#i was gonna say i like this one more than other jj episodes but

[loonylupinblack3]

Powerless

Pairing: Rafe Cameron x Reader

Warnings: extremely toxic!rafe, violence, swearing, many threats issued

Summary: you hate being a Pogue. Hate how vulnerable and weak and powerless it makes you. Rafe reinforces this for you.

Word count: 2.1k

A/N: heavily based off of season 1 episode three of obx when pope is delivering groceries and Rafe jumps him. also the ferrari sf90 spider is actually my favourite car so i yapped about it a lil bit :)

You were helping Heyward load the grocery bags onto the boat alongside Pope and JJ, stacking the bags of food and other knick knacks in the middle of the vehicle. 

“You kids get these groceries over to Figure Eight,” Heyward instructed, grunting as he lifted a pair of heavy bags off the dock and moved over to the boat, Pope, waiting at the ready, taking them from his father. “Get straight back here when you’re done.” He gave you a pointed look. “No fishing.”

You grinned at him, saluting him as you grabbed a pair of bags from him and placed it on the boat. JJ was right next to you, with Pope behind, the three of you working in tandem.

“I promised delivery by this afternoon,” Heyward continued. “Rich folk don’t want to wait for you lazy sons-” Seeing JJ with his arms already outstretched waiting for another bag of groceries and a beaming smile on his face gave Heyward pause. “Oh, JJ, thank you.” As soon as JJ grabbed the groceries he continued. “-sons of bitches.”

He glanced at you. “Excusing you, of course, Y/n. You’re always a delight.”

You beamed at him and JJ gave a scoff. “How come you get all the praise and I get nothing?”

You sniffed, flipping your hair to the side. “‘Cause I’m better.”

“Are not.”

“Are too.”

“Are-”

Heyward interrupted the two of you. “Hey, alright enough. No bickering. Get your asses moving and deliver these groceries.”

You all gave the man a salute and entered the cabin part of the boat as Pope started it up. Heyward didn’t trust JJ enough to drive the boat and knew you’d end up going the wrong way with your poor sense of direction, so Pope was in charge of steering the vehicle.

You drove through the river, leaving the Pogue side behind and entering Figure Eight, the Kooks domain. You noted the large houses, clean and tidy, and the smooth way they all seemed to be running with enough electricity and clear running water to their heart's content.

“Doesn’t even look like the storm hit there,” Pope exclaimed in indignation. No doubt he was thinking about your own houses, all of them damaged in some way and not yet fixed.

JJ twirled a pocket knife in his hands. “That’s because they got generators, bro. Get used to it.”

You scowled, shaking your head. “And then they say the juice will be out all summer at the cut.”

Pope shook his head, jaw clenched. “Nice to be a Kook.”

You nodded your head in agreement as JJ said, “lucky bastards.”

“One day I’m gonna become a Kook,” you said. “Dunno how yet, but I’m gonna go full Kook, with a pool, mansion, Ferrari SF90 Spider.”

JJ and Pope both groaned as you mentioned your favourite car, again. Sometimes they found you just never shut up about it, going on about the horsepower, the V8 engine, the fact it was the very pinnacle of Ferrari technology, with the thrill and versatility of open top driving.

“Time for you to stop talking,” JJ said, commandeering the conversation. You didn’t mind, content to listen to him for the rest of the way to Figure Eight, where you docked the boat and divvied out the grocery bags between you.

You and Pope were gonna go together, with JJ taking the rest and heading in the other direction. You bid each other quick goodbyes and hurried with Pope, walking around the unfamiliar streets. Everything looked so much nicer here, from the pavement to the shops lining the streets, everything inside looking like it cost more than a week's worth of your pay.

You took a shortcut, walking through the golf course instead of around it. The employees let you through without a second glance. It was surprising what you could get away with as a Pogue working in Figure Eight. The two of you walked on the side of the golf course, talking under your breaths as you looked around cautiously.

“I’m also going to golf here every week,” you stated, watching a particularly fit woman swing a golf club, her muscles flexing with exertion. 

You could almost imagine it being you, the golf club, hat, skirt, everything. If you really thought about it, the girl almost looked like you, similar hair colour and figure.

Pope laughed. “You hate golfing.”

You shrugged, swinging the bags in your hands slightly as you walked. “Yeah, but it's what Kooks do isn’t it?”

“What is your obsession with being a Kook?” Pope asked. “I get being rich, everyone wants it, but you seem almost obsessed with it.”

