick pointed over his shoulder at the Chrysler. “YN made a smart move, but Russo must have pulled a fast one on her and switched cars at the last minute, so it doesn’t do us much good right now.”

“Did they see YN at all? Was she okay? Was she hurt...”

Fury held up his hand, and Thor shut his mouth. “Yes. The woman mentioned her looking a little beaten up but seemed hopeful.”

“When I find this bastard, I am going to…” Thor bit his tongue, clenching his fist and punching it into his palm. He mumbled to himself, shaking his head, stepping away from them.

“How’s your friend in the hospital? Any word yet?” Fury asked Nat, who narrowed her eyes at the scene behind him.

“He’s in recovery now. They're keeping a close eye on him.”

“Good.” Fury’s eye caught on to Thor’s unexplainable gestures while he paced back and forth. “What would you say about getting your friend a bulletproof vest; he looks like he could do something reckless.”

“I do have an extra one in the cab; I’ll give it to him for safe measure.”

“Excellent.”

“Since this is the correct car, who is the man behind the wheel? Any connection to Russo?” Nat questioned, staring at the black sedan. Thor returned, giving Nat a reassuring nod.

“We haven’t looked into much yet, but his name is William Rawlins. He is the COO of Cerberus and says it’s a company vehicle but doesn’t know who used it before him. He checked it out to run a quick errand over his lunch break, but we are headed back to his office now to look over the record logs.”

“What’s Cerberus?” Thor asked, looking between Nat and Nick for more information.

“It’s a security firm in San Diego, but I think they have different branches all over the country now. It protects public officials, and they also have a private investigating sector that started up a few years ago. I was on a case with one of their ‘agents’ as they call themselves, and he was an asshole.” Nat informed him, Nick nodded in agreement.

“Sounds a lot like Anvil,” Thor added, rubbing a hand over his scruff. “If this is a company vehicle, then someone must be helping Billy. For all we know it’s this Rawlins, and he’s playing us.”

“As much as we want to speculate at this point, it’s too early to tell.” Nat shrugged, and Fury nodded.

“Why would Cerberus remind you of Anvil? What is this Anvil?” Nick inquired, crossing his arms over his chest.

“Oh, it’s a security firm Billy works at in New York City. He’s in the private investigating sector there.”

“Is there any reason to believe that Anvil is a branch of Cerberus?” Nat raised a brow at him, and Thor narrowed his eyes, processing the information.

“If there is a connection between the two, this could be it,” Nick answered.

_____________

You sat back in the passenger seat, opening up the glove box, seeing a map of California, New Mexico, Nevada, and Arizona. “Where is this new home of ours going to be?”

“You’ll see,” Billy replied with his elbow resting on the door and his head in his hand.

“What are you going to expect me to do? Am I going to get a job, or are you going to make me stay at home and be your trophy wife?”

“Would that be a bad thing? It’s not like you liked being a 911 dispatcher.”

You swallowed, wringing your hands together. “But, I did.”

He scoffed, shaking his head.“You like being in the action, getting dirty in the line of duty, and seeing it first hand. You don’t like being behind a desk, waiting to answer a monitor every time a call comes in.”

“I might not be where the action is, but I am still helping people. I might not see them or get to meet them, but I’m here to help them with whatever they are going through. Using your voice to help is hard, but sometimes that’s all people need to hear to put them at ease and give them a sense of safety.”

“Hmmm, okay,” he snorted, smirking into his hand.

“You have to give me something.”

“I don’t have to give you anything,” he grumbled, running his hand through his hair.

“Well, how do you expect me to trust you again if you don’t tell me what’s going on?”

He licked his lips, a slight smirk tugging at his lips. “Trust me; You want to know how you can trust me? That’s rich because I could ask you the same question. Can I trust you?”

“You don’t have to trust me, but don’t you think I should know what we are getting into. Shouldn’t we at least have a plan once we get to where we are going? People ask questions, Billy, and don’t you think it would be a good idea to figure it out before we get there?”

Billy remained silent, gripping the steering wheel tight. He licked his lips, scrunching up his face enough to form a crease on his forehead. “Do you think I’m an idiot? How do I know that if I tell you, you aren’t going to use the first phone you find to call someone.”

“You don’t,” you answered with a shrug. “But you’re gonna have to trust me a little eventually if you want to make us work again.”

He glanced between you and the road, fighting a battle in his head. He clenched his jaw, letting out a defeated breath. “You’re right; you’re always right.” He licked his lips, shaking his head. “I’m giving us the fresh start we both need, and everything we need is in the bag in the back.”

You turn in your seat, reaching for the bag, and put it on your lap. You unzip it, staring at the contents inside. A rubber band was wrapped around new Arizona IDs and new passports with new names on them. A container with an assortment of keys and enough cash that could get you through at least a few months.

You reached into the bottom of the bag and pulled out three framed pictures of you and Billy. One of you posing and smiling at each other when you first started seeing each other, another one of you at the wedding altar saying I do, and the third, standing close to each other on your honeymoon with the ocean behind you. You swallowed, staring at each one. They were supposed to bring back happy memories, but it only brought back the nightmares this relationship turned into.

“It’s not a home without a few personal touches, right?” Billy shot you a warm smile, and as much as you wished it was sincere, you knew it wasn’t.

“Right,” you breathed, putting everything back and tossing it in the backseat. “So we are moving to Phoenix, then what?”

Billy raised his eyebrows. “We’re going to lay low for a bit until this mess dies down, and I can trust you again.” He throws you a quick glance, rubbing his gauze-wrapped wrist where Cosmo bit him. “Then, once we are a happy couple again, I’ll be taking on a new position at the Cerberus Phoenix branch.”

“What do you expect me to do once we are a happy couple again?” You bit your lip, feeling a lump rise in your throat.

“Let’s not get into specifics right now.” He reached over and grabbed your hand. “I want you to focus on forgetting about your life in LA and everyone in it. They’re not important anymore. It’s you and me, together forever, like we always planned.” He nodded, squeezing your hand for reassurance.

You gave him a quick nod, fighting the tears threatening to escape. You turned your head to look out the passenger side window. The world outside was becoming a blur, and you were stuck inside with Billy, and there was no way to get out. He had a solid plan that left little room for error. Once they arrived in Phoenix, you wouldn’t exist anymore; Billy wouldn’t exist anymore. You would disappear, and those you cared about would be left wondering. Wondering if you were okay; wondering if you were even still alive; wondering how they let this happen to you. You blinked, feeling a few tears escape down your cheeks as you swallowed back a sob. Your friends, family, and Steve were gone, and right now, you might as well be too.

____________

The police unit pulled into Cerberus, following the Chrysler through the electric gate and up the short drive until they came across a facility beyond the gate. It was a modern building, heavily secured and well secluded from the main road.

Fury and Nat walked behind Rawlins while Thor stayed towards the back, taking everything in. He readjusted his bullet-proof vest underneath his shirt and sweatshirt, trying to get used to the tight feeling around his upper body. He didn’t want to wear it, but Nat insisted.

Inside the building, everything had white and gray tones to it from the furniture to the walls. Everything looked pristine and clean, almost like they were hiding something. Thor smiled at the lady behind the front desk, causing her to blush. He continued following the rest of the group up the floating steps to the second floor to an office at the end of the hall.

Fury and Nat began questioning Rawlins, sitting behind his desk. Thor stood off towards the back of the room, half-listening and half scanning his surroundings. If something was connecting him to Russo, he wasn’t going to talk about it; instead, he would have to search for it.

His office looked like every big wig’s office he’d seen in the movies. Floor to ceiling windows, showcasing a beautiful view of the trees on the property. Another wall was lined with artwork and a few bookshelves, filled with books that were probably more for show than actual reading. Thor’s eyes traveled to the walls behind him, noticing a bunch of framed photos hanging on the wall in sort of a college way. He took a step closer, noticing how each frame had an engraved plate under it, stating what branch of Cerberus it was and its location.

“Would anyone else have access to company vehicles?” Fury asked with his pad and pen in hand.

“No, only company employees.”

“Does that include employees from other branches of Cerberus or just current in-house employees, so to speak.”

“Nope, all employees from any branch are welcome to a vehicle as long as they have proper ID,” Rawlins answered, leaning back in his chair. “Who is the young lady that is missing? Maybe one of my teams can assist you. We don’t do many missing person cases, but we are more than happy to help.”

“Oh no, that won’t be necessary,” Fury replied, holding up his hand. “But, we do have reason to believe you know the captor.”