You opened your mouth to defend yourself when movement caught your eye. You involuntarily recoiled when you recognised Topper and Rafe heading towards you. Pope noticed too, muttering swear words under his breath and advising you to just walk past and ignore them.

“Hey what’s up guys?” Rafe asked, putting up an innocent facade. He used his golf club to stop your walking, pressing it to the box of beers in Pope’s hand. “Hey how much for one of those beers?”

Pope turned to the side, trying to push past. “They’re not for sale.”

Rafe made a tutting sound. “Wait, wait, wait.” He stopped Pope as he tried to pass, forcing the two of you to stay there. Topper was standing directly in front of you, creating a barrier of sorts across the pathway. “You can just give us one, then, right?”

You wanted to snap at him. Wanted to ridicule him, ask him if he knew what not for sale meant. You were scared though, and you knew it wouldn’t help you or Pope standing up to him like that.

“Or you can order one like everybody else,” Pope replied, again trying to push past.

Rafe was rougher this time, ignoring Pope’s struggles and shoving him back. The coil of fear in your gut tightened. “Listen. Wait, wait, wait, you’re not listening to me. Um…” he gestured with his hands. “You’ve got so many bro, and we’ve got nothing.”

“Got nothing man,” Topper chimed in.

You scowled. “They’re not ours, they’re already paid for.”

Rafe looked at you, surprised you spoke, and then all of his attention was on you. You regretted even speaking, because his attention was like a guillotine, one wrong movement and the blade would fall.

“Oh, already paid for?” Rafe asked. “Knowing you Pogues, you probably stole them, right?”

Before you could stop him he was in front of you, his golf club snagging at the plastic bags in your hands as he pulled. Everything fell to the floor, and you heard the distinct sound of glass shattering.

“What the hell Rafe?!” You cried. “You owe us for that!”

He laughed, getting all up in your space. “Oh I owe you do I? I don’t owe you shit, Sweetheart.” He grabbed your chin, his fingers forcefully curling around your skin.

“Hey, get off her!” Pope yelled, grabbing Rafe’s shirt and yanking him back. You were grateful for the space, rubbing your jaw as the fear weighed you down, down, down.

Rafe spun around, “don’t fucking touch me you Pogue.”

“Come on man,” Topper said from his other side. They had him surrounded. “We just want a beer.” He made a lunge for it. “Just give us one of these.”

Topper and Pope were full on wrestling with the box now, and the fear was in your throat, especially when Rafe joined in, tripping Pope up and making him fall to the floor with a slam, rolling over a few times.

You gasped, going to him, but Rafe got there first. He had a bruise on his head, looking red and scratched. He scrambled upright, a hatred kindling in his eyes as he threw a punch. Rafe was ready though, avoiding it easily and using his golf club to slam into your friend's stomach. When he was bent over Rafe slammed it down again, Pope crumpling to the floor.

You couldn’t watch it anymore. As he raised his club again you moved forward, shoving him to the side. You only managed to move him because he wasn’t expecting it, and even Topper looked surprised, doing nothing to stop you because really, how much damage can a girl do?

You planted yourself in front of Pope, and when Rafe, laughing in disbelief, walked up to you, you were ready. You swung your fist but it was in poor form, Rafe catching your wrist mid-movement. His grip was tight enough to make you wince.

“Getting involved?” Rafe asked you, moving forward until you were chest to chest. “That’s cute.” His voice was low and mocking. “I thought you were smarter than that.”

You yanked your arm back. That was the second time he’d grabbed you and your skin felt dirty, his fingerprints crawling all over you. Rafe just seemed amused, a cruel delight in his eyes. There was no fear in his expression and why would there be? He was a Kook. He had his friend right behind him ready to defend him if needed. His real competitor was still on the floor, pain immobilising him. No, there was no fear in his expression, only a sick satisfaction of knowing exactly how much control he had over this situation.

Pope gave a groan, attempting to pull himself upright but Rafe didn’t even glance at him. His focus was zeroed on you, the intensity of his gaze making your stomach churn. “What’s it like, being a Pogue? Being powerless?”

You opened your mouth to snap at him, to say something humiliating and knock his ego down a few inches, anything to stand up against him. Rafe seemed to know you too well though, grabbing your jaw in a bruising grip, his fingers cold and rough. More threat than affection. “You’d be better off with me, y’know that?”

It wasn’t a flirtation he spoke to you – it was a threat. You could hear the danger in every word, the treacherous promise that he’d never leave you alone, that this sick game of his would only end on his terms. You could see the lines between desire and control blurring, and nauseatingly realised that Rafe’s affection for you might be even more dangerous than his fists. 