“I’m sorry.” Rawlins looked taken aback, and in some ways, offended. “But this is news to me. I have many employees, so you will have to be more specific.”

Thor read off the frames one by one and glanced at every single picture. He needed to find a connection so he could find you. He clenched his jaw, reading the plates: Vistacorp, Arizona; Vancorp, Texas, and his eyes stopped on the next photo. He didn’t even need to read the plate to know it said Anvil, New York City. He narrowed his eyes at the picture, seeing Rawlins shaking Billy’s hand, and he had that stupid smile on his face that could win everyone over.

“His name is Billy Russo.”

“I’m sorry, but I don’t recall anyone by that name.”

Thor growled, tearing the picture off the wall, starling everyone, and marched across the room. “Don’t know him, then why are you shaking his hand in this picture,” Thor shouted, throwing the picture on the desk.

“Oh, look at that he works at the New York branch.” Rawlins scanned the picture before placing it back on the table. “Why are you including me in this accusation? I don’t have anything to do with him or this abduction. I didn’t even know he was in town.” He sat up straighter in his chair, folding his hands together, and placed them on the desk in front of him.

An officer opening the door pulled everyone’s attention away from Rawlins and to the female officer. She handed Fury a piece of paper, whispering something in his ear. Fury nodded, dismissing her. He unfolded the paper, reading what it said before folding it backup and stuffing it in his pocket. “It’s a bit funny how this picture is saying one thing, and you’re saying something completely different. It’s like the picture is lying, and you are telling the truth. I don’t know what I am supposed to believe.”

“I am telling the truth. I have had no contact with--” he pulls the picture back to him “--this Russo since this picture.”

“Then, why was Russo the last person to check out the car, and according to this, he has yet to return the vehicle back to this facility. So how did you check the car out at noon if it wasn’t even on-site?”

Rawlins sat on the other side of the table, staring blankly at the three of them. He licked his lips and tilted his head at them. “Huh? How about that?” He let out a dark chuckle, shaking his head. “Well, I honestly thought it was going to take you longer to figure it out, Detective Fury, but you surprised me. All of you did.” He pointed to each of them, his sinister smile never faltering.

“Where is she?” Thor growled, leaning over the table mere inches from Rawlins's face.

“That’s the thing about Billy,” he licked his lips, challenging Thor. “He is sneaky and quiet. He can hide in plain sight, is fast on his feet, and knows just the right time to strike. If you haven’t found them yet, you aren’t going to. They're both gone, and you’re going to have to live with the fact that you failed her.”

Without further hesitation, Thor punched him straight in the face and knocked him to the floor. Thor slid across the desk to find Rawlins, clutching his broken nose as it bled into his mouth. Thor grabbed him by the collar and punched him again when an officer rushed over and dragged Thor off of him. Thor grunted, pushing the officer into the wall with his nostrils flaring. He headed right back for Rawlins, but Nat stood in his path, pushing on his chest and forcing him to stop.

“Forget about him. Don’t listen to him, Thor,” Nat commanded. “He’s not worth it; put this energy into finding YN and Russo, and then take it out on him.” Thor stopped in an instant, giving her a quick nod.

The officer that held Thor back went over to Rawlins and put his face down on the hardwood floor. He started reading him his Miranda Rights and slipped the cuffs around his wrists.

“You’re lucky only your nose is broken, and both your eyes don’t match, asshole,” Thor threatened as Rawlins was escorted out of the office.

“Feel better?” Fury asked, standing up from his seat.

“No,” Thor answered in a gruff voice, leaning against Rawlins desk and crossing his arms across his chest. “He’s right, you know…Billy is good at hiding. I mean, we didn’t even know he was following her.” He ran a hand down his face. “He does this for a living. Reads crime scenes, follows the evidence, finds suspects, and solves cases. He knows what we are looking for and makes sure to drive us in the opposite direction. He is good at what he does and probably even better at making someone disappear.”

______

AN: Thanks for reading Part 18! Just when you think they have something to go on, they are one more step behind. Thor sure did sack Rawlins pretty good though, but he did deserve it. And it's a good thing Rawlins was slacking on his paperwork, or maybe he just didn't have time to change the name to who checked the car out! 🤷‍♀️ On the plus side, at least they were able to track Billy's cellphone (the wrong one, but it was something), they know about the note she left in the gas station, found 'the other guy' but still got nothing...or do they?! 🤔 Not sure if any of you understood the crispy white boys reference, but it's usually the white tennis shoes dads wear on their feet! It's an Instagram reference me and my friends use all the time now! 😂😂 I will say she is getting more confident and seems to be pushing all the right buttons to get information from him, but he isn't giving much away. And can she trust him enough to know that he is telling the truth? The plot thickens...as always thanks for reading! Comments are always welcome!

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effei-s · 4 years ago

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your fave is a rapist, deal with it (part 1).

I wanted to talk about the way mafi handles sensitive topics (sexual assault and violence against women in general) for a very long time. But I had some doubts about it. Do I really need to do this? Is this even be useful or would I just waste my time shouting into the void? Because I tried to start this conversation on twitter about a year ago and… it didn’t go well. So I decided to focus on something more positive, like shitposting and writing fanfiction and creating headcanons and blah-blah-blah. But today all hell broke lose and I saw 20 threads on twitter explaining how sexual assault was actually juliette’s fault. Treads and tweets that were getting 500+ likes each and god knows how many comments under them agreeing with this line of thinking.

And as a cherry on top: the girl who tweeted the original tweet (when she apparently said that it was a sexual assault) got bullied by the fandom so bad, she needed to go private.

So let’s reread THAT scene in shatter me, and parts of destroy me and unravel me that touch this topic, to see who’s right. Maybe this girl was actually wrong and maybe she just misjudged the whole situation and she deserved to be bullied for spreading this awful misinformation about our king AARON aka the man who invented feminism itself WARNER (minor spoilers: she wasn’t and she didn’t).

We need a little bit of context here. The books are old. They were written in 2011. It was the golden time of Gossip girl and Vampire diaries. Chuck Bass and Damon Salvatore were walking around assaulting women left and right and everyone loved them (off the topic, but i’m 99% sure that Chuck was a blueprint for Warner, there’s way too many similarities between them). In 2011 it was NORMAL and even considered sexy (trust me, I was one of those people, those were dark times). So it’s not surprising that there is a sexual assault scene in book, it’s surprising that in 2021, when everyone is a feminist, after the metoo movement, when there’s so much info about all kinds of abuse and red flags and there are stories of survivors, we still blame women for bad thing that happened to them.

There’s gonna be quotes (a shittone of quotes) because that’s who I am, and because you can’t really argue with the source material???? Everything is there, on the surface. All you have to do is READ.

To give you a type of discourse around this:

(it’s a google translate but it’ll do, and i’m not gonna show any un, because that’s what stupid bitches, who bully other people because of the book character, do)

The main point, the main argument, is that Warner has a super power and he feels EVERYTHING JULIETTE FEELS! So he would never hurt her.

Let’s see what she feels:

(btw, it’s chapter 39, shatter me)

Warner drops his hand. His glassy green eyes are so delighted I’m petrified.

Warner backs me into a corner and I realize I’ve never been so defenseless in my life. Never so vulnerable.

“We can really be together,” he says to me, undeterred by my silence. He pulls me close, too close. I’m frozen in five hundred layers of fear. Stunned in grief, in disbelief.

My brain is on fire, ready to explode from the impossibility of this moment. I feel like I’m watching it happen, detached from my own body, incapable of intervening.

Yes, she definitely want to have sex with him! She’s incredibly aroused by him.

“I want you to choose me,” he says. “I want you to choose to be with me. I want you to want this—”

Oh, look, he KNOWS she doesn’t want him. And he doesn’t give a flying fuck about it.

“You’re only afraid of what you’re capable of. Admit it. We’re perfect for each other. You want the power. You love the feel of a weapon in your hand. You’re . . . attracted to me.”

Do I even need to comment this shit?

JULIETTE TELLS HIM NO. WARNER STILL DOESN’T GIVE A FUCK.

So she tries to communicate non-verbal:

I try to swing my fist but he catches my arms. Pins them to my sides. Presses me up against the wall.

Because that what you do when someone want to have sex with you. You force them to stay.

“Don’t lie to yourself, Juliette. You’re going to come back with me whether you like it or not.”

HE DOESN’T GIVE A FLYING FUCK ABOUT HER CONSENT, exhibit number 3.

“But you can choose to want it. You can choose to enjoy it—”

I really don’t know what can scream RAPIST louder than this. You can choose…

Like… he knows. He. Knows.

“I will never,” I breathe, broken. “You’re sick—you’re a sick, twisted monster—”

“That’s not the right answer,” he says, and seems genuinely disappointed.

(I have to confess, I haven’t read this book in a long time, I forget how awful this scene really was. how the fuck someone can see consent HERE???? you need to check your eyes, people. And maybe buy yourself a new brain with working “critical thinking” function)

His nose brushes the nape of my neck and I stifle a horrified shiver that he misunderstands. His lips touch my skin and I actually whimper.

I feel a thrill of hope. A thrill of horror. Brace myself for what I need to do.

SHE DEFINITELY WANTS TO HAVE SEX! CAN’T YOU SEE IT?

I swallow the vomit threatening to give me away.

“I’ll be good to you,” he whispers. “I’ll be so good to you, Juliette. I promise.”

Ew, gross.He’s fucking creppy.

I’m so stunned, so horrified, so cocooned in insanity I forget myself. I stand there frozen, disgusted. My hands slip from his chest. I nearly shove him off of me. But Warner will not be discouraged.

Warner. Feels. Everything. She. Feels.

So there’s three options:

he’s a rapist who doesn’t give a fuck about her consent:

he’s a stupid rapist who thinks that wanting to vomit and being ashamed and terrified is part of a foreplay;

he’s never being with the woman before, so he can’t recognize VERY OBVIOUS signs that she doesn’t want to have sex due to his inexperience, and it still makes him a rapist.

No matter how you put it, the result is always the same: this scene is an attempted rape, and if you say that Juliette is at fault because she had to pretend to like it, you’re a rapist apologist.

(I covered destroy me and unravel me in part two and three because it’s getting way too long)

#tw:sexual assault #shatter me series #eff rants #anti aaron warner #juliette ferrars #deserved better than this #bullying people is not ok #fandom shenanigans #shatter me

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toujoursmiraculous · 4 years ago

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Thoughts and Reaction to Lies!

It's another long one because so much happens in this episode! The episode starts with Marinette trying to figure out a "secret" within the grimoire. Literal first thought was that this "secret" may be the key to waking up Emilie. It's obviously going to be of huge significance later, anyway. By looking at that piece on Adrien, it does appear Adrien has an amazing life. And really, that's what a lot of people think. That's the point of featuring him. A life of a celebrity is pretty amazing, really interesting and fascinating. But it's also filled with a lot of stress, chaos, loneliness, etc. But viewers rarely ever see it. As for Marinette, while Adrien has said things about what his father allows that makes him sad, we haven't ever heard him complain to her in any way about that lifestyle. To her, he's a guy whose father has him busy with activities (interesting ones at that) and very rarely ever lets him spend time with friends. I love how this episode parallels Truth! But Adrien's POV. My boy has an episode centered around him, finally!

So we know her standing Chat Noir up is because Luka came by reminding her of a date she forgot she rescheduled. You know she's extremely distracted and stressed when she can't remember a date with Luka or a patrol with Chat Noir, or remember that she planned them at the same time. It's really not her fault, and I feel so bad for her that things are becoming so difficult. "No messages, but don't forget my cheese!" LOL this is perfect. Plagg has to get that reminder in wherever he can! The Chat Noir appreciation was so wholesome to see awww, I bet so many boys in Paris look up to him, so sweet x33 Mr. Banana, Chat Noir, and the man who frequently is Mr. Pigeon just chilling on a bench in the park together. What a scene! lol But Chat wanting them to be akumatized so he could see Ladybug. Big oof. He's going to get his wish, a few times over. Careful what you wish for, Kitty! "A glass of milk as usual, mister Chat Noir?" Okay so when Chat's down, he goes to that bar and has a glass of milk. Or more if he's having a bad day. Awwwww. If you think about it, Adrien probably isn't allowed to have milk. With the fat content and all. :/ Kagami lying to her mother and Nathalie/Gabriel just to spend some time with Adrien. Considering how difficult their lives are, that's pretty impressive to be so brave. Not too fond of the lying part though, since there's not a noble reason for doing so. But I can understand it. We found out Kagami's real passion: drawing! Which is pretty cool. That's one thing Kagami and Marinette have in common that'd make them good friends. Very sad how her blind mother tells her she's not good enough. That just tells you what she thinks of her daughter and what she wants her to do with her life. She's afraid she'll pursue the arts rather than something practical, so best shoot down any thoughts of being an artist now. And then, like with all episodes that have Kagami in them, this is where I start to dislike her. "I want to draw the real you, on the inside." Adrien makes various model poses, none work for her as she knows they're just him being a model. Then he actually poses as himself. A silly, goofy cat having fun and being happy. Adorable. "What do you think of... CAT?" deathglare "No, this is absolutely not natural." "Yes it is. I promise, this is really me!" "NO! This is you when you're acting like a clown!" Adrien looking hurt, "But maybe when I act like a clown, it's really me." Then she takes his hand, (gently) pushes him back up against the wall, her hands on his chest, "That way, that's who you really are." What way? Her telling him how to be is who he really is? He stammers, looking very uncomfortable. "But are you sure?" "Yes... you are perfect." Then she leans in to kiss him, while he's still looking uncomfortable. Right here, she's trying to tell him who he is. What kind of relationship is healthy and a good one one at that, when one side is trying to tell the other who they are, how they must act, etc? That's toxic. Keep in mind, after this scene, during Truth's attack. He found out that Ladybug actually in fact loves (said she prefers) the humorous, "clown" side of him. Yes, she only knows it as Chat Noir for now, but she actually appreciates and loves Chat for who he is. Kagami doesn't love nor appreciate that side of Adrien. Which is a very big and important side of him. We knew this in Ikari Gozen, she couldn't stand the thought of Chat Noir being compared to Adrien, pretty sure she even seemed offended by it if memory serves. But it's laid out more in Lies, it's more direct. (Marinette's done this too in the past, but when she's done it, her tone's more like pssssh please! while she looks off to the side, like she's mostly just telling herself that, to convince herself, rather than believing it.) Kagami thinks she knows Adrien, knows that him being funny and a clown is not the "real" him. Acting like she knows him better than he knows himself. Thinking he's perfect. That was a very hurtful thing to have said and you can see it in his expression the same kind of pain and hurt

he gets a lot. I also want to talk about how watching her back Adrien up against the wall like that and leaning into kiss him made me feel particularly uncomfortable. While they might have a little thing going on, he was clearly not comfortable by it and it just did not sit well with me. This entire scene was riddled with red flags. Adrien smiled at the end of that on his way out, yes, but having someone tell you you're perfect would seem like a compliment to you, wouldn't it? The one you like thinks you're perfect, thinks the facade you put up is perfect and anything less isn't okay with them. That'll end up so well! The almost kissing scenes this episode literally had me like

I'm sorry, I just feel so very uncomfortable by them, I can't help it. xD Just before Chat Noir sneaked up on Ladybug, he almost kissed Kagami right? And yet here he is, being a bit flirty, saying he's missed her on patrols. I also want to point out she tells him to stop with his stupid jokes, because she doesn't want to accidentally hurt him! She could've hurt him by scaring her like that. While she likes his humor, they're only problematic if it puts himself in danger or distracts them from fighting an akuma. "I promise I won't forget our patrols anymore." The looks that passed between LB and CN here is just so cute! OOOF as Luka walks away sad because Marinette had to run off, here comes Adrien, about to do the exact same thing as Marinette to Kagami... Now Kagami's not as accepting of him running off as she was just a little while ago.

Even Andre's like, what the heck was that?! His expression watching Adrien run off made me laugh, I had to share it. I was wondering how Adrien got to the boathouse before Marinette did, as it made it seem like Adrien was there long before Marinette was. He just ran in and started playing along where they were. Good lord, he has a lot going on too, doesn't he? Only difference from Marinette here is Adrien has a built-in and believable excuse he can tell his friends. Kagami's forceful "Adrien, it's time." "Five little minutes?" *shakes head sternly* Who does this remind you of in Adrien's life already? Is this what a good girlfriend, what a good friend would do? And here again is the pattern we see a lot with Kagami. She manipulates situations so that they can spend time together. Adrien wants to spend time with his friends AND girlfriend at the same time. Rehearsing for their band, it looks like. He rarely ever gets to spend time with others, be a normal kid. But no, she drags him away early, making it sound like they had to leave, but it's just her wanting him to herself. When he couldn't go to New York, oh well that's unfortunate you're sad, but we can spend more time together now, isn't that great? It's about what she wants, not what he wants or what's best for Adrien. She spends more time with Adrien (not counting Ladybug spending time with Chat Noir here) than anyone else does by the looks of it, and she doesn't even know him at all. It's really sad. Adrien still carrying around Marinette's lucky charm bracelet in his pocket x3333 This never fails to make me happy. But oof that boy's seriously going to lose it one of these days if he's not careful! There's something different about seeing the Ladynoir scene on the roof that we got in Truth, but from Adrien's perspective. Something about it feels like it means more to me, idk. Adrien gets caught in a lie, saying he lost something but found it. Kagami asked what it was, holding Marinette's lucky charm behind her back. He says it was the lucky charm Marinette gave her, as he's scrambling in his pocket to pull it out seeming a bit frazzled, but realizes he actually in fact lost it (again! he says). But Kagami caught him in that lie, showing him that she actually had it.

I'm not sure if he's so shocked because she actually had it and wonders how she got it, or if he looks like that because he just got caught in a lie. But the way his eyebrows raised a little makes it seem like he's surprised she had it after all and was testing him the whole time. I've always hated the way sometimes someone when in a relationship will test the other one like this. Really not fair in Adrien's case at all. Things aren't always as they may seem. And here's the thing, she's admitting to him that she's lying just to be with him. She lies all the time. Adrien caught on that she was lying, but didn't really understand why I don't think. Earlier in the episode he says, "What are you hiding, Kagami?" he didn't know her purpose for it. Now she says, "We're both liars, the difference is I lie to be with you. You. You lie to get away from me." Which is a yes but actually no situation. It's not that he doesn't want to be with her, it's that he needs to get away temporarily. It just looks really, really bad. Getting off track from that conversation briefly, but that scene where the akuma goes off into the night, with the blurred city lights that becomes clear. Just wow. That shot is beautiful, I can't help myself from playing it back and admiring it. I'm also totally digging the new transformation music! it gives me 90s vibes and makes me happy. Seeing Jagged after Truth is just completely different xD "I fear nothing, I am an artist! I still hold to my fans." Both Roth: "Wrong, you lie to them about your age!" "That's not Rock and Roll!" Had me rolling!! Jagged sure is something XD Chat just up and about to cataclysm the sphere, thinking he'd be okay because he doesn't lie. Except he lies all the time to protect his identity and get himself away from people so he can transform. xD Silly Kitty. The drone as a Lucky Charm is super cool! In Truth, Chat Noir said a truth about how he felt about Ladybug. In Lies, he tells lies to Lies to get her attention. "My name's not Chat Noir! I'm not a superhero! I hate Ladybug! And I think Hawk Moth should've called himself Panfly! It's funnier! Oh, I was about to forget: my favorite dish is cabbage with white sauce! Yummy!" Cabbage...with white sauce... as a dish. Is this like, a real fancy dish or something or is this boy being completely starved? o.o CN: "There are only two more liars left in Paris, and one of them knows how to turn his attention." LB: "No, wait! Don't do that! What if I'm mistaken?" "You know what? I trust you." he lets go, sacrificing himself again "Chat Noir, no! Don't do that! You're crazy!" "Yes, crazy for you, m'lady." Says softly, sadly, "No, you're just crazy unconscious." This ENTIRE scene right here. The love, the trust, the pain in this scene. It's so beautiful and well done that I can't stop getting emotional from it and gushing! Everything's on the line from that decision, and the trust he has for her, the faith he has in her really helps her know she can do what she needs to do. She's always doubting herself, and he's always there to say he doesn't feel that way at all, and it gives her that confidence and courage she needs. The moment Chat Noir is okay, the first thing Ladybug does is run up and smack him, grabbing him anxiously saying "Seriously, you need to stop doing this to me!" The girl is stressed seeing her partner sacrifice himself time and again! IF THIS BOY DOESN'T REALIZE JUST HOW MUCH SHE CARES ABOUT HIM AT THIS POINT, I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO SAY. Any fan that still thinks Ladybug doesn't love Chat Noir and thinks poorly of him, clearly does not understand it at all. My Ladynoir heart is SO HAPPY! I was thrilled with them in Truth, but this is a totally different level. I'm almost in tears with how happy I am. And then I noticed something. I don't know if it's anything or not. But Chat Noir says to her, "Yes, but it's because I find that angry look of yours irresistable." and Kagami turns around to look at him, only him and never Ladybug. Just watching him. Which is a bit... odd. "Ahh, Ladybug..." he sighs. After what

just happened, I don't blame him! x3 These two are honestly fire. When D'Argencort has to step in to keep Kagami from hurting Adrien during fencing... Doesn't matter how upset she is, that's gross to physically take it out on him to the point a teacher has to intervene. Kagami tells Adrien she knows he's hiding something, but that he's sincere, too. But when he asks if they can't be friends then, she responds, "How can you trust someone who lied to you?" and finally gives him back the lucky charm. Ever since Gorizilla, I've been worrying of him losing it for good! Glad she gave it back to him. I've said it already, but he's really going to lose that thing if he's not careful! "When I'm ready to see you again, I'll let you know." and she just leaves. I get she's upset, he's been lying to her to get away when he's with her and all that. But this is worse than what happened with Lukanette. Luka wanted to actually know what was going on, he asked Marinette about it directly. She told him honestly, it's the one thing she can't tell him. Kagami on the other hand never actually asked. During one of the scenes when he was spacing out, she asked what was the matter is all. All she's cared about is that he's lied, and now that he's lied she can't trust him. Doesn't even want to hear him out, not that he'd explain it to her. Kagami doesn't even want to see Adrien for awhile now. At least Luka's more understanding and isn't as harsh being in the exact same situation. This poor boy... But it's also for the best. Marinette and Adrien both after breaking up with Luka and Kagami, decided to transform and meet up to just be in each other's company. They're both sad, but not especially so. "Do you know what the difference is, between us and the rest of the world, m'lady? We can't be completely honest with each other. We have our secrets, and sometimes we have to lie." Ladybug frowning hums in agreement. But at the same time, they both turn to each other and say happily "But we know we can trust each other!" finishing with a pound-it! IT'S JUST SO BEAUTIFUL AND MY HEART IS HAPPY After Truth, where Luka and Marinette were so sad and having a hard time, I really needed such an episode with such good Ladynoir! It really looks like the story is going in a really good direction, in my opinion. x3

#ml #miraculous ladybug #miraculous tales of ladybug and chat noir #ml season 4 spoilers #ml spoilers season 4 #ml spoilers #lies spoilers #adrien agreste #ladynoir #ladybug #chat noir #it took me HOURS to write this up so sorry it's late #if I could only pick one ship to ship in the entire show #it'd be ladynoir #if you couldn't tell

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procrastinatorimagines · 4 years ago

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Okay Part 4

Fandom: One Chicago

Series: Okay

Part 1 // Part 2 // Part 3 // Part 4 // Part 5 // Part 6 // Part 7 // Part 8 (Final)

Pairing: Halstead!Reader x Casey (eventually)

Warning/s: talk of death, arson, burns

Word Count: 1,722

Summary: After narrowly escaping certain death you decided to turn your life around and become a firefighter, and although it wasn’t easy, you survived your first week at 51. Now, the strange circumstances of your very first fire lead you to a second, deadlier act. As you dig deeper, aided by your brothers and your new firehouse, you begin to realise just how in over your head you might be.

Tags: @alievans007 // @louiselikeswriting

Jay was waiting for you as you and Casey pulled up outside of the hospital, heart pounding in your chest as you rushed out of the car towards him, mind racing. You weren’t at all surprised that Will had called him as well; someone was deliberately targeting this family.

“Where are they?” You asked as you reached him, all three of you heading into Med together as Jay explained the situation. He looked tired, and frustrated, and you knew your brother well enough to know that he was angry with himself for not being able to do more in the beginning to help this case.

“Lily’s upstairs, she’s burned pretty bad on her arm but other than that, Will says that she’s going to be okay, they have her upstairs for observation, she took in smoke,” he explained and you swallowed hard, that little girl had just lost her mother and had barely made it out of her second fire in a week, she was anything but okay.

“What about the friend?” Matt asked, the look on Jay’s face being enough of an answer.

He clenched his jaw and shook his head. “She didn’t make it, lost her soon after Will called you,” he told you, watching the look of horror you shared with Matt as you all got into the elevator.

“Do we have, anything?” You gestured in the air with your arms, voice shaking with the same frustration you’d seen in your brother only moments before. As much as it horrified you, you knew that this wasn’t over. The mother hadn’t been home when the first fire was set, and Lily had been put somewhere she couldn’t escape, and now this fire... Someone was trying to kill this child, burn her alive. Who would do such a thing?

“The friend gave us something in the ambo, a black dodge charger drove the block a couple of times throughout the day, only stopped once just before the fire started,” Jay informed you.

“License plate?” Matt asked, but you knew that it would be too good to be true before Jay even answered.

“Not yet, but we’re canvasing and checking cameras around the area,” he tried his best to sound optimistic, but you could tell it was waring thin.

Your blood was boiling as you got to the PICU, your hands in fists as Jay flagged down Will and Nat. Boden was there too, you realised, talking in hushed tones with Goodwin off to one side.

Matt and Boden shared an acknowledging nod before squeezing your shoulder, offering you a reassuring smile before heading off to talk to the chief. You headed straight for your brothers and Nat, trying your best to take some calming breaths. Getting worked up wouldn’t help Lily.

“Glad you made it,” Will said, following your eyes to where they landed on Lily in a room off to the left.

“Where else would I be?” Lily was lying in the hospital bed, left arm bandaged up and the right maintaining a death grip on the stuffed bear you’d first found her with. Her hair had been burned too, currently in choppy and mismatched lengths, and with her white hospital gown she looked like a ghost.

Your heart was breaking as you watched her, only half listening to Will and Nat discuss her condition and situation. DCFS had been called obviously, but she hadn’t spoken to anyone and she wasn’t in a state to be discharged yet, not that they knew who to discharge her too at the moment. If she really was the target - who would she be safe with?

The conversation going on around you was probably one you should have been listening to intently, but you zoned out more and more as you watched Lily, barely blinking as she stared a head of her, softly crying to herself. She looked in shock, unsurprisingly.

You still hadn’t gotten over the trauma of your first brush with death, the suffocating heat and blind panic woke you up in the middle of the night, panting and sweating, so tangled in your own sheets that it felt like you were tied up again. But you were a grown woman, and Lily was a 7 year old girl who, on top of now surviving two fires, had just lost her mom.

Before you realised it, you’d gravitated away from the conversation towards the door to Lily’s room. The others didn’t stop you, no one else had had any luck getting her to talk but you thought that you might, remembering the way she’d clung to you during the first fire.

She looked up when you knocked, looking even smaller than you remembered, and although she didn’t say you could enter, she didn’t tell you to leave either, so you slowly made your way inside, offering her a small smile and sympathetic eyes.

“Hey Lily,” you greeted her, talking and moving slowly so as not to scare her, “do you mind if I sit?” You gestured to the end of the bed and although she still didn’t say anything, her eyes continued to follow you and she curled her legs under herself to give you more room. Sitting, you watched her carefully, her frightened movements, hollow and distant eyes, shallow breathing...

You wanted to pull her into a hug, wrap her in your arms and keep her safe from the world. She didn’t deserve this, and whoever had done this wasn’t going to get away with it, you’d make sure.

“Do you remember me Lily? I’m Y/N.” You tried, her chin tilting a little in a slight nod.

“Found me...” she managed to mumble, her voice tiny and hoarse. It was the first time you’d really heard her speak, her bottom lip trembling as she did.

You saw the door open out the corner of your eye and Matt slid in, smiling softly as he took a seat next to you on the bed. Lily didn’t object, she actually looked a little less afraid, definitely recognising the both of you.

“Hey Lily,” Matt said, “how are you feeling?” He was good with kids, you’d seen it in the few calls you’d been on involving children so far, and Lily seemed to visibly relax in his presence.

“My arm feels funny,” she told you both, looking to the bandages on her burned arm. She must have been on some kind of painkillers, you realised, which might explain why she was still a little out of it.

“How about teddy? I don’t think I caught her name the first time we met,” Casey leaned over you slightly and bopped the bear on the nose. Lily gave the faintest smile, but it was something as Matt leaned back, still very close to you as you both tried to sit on the bed and give Lily her space.

“His name’s Matty Bear,” she hugged the bear closer to her, pulling it right up to her cheek.

Matt grinned at the name, “you know, my name’s Matt too.” The little light that came back into her eyes warmed your heart as your eyes flicked between her and Matt.

“Really?” She asked, her voice getting a little louder and more confident. Matt nodded and she smiled, satisfied with his answer.

“My mommy gave her to me,” she explained, “do you know when she’s coming to get me?”

Your face fell and you turned to Matt, watching the smile disappear from his face. She had been told, you’d heard Will say that much at least.

“This sometimes happens in shock,” Matt whispered to you, “it’s probably best not to upset her now, she needs her sleep.” You knew he was right, but it was still hard to hear, this whole thing was hard.

You did your best to plaster on a smile as you stood with Matt. “You know what? I’m not sure, how about we go check and you can get some rest okay?” You suggested, squeezing her leg as she nodded, eyes already fluttering closed as Matt held the door open for you looking glum.

When the door was closed you too a deep breath, meeting Jay and Will in the hall. “Did she give you anything?” Jay asked but you shook your head.

“She needs rest,” Matt told him and Will very much agreed.

“I don’t want to leave her,” you said to no one in particular.

“I know, but we have shift in the morning and you need to get at least some sleep,” Matt advised. You knew he was right, but still, you knew you weren’t going to sleep anyway.

“I’ll leave an officer with her just in case, and I spoke to Boden before he left, we’ll head to both crime scenes again tomorrow, go over everything step by step, hopefully we’ll have a lead on this charger by then too,” Jay told you, patting you on the arm as he left to answer his phone.

“And I’ll keep an eye on her tonight,” Will promised, leaving you with Matt, who was regarding you cautiously again. You knew why, while this wasn’t by any means a typical case, Matt had been doing this job a lot longer than you, and he was the only one who’d seen your panic attack during the first fire.

In all the commotion of this case, you weren’t even sure if he’d told Boden or anyone else about it or not, and you certainly hadn’t talked about it again, but you knew he was thinking about it now.

“I’m okay,” you insisted, standing up a little straighter.

“No you’re not, and I don’t expect you to be, I’m not okay Y/N,” Matt said, meeting the defensiveness in your eyes. “How about we go see Lily during shift tomorrow? If not, we can both go straight after, yeah?”

“Yeah,” you replied, grateful that Matt was facing this case with the same energy as you.

“Now come on, I’ll drive you home,” he put a hand on your shoulder in comfort and support as you wandered back towards the elevator.

You were exhausted, and you knew your shift tomorrow was going to be long, but you were determined; someone had tried to kill this little girl twice now, and you weren’t going to let it get to a third.

#chicago fire #chicago pd #chicago med #one chicago #matt casey #jay halstead #will halstead #matt casey x reader #chicago fire imagine #matt casey imagine #jay halstead imagine #will halstead imagine #chicago pd imagine #chicago med imagine #chicago fire imagines #matt casey imagines #jay halstead imagines #will halstead imagines #okay

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valkerymillenia · 4 years ago

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Umbrella Academy

season 2, episode 5

As usual I'm going to put all my reactions and live-blogging in this one post to avoid spamming.

1962, Cape Canaveral

So Pogo is from Congo?

Wait, is that Grace? is Grace some sort of biologist or scientist?

Is Pogo supposed to be one of the chimps for the space program?

I love this song. Oh look, there's Reggie!

Oh, that nod between Reggie and Grace... What are they up to?

Yep, definitely the space program.

Little astronaut Pogo... Wait, what's happening?

Who's the shady guy in the sunglasses behind Reggie?

Aww, poor Pogo...

SO THAT'S WHERE THE SERUM USED ON LUTHER CAME FROM! I figured but it's still interesting to see the origin.

Oh, there's the ancient Greek! Did Reggie read to the kids like this too? I doubt it but one can hope.

So Reggie and Grace basically treated Pogo like their child... And Reggie was actually a decent parent... ? Dude, you couldn't do that for your actual kids?!

Wait, does this make Pogo the seven's big brother? 😆

And there's the Magnificent 12. Oh, Pogo's drawing is so cute.

Five really is onto Lila... and he's right!

Diego onto Lila as well!

Hungover Klaus 😅 and Ben asking what we all want to know but it comes from a place of love and concern. Still sassy though.

Why won't Klaus just tell Allison that he is talking to Ben? Also, cowboy? Is that a comic reference? Or just a Texas reference?

Oh, I love Ben and Klaus banter. XD

Klaus does have a point, Allison.

*Allison throws the flask away* Ben: "attagirl!" Allison: "i have a blender and some much better booze" *cue Ben sulking*

"I love you so much!" Awwww, Klaus-Allison bonding! ❤️❤️❤️ this show is really giving me everything I want, huh?

Sissy and Vanya in bed together 👀😏 that's hot.

So she brought her coffee and then took the coffee away? XD

Is Vanya offering to take Sissy to the future? 👀

Oh no, Carl!

They have a point, Five. Everything starts taking apart at soon as you arrive. Repeatedly. I actually pointed this out yesterday.

You're burning the eggs, Luther.

"That boy stinks" poor Luther 🤣

Where exactly was Luther going? Chicago? Detroit?

Wait, is that the academy pre-academy? Wait, so it's not in Texas??? Then what about Argyle? What the hell? I'm so confused now. 😵

Luther, you need a bath.

Reggie in a party xD that must be an odd sight for Luther.

"The world's never going to end in such a cliché. Believe me. I know how endings feel" -what does it mean???? Does it mean he knows how the world ends? Or does it mean politically as a member of the 12? Is it a double entendre? Foreshadowing? Does he have some sort of prescient power?

Still want to know who the shady guy in the shades is.

"No, you're not" "no, you're not" "no, i didn't" 🤣🤣🤣🤣

"I have a deep dislike of children" -yeah, we been knew. 😒😒😒

"your grotesque simian proportions"??? Those are entirely your fault, Reginald! 😠

"But...i took a bus" - oh, honey... Luther, you adorable, naive, sweet, innocent, awkward little dork... Let me hug you, i don't care if you stink! 😢

Man, Reginald is still such an asshole. (I'm glad for that though, I was afraid this season would try to play the 'he wasn't really so bad, just misunderstood' card and that would piss me off, you can show him actually caring for the children but no excusing goddamn child abusers in this house!)

"At least he didn't shank my ass" "no, bro, he shanked your heart" -awww, dudebro affection. Diego does have a sensitive side!

I didn't realize i needed Luther-Diego bonding this badly but i do. I really, really, really do.

"It's time to get the umbrella academy back together." "hell yeah, family meeting." -since when is Diego so happy to get the family together? 😆

But hell yeah, let's get the family back together!!!

"you two still a thing? Do we need to talk?" (Diego's face though 🤣) "no, she's married." "Whoa, dude. That's rough."

Diego is the new Zuko, it all lines up!

"I can handle it" he nervous chuckles while stress eating in a stolen robe, after ruining his own life and getting in trouble with the mob and getting high.

"can you get Vanya without, uh, squeezing her to death?" - ouch 🤣

I'm loving the boys bonding.

Yikes, Sissy looks so uncomfortable with Carl...

"Harlan doesn't care" -oh, he does, he reeeeally does, you just can't read the signs, you clueless dumbass.

Oh, the powers... Oh, Harlan initiating touch with Vanya! Boy is more perceptive than they think.

Why does Sissy look so scared?

Sissy's reactions to Carl have been suspicious from the start. She's given a lot of red flags (the anxiety, the body language, the hoarding money in secret, the reluctance to speak up, the desperation to keep Vanya near her at all times, etc) and I've wondered if he's been abusive but he seems more pathetic than purposely malicious, he even showed vulnerability and admited to loving her and fearing that she doesn't feel the same, so I was starting to think Sissy's fear and paranoia had more to do with a fear of Carl leaving her (and thus taking away the only income and leaving her and Harlan with nothing).

However, I'm rethinking things and I'm starting to suspect abuse again (at least psychological, if not physical)... I think the only reason we don't see it yet is because Vanya is there and Carl won't act out on front of a witness.

I could totally be wrong though, I could be seeing signs that aren't there because of my own issues. We'll see.

Is... Is Handler actually a good mother?

Nevermind, she's gaslighting.

But she cares enough to give first aid and admit she lied so... Definitely a better parent than Reginald at least. I actually want her to be a decent parent, I'm tired of the narrative where villains all have to be abusive parents, villains can love too and that makes the story so much more complex and dramatic when people finally have to choose sides.

Felt, Diego's knife... what is she up to?

Sandpaper, steel wool, round metal parts, skewers, spray lubricant, and something cylindrical with the name of a plumbing service? Is she making pneumatic canisters? The ones the Commission uses to send messages?

Also, what's with Commission training and using plumber stuff? Five also used a plumbing company's van in season 1.

Elliot really likes Jell-O, huh? Very 50s housewife of him.

"how are feeling?" "Pretty shitty, to be honest" "Where would you say you are on a scale from one to ending all life on this planet?" 🤣🤣🤣 They are never going to let her live this down, are they?

I need more Vanya-Diego bonding. ❤️

Diego accepted Vanya's apology???😲 AWWWWWWWW 🥰🥰🥰🥰

Diego about to ask girl advice from his sister? So cute, why did they interrupt, I wanted to see that! 🥰

I miss Diego's nervous stutter though.

"you don't speak French" -doesn't he? If Allison can read seven languages, logically so can all the others, right? And Klaus is constantly using French and German, how are you telling me he doesn't know French? 😆

"did we all get sexier?" -pretty much and you're not done yet.

Aww, awkward Vanya-Allison hug... Let them bond! 💖💖💖

Klaus and Diego hugging!!! And Diego calling him out on being drunk like the overprotective brother he is 💖💖💖

Klaus hugging the girls! 💖💖💖

So much love. So much growth since all the bitterness from season 1. I NEED MORE OF THIS, DAMN IT!

Who knew it took Vanya snapping and killing everyone for this family to finally bond?

OH COME ON, KLAUS! Just tell them poor Ben is there, that's so mean.

Ah! Allison and Diego with pure sibling banter. 💖

What is with the Handler family and red shoes?

Handler's style changed a bit, went from retro femme fatale on s1 to matronly debutante in s2... Interesting.

Don't hurt the kitty, you bitch! 😡

The Swedes have become crazy cat people. I'm starting to love these weirdos.

Is that their mama?

Pneumatic tube! CALLED IT!

Ah, I see. That's why she wanted Diego's knife. The Swedes are getting set up.

"oh my God, again?" ... "all of you knew? Why am I always the last one to find out about the end of the-- oh, my God. My cult is gonna be so pissed. Five, I told them we had until 2019!" -that's why you're the last one, Klaus, your priorities.

"is it Vanya?" "Klaus!" "What? It's usually Vanya." - one time. you end the world ONE TIME and nobody ever let's you live it down.

"find dad" "kill dad" -well, Diego learned from Five *shrugs*

"has anyone here done anything to screw up the timeline?" -literally everyone except you, Vanya.

( well, unless saving Harlan with your magic lights messed up the timeline...)

Yup, here they go calling each other out. Hilarious 🤣🤣🤣

"THANK you" - I love Ben 💙

Diego, you idiot, saving Kennedy is what wrecks everything! Stop being stubborn.

Aww, traumatized Five... Please just listen to him, he just wants to save you all because he loves you 😢

Five deserves more love from the family. PLEASE.

Wow, Luther is reeeeally bitter about daddy, huh? What is Lila doing?

"I've missed you all... So much" BEN! 😭😭😭😭😭

Ok, now I'm crying.

Klaus, let your brother talk to the rest of the damn family, he misses them! 😭😭😭😭

Yay, more Luther-Diego bonding!

"since the last time I destroyed the world by overestimating my own importance" -I'm so glad he owns up to this, it's very important but he needs to get over his self-hate and gain some confidence again.

Diego, stop acting like you don't have daddy issues, you are riddled with them.

Diego's hero complex again... Which comes from the daddy issues. Luther is right.

"you are so goddamn big that sometimes I forget what a sensitive bastard you are." 🤣🤣🤣 He's absolutely right!

Brotherly bonding ftw!

Oh, they got daddy's attention!

AHAHAH! Allison bitching and rambling while doing Klaus's hair, Vanya miming shooting the bottles ("pew pew" 🤣). I'm sorry but this whole scene is adorable as fuck.

Girl's day!

"wouldn't it be weird if Five grew up all hot?" 🤣🤣🤣 Klaus asking the real important questions here!

Vanya confused by the Luther/Allison crush 🤣 "aren't we all related?"' -yes, honey, that's why it's weird.

"if you have to use the word 'technically' you're already in trouble" -THANK YOU, KLAUS!

Klaus's ENTIRE speech about their love lives is the most perfect thing EVER 🤣🤣🤣👌👌👌💯💯💯

Really alarmed Vanya finding out she dated a serial killer: "what?!" / Allison, whispering casually: "Later." 🤣

"the healthiest long-term relationship in this family was when Five was banging that mannequin." 😂😂😂😂😂 The best part is- HE'S NOT WRONG

Vanya's weirded out face is priceless 👌👌👌

"the only thing the umbrella academy knows about love is how to screw it up" "cheers!" 💯👏👏👏

These babies really need a hug. Let me hug them!

"how do you guys deal with this?" -look at them Vanya, they day drink.

"well, I get reeeeally high, Allison... Allison... Lies to herself. And you supress all your emotions deep, deep down until you... Blow shit up." -Klaus really is serving up all the wisdom in this little outing, isn't he? Maybe being a cult leader actually did him some good? Or maybe it's just that his family is FINALLY listening to him.

"yeah, I'd really like to not do that anymore" 😂 -ah! Is Vanya graduating out of the awkward dork sibling category and into the sassy queen one?

Omg, the drunk decisions...

"I just hate group backups, that's why I stopped dating twins" 😆😆😆😆

"this family is amazing" - DAMN RIGHT, VANYA! ❤️🧡💛💚💚💙💜

Awww, the HUG! The DANCING! MY BABIES! Fav scene, fav scene!

I want to adopt this family so bad.

And here's the Swedes being set up...

There goes baby Swede! I kinda feel bad for them.

Uh oh, now they want revenge of poor Diego.

Gotta hand it to Handler, she played this one very well. Parallels Five tricking Hazel and Cha-Cha into fighting each other in season 1. Very cool.

BAD GUY! I like this version better than the original, great song and fits Lila perfectly.

Holy shit!!!!!!!!! We all knew Five had moves but THESE MOVES!!!!!! 😲

How did Lila do that? Is it with Handler's time stopping thing? I always wondered how she did that too.

Holy shiiiiiiiiit. This whole fight was FANTASTIC! 😲

Oh Vanya... 😢

Oh Sissy... 😩

Sissy has been so desperate to keep Vanya tied to her but the moment Vanya asks her to make the slightest sacrifice for their relationship Sissy balks and pulls away... Not a balanced relationship at all.

I understand Sissy's fear, it's not selfishness, it's literal fear of change, but it's still sad and it's going to wreck them.

Oh, so this is where the swedish cover of "Hello" comes in... Very fitting.

Viking funeral, huh?

Ok, I never thought I'd have feels for the Swedes but I do. 😢

Luther eating AGAIN. But hey, he and Diego didn't the whole day together! Why can't we see that too? I need more brother time between these two.

Oh Klaus, is so uncomfortable but he can't stand disappointing the cultists, can he?

Still shocks me how all those people just invaded his house while he was away and thought that was perfectly acceptable and cool, it shows they really don't respect him as a person, he's just an object to make them feel better and give them purpose... It's terrifying and really sad when you think about it.

"sit your ass down." -you go, Allison! Tell him everything!

This episode gave me SO MANY FEELINGS! It might read like (extremely good) fanfiction but it's exactly what we all needed and it might be my favorite episode so far.

#tua #tua s2 #tua s2 spoilers #I HAVE TOO MANY FEELINGS FOR THIS EPISODE!!!

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afishlearningpoetry · 6 years ago

Photo

Looking Closer at How The Abominable Bride Foreshadowed and Can Be Used to Chronologically Decode Series 4:

Almost halfway through TAB, John and Sherlock are on their way to deal with the Carmichael case as John inquires about the possibility that the bride is a ghost. Sherlock dismisses it and him before the scene turns towards how John’s stories have made him a hero in the eyes of the public for years, and Sherlock is forced to admit he was being harsh to John. At the end, Sherlock says the only ghosts in this world are the ones we make for ourselves as his mind drifts back to Moriarty.

Almost halfway through TLD and series 4, John and Sherlock are on their way to deal with the Culveron Smith case as he asks them to tell an audience a story. Sherlock dismisses him and says no before the scene turns towards Sherlock showing off in front of everyone about his heroics. At the end, John speaks directly to Sherlock through Mary as her ghost gains more presence through this scene.

[Continue below the cut for more ➤]

See also: 10 Revealing Things From The Six Thatchers That Haunt You Late At Night, 10 Revealing Things From The Lying DetectiveThat Haunt You Late At Night, and 10 Revealing Things From The Final Problem That Haunt You Late At Night. (#tw blood #tw suicide)

Bonus: John knows:

The two major themes of these scenes are ghosts and John’s authorship, including how both Sherlock and John feel about the way that John’s blog expresses his feelings. That authorship has also brought about fame for both versions of Sherlock, so the way that John has written his stories and chosen to capture his feelings about Sherlock also effects the way they interact with each other in private vs. public.

In TAB, they’re alone together. Sherlock has already compartmentalized the Emelia Ricoletti case, unable to solve it, and are on their way to investigate the Carmichael case. Sherlock is imagining all of this in the wake of Moriarty’s return, so everything takes form around Sherlock’s fear and denial. The second case inevitably has to do with ghosts as well and eventually feeds back into the first, so when John is about to bring up the idea of it bring true, which Sherlock is imagining himself, he’s quick to dismiss it. “You don’t know what I was going to say.” But it’s only at the front of his mind and the conversation because Sherlock is afraid of the meaning of it being true; he’s in denial about him returning, but ghosts aren’t real, so it means he didn’t die, but he saw it happen; this contradiction repeats over and over in the back of Sherlock’s mind throughout the episode until whenever Moriarty confronts him and forces him to face the truth.

“You were about to suggest there may be some supernatural agency involved and I was about to laugh in your face.” The real John would never consider that ghosts were a real possibility; this isn’t about Sherlock laughing in John’s face for being wrong or superstitious, he’s talking to himself. He knows the idea is ridiculous and can’t be true, yet here he is imagining two cases about him. He maintains a cool exterior about the the whole thing until his John eventually starts pushing back against what Sherlock is saying, because it also has to do with the nature of John’s blogs and their relationship.

In TLD, they’re in public. John is right about the way Sherlock is quick to dismiss anything that doesn’t immediately interest him, he hates dealing with the press and being in public, and only agrees to share his stories with them after John pressures him into doing so. This is also seconds after the scene where a random citizen assumed the blog was Sherlock’s for no other reason than this is a false narrative that inevitably incorporates John’s insecurities about being second to Sherlock, and secondary in Sherlock’s heart, so when Culverton introduces Sherlock and then says, “oh, and Doctor Watson, of course,” it’s echoing the same thing. And because John’s blog is the focus of his insecurity in this scene, Sherlock not wanting to talk about the cases at first is also about John perceiving Sherlock’s lack of interest in his work, which is the closest John has ever come to admitting how much he cares about Sherlock, openly, to the rest of the world reading it. And no matter how famous they become, John thinks that Sherlock still doesn’t get it and he never will.

In TAB, John connects the two cases, “Emelia Ricoletti, again”, and in TLD, Sherlock starts talking about the “iron chain of reasoning” is more interesting than the “sensational” nature of the crime. The idea of a ghost is the “sensational” part; Sherock thinks he’s imagining it because he needs to figure out how he did it, the iron chain of reasoning behind how Moriarty could be back. But like Mrs. Hudson says, Sherlock isn’t about thinking. He’s more emotional. The dream is not really about figuring out how Moriarty faked his death and could be back now. Sherlock figures by the end of the dream that all you need is some fake blood and maybe outside help. He confesses to Mycroft that his body was never recovered; so it’s not really debatable that he’s back. The dream is about Sherlock accepting that. Logic is not the thing that really interests him here. He could just recreate the scene of the crime on the rooftop like a crime scene and figure it out if he wanted to focus on the iron chain of reasoning, but he creates an entire world based around his denial, loosely related to a case from the past that doesn’t have anything to do with what’s happening beyond the sensational aspect; the idea of ghosts. The contradiction is at work here again; Moriarty can’t be back, but he is, so he must be a ghost, but ghosts don’t exist.

John doesn’t pick up on what Sherlock is feeling emotionally during the plane ride and he doesn’t understand what Sherlock really values here. He writes Sherlock saying that the “feature of interest” is the iron chain of reasoning; but Sherlock has only used the phrase “feature of interest” exactly one time, when describing John. During his best man speech Sherlock is describing the case of the perfect, impossible murder; the man who was killed while alone.

Sherlock: There was one feature, and only one feature, of interest in the whole of this baffling case, and quite frankly it was the usual. John Watson – who, while I was trying to solve the murder, instead saved a life. There are mysteries worth solving and stories worth telling. The best and bravest man I know – and on top of that he actually knows how to do stuff... except wedding planning and serviettes – he’s rubbish at those.

John: True!

Sherlock saying the feature of interest is John means Sherlock using it in any other case is immediately a red flag. John is writing this scene. It also means that even when Sherlock is adamant about his feelings in every other way except being explicit that he loves him, John will still find a way to deny it. The crimes are not the story here. The crimes aren’t the point of the scene; Sherlock goes on to spoil all of them. The real story is the the one that everyone else devalues, even John himself; the story of their relationship. Their love for one another that invigorates them, that guides them, that makes themselves and their lives with each better for it.

Sherlock is also aware of this inconsistency: in TAB at the morgue, Molly points out some “features of interest” in the crime, and Sherlock notes he never says that, and Watson corrects him to say that he does, actually, quite a lot. But he doesn’t; it’s still just in the one scene. But his imagined John hears it all the time because there’s a complete disconnect in how they perceive each other through John’s blog. Sherlock thinks that he’s open with his feelings about John all the time; that he’s open about how John is the feature of interest in every case, but John thinks that he only cares about the details of the crime. Similar to other things, like Sherlock noticing Mary’s perfume, it seems like a contradiction, and that’s because it is. It takes on a different meaning in Sherlock’s mind. Not a literal one. He doesn’t say “features of interest” out loud, but he means it about John. John doesn’t understand that; his blog is inaccurate about Sherlock’s heart.

In TAB, Sherlock chides John for his lack of imagination. This also isn’t a literal meaning; every conversation is Sherlock talking to himself or a projection of someone else. He’s talking about John focusing on the literal moment by moment case that Sherlock is working on and not noticing Sherlock’s feelings. He’s chiding John’s stories about lacking the imagination to think that Sherlock loves him back; in TLD, this proves true as Sherlock says that the cause to effect solution of the crime is the “only truly remarkable aspect” of the affair. But the remarkable aspect, the “feature of interest”, is John himself. This is also where Mary starts to creep into the background in the scene as the camera pans to her, blurry behind John’s frame. Similar to TAB, John is thinking that ghosts are real. John, in his story anyway, has an easier time imagining that Mary’s ghost is real than the remarkable aspect being himself. Of course, they’re happening for very different reasons.

In TAB, Sherlock imagines John pushing back, saying that he managed to convince the “the reading public that an unprincipled drug addict was actually a gentleman hero.” Remember that this is happening after HLV, where Sherlock suffered his relapse because of John’s wedding; the meaning here isn’t just him being an addict, but the reason why he relapsed. And there is no blog entry about HLV. John skips it in his story and just fast forwards to updating present day. He convinced the public that that side of Sherlock doesn’t exist. The part of Sherlock, the whole of Sherlock that loves John doesn’t exist. At the same, John holds a very idealized view of John in other ways, and as we see by TLD, the public is convinced that he’s a hero. A legend. A myth. All that matters is the myth, the legend.

In TLD, Sherlock immediately trips over himself explaining the stories, spoiling the ending. He’s relapsing and completely tripping in front of an audience of sick children and nurses and doctors and everyone still captured by him. They think it’s just part of the show, who he is, but again, the reason that he’s relapsing is because of John. To save John. No one here knows any of that, they only know what they’ve heard and what John has written.

Sherlock admits in TAB that he was being too harsh; that John’s prowess is a testament to himself, even if it isn’t entirely accurate. It’s not that John lacks imagination, but that hes focused on the wrong thing, which is largely Sherlock’s fault at this point. Ever since he found out about John’s feelings in ASIB he kept John at a distance until the threat of Moriarty was gone. When he came back in series 3 and thought they could be together, that John was still living in the flat (he wasn’t, and he didn’t check), Mary entered the picture. Now Moriarty’s back and here they are. Sherlock is lambasting himself here and lashing out at John for something that he could have put an end to years ago. And despite all of Sherlock’s mistakes, John still convinced everyone he’s a hero.

In front of everyone, John is starting to enjoy himself in TLD despite the circumstances. Sherlock starts blowing through the cases that John has carefully archived, but he doesn’t even care, because Sherlock spoiling the cases doesn’t matter to him. His blog has always been about Sherlock. As the camera lingers on John and Mary behind him, the camera almost comes into focus and cuts to a giddy Mary on the other side of the room, laughing and smiling at Sherlock. With the subtext in series slipping to the surface and becoming text, since this is John’s story, he explicitly links Mary to being him. “You’re talking to yourself.” John isn’t showing it but this is how he really feels when he’s with Sherlock. He expresses it in a fashion he don’t think he’ll ever be able to do in any real way. This is how much he loves him. The hero that John writes on his blog is something that he rally believes.

The conversation shifts in tone when Sherlock brings his feelings back into focus. “Rest assured, there are no ghosts in this world.” He wants to remind himself that, but he does it through John. It’s also Sherlock telling himself that the ghost is flesh and blood. The contradiction starts drumming up in him again. Moriarty is coming back. In TLD, the conversation takes a similar shift; Mary smiling and laughing isn’t just an expression of John’s true feelings, she’s also a ghost, and ghosts don’t exist in this world. The case Sherlock is talking about; ten suspects, all of them guilty, a confession of what happened in the last episode.

This was a lie that they all had to. Sherlock, John, Mycroft, Lestrade, even Molly; they all had to keep their story straight to coverup Mary’s murder. This isn’t the only case referencing it; Sherlock and John then reference Murder At The Zoo. Murder At The Aquarium. Because as Sherlock says, there are no ghosts in this world, “save the ones we make for ourselves.” John made his own ghost and now she’s haunting him. She’s the abominable bride, the figure of Death in the Samarra story, and Moriarty’s post-humous revenge.

John has to write that Mary haunting him is part of his character arc; that the invented cheating subplot in the last episode, made to sublimate his emotional cheating with Sherlock and hide his communication with him to take Mary down, has pay off in the form of resolving a character flaw. When John set out to craft his original story, he used Mary’s death to invent flaws for him and Sherlock that have to resolve by the end of episode two before he loses control. TLD as the second episode brings the story to a close in a way that no other second episode does in the show.

Mary’s ghost becomes John learning his lesson; the grief and anger that he feels in this episode, the morgue scene where he attacks Sherlock, is really about him and Sherlock. He doesn’t care about Mary because he tried to kill her in the last episode and now Mary is keeping him trapped in his house, drugging and manipulating him. So Mary’s ghost in this episode has nothing to do with him grieving her; when he sees her ins his story, she was either there to some degree, alive, because there are no ghosts in this world, or John is selling the lie by wrapping it up in the truth. He saw her, sure, but it’s because he was grieving her loss. It’s also part of John’s larger plan to fake his own death and draw Mary and Moriarty out into the open, but in this moment, John is using Mary to express what he feels about Sherlock. John is talking to himself because he’s writing her.

John nails the correlation in TAB by asking Sherlock, “Sorry, what did you mean? Ghosts we make for ourselves, what do you mean?” This version of John doesn’t understand yet; Sherlock doesn’t answer him, closing his eyes and trying to hold his dream together for as long as he can. John doesn’t understand how much Sherlock haunts him because John, and his imagined John, don’t understand that Moriarty is the thing that’s been keeping them apart. But John in series 4 learns. Similarly, Sherlock doesn’t understand how much Mary is haunting him. After the coverup, Sherlock calls him, goes to his house, and is turned away after being given a note. “It’s from John.” John lies to his therapist about them not reaching out to each other the next episode. Sherlock has to figure out how to save him without knowing the full picture.

Much of that has yet to happen. In this moment, Mary is just a presence creeping into John’s mind. John uses her to express how he feels, but at the same time she’s the very thing keeping them separated. Her goal, her vengeance as the abominable bride, is to maintain that silence. To isolate John. To push him over the edge. To burn Sherlock’s heart out of him forever. Her ghost hangs over them, looming in the final shot as their legacy is cemented as the myth, the legend. Sherlock Holmes and John Watson.

For Sherlock, the feature of interest is John. For John, the feature of interest is Sherlock. When Sherlock is tripping out of his mind, hanging by a thread and totally botching the delivery of John’s stories, John doesn’t even care. The cases are just a pretense. He’s so happy to be back with Sherlock again.

By the end of it, John tells Sherlock that he loves him by using a ghost.

“You should be wearing the hat. The kids would love the hat.”

The camera cuts, as it did with her laughing, between Mary in front expressing how John feels and Mary looming behind John, her visage out of focus. When John and Sherlock reconcile at the flat, she’s still an intruder. Even when John is happy, Mary is waiting for him, ready to meet him again.

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