You tried to jerk away, revolution surfacing inside you but Rafe only tightened his grip. “Nah, don’t do that,” he warned almost lazily. “Don’t make me hurt you too.”

You wanted to cry. You could feel the tears welling up in your eyes, threatening to fall. You’d hate to give him the satisfaction of seeing them roll down your face. All of this was a game to him, a test to see how much fear he could wring out of you. The worst part was you knew he would do it, just because he could.

Your gaze darted to Pope, your friend just managing to sit upright. Topper was standing to the side, an uneasy expression on his face. You didn’t want Rafe to escalate things any further, because you knew he would, just to prove a point. He noticed your line of sight and forcibly pulled you closer to him so he could whisper in your ear.

“You’re lucky I like you,” his breath was hot against your ear, sending shivers down your spine. An edge of cruelty laced his tone, as did delight, the same one a kid would get from playing with their toys, which was what you were to Rafe. “Otherwise you’d be right there next to him.”

Before you could answer he shoved you back, hard enough to make you stumble. A sickeningly smug smirk was on his face as he picked up two cans of beer off the ground, chucking one to Topper.

“Catch you later Sweetheart,” he called to you, going as far as sending you a wink, acting like everything had just been harmless fun, which you guessed it was to him.

You watched him saunter away, leaving a mess in his wake that he seemed to do everywhere. Except this time it was worse, because with a sickening dread you realised the next thing he’d leave a mess would be you.

And you suddenly had an answer to Pope’s earlier question. Why did you want to be a Kook so badly? It was simple, really. This whole interaction had just reinforced the feeling that you were too vulnerable, too weak. And the answer appeared from the ashes of Rafe’s destruction, a truth you guarded with your heart.

You didn’t want to be powerless.

[absolutebl]

This Week in BL - Actually a pretty fab line up right now

Organized, in each category, with ones I'm enjoying most at the top.

NOV 2024 Week 5

Ongoing Series - Thai

Love Sick 2024 (Sun iQIYI) ep 11 of 15 - This is where the teen awkward comes to grab me by the throat. No other Thai BL does this better than Love Sick (except maybe Make it Right). And it’s always a challenge to watch because Phun is so ready to come out and Noh is so not. I love what cramming 3 eps into one (and better side BL couples) did for the tension and pacing in this particular part of this story. The new version really is excellent. I'm chronicling my experience with 2024 as compared to 2014 here. 

Your Sky (Sun iQIYI) ep 2 of 12 - They are so awkward and I love them so much for it. They are terrible at faking romance, yet Fah want’s Rak so bad. This is moving so slowly but that’s part of it’s charm. I'm not frustrated instead I’m getting Oxygen vibes from it. Or perhaps it’s is more just I feel the way I felt when I was first watching Oxygen. Which is to say, I’m totally addicted and I keep re-watching new episodes. 

Spare Me Your Mercy (Thurs iQIYI) ep 1 of 8 - Gah! JJ grew up so pretty. I love these leads. (No one is shocked.) I love the lawful good paired against (we’re not sure yet but possibly) neutral evil. I love our very sus very flirty very gay doctor. A lot happened in this first episode. I’m getting Manner of Death flashbacks but there’s nothing wrong with that. Bring on the chili. 

Incidentally, if you're interested in true crime, here's the IRL version of this story. How a Nuclear Lab Helped Catch a Serial Killer from the Science Vs podcast.

Jack & Joker (Mon IQIYI) ep 10-12 end - I got the go ahead on a safe ending, and thus I watched the last 3 eps all as one. I love how defiantly verse these two were. I also really enjoyed the final episode. I do like a finale that ends on a bang (yes, both kinds). 

Final thoughts

I enjoyed this show a lot. A caper BL starring two of Thailand's best and focusing on class struggles, corruption, and poverty, was always gonna appeal to me. But I’m not sure, ultimately, whether I liked it because it was good in it’s own right, or because YinWar were so good in it. I do wish it had been a little more Leverage and little less chaos, Dr Evils, and "watch War cry." It was a great vehicle for YinWar, and for them to prove that BL can defy its own tropes. To that end, this goes comfortably into the Manner of Death category more than anything else I’ve encountered befor (although slightly less unhinged). It's good, but it loses the plot, the side couples, and it's own mind a couple of times, and YinWar were definitely greater than the sum of its parts. Thus I feel an 8/10 is fair, especially considering I'm unlikely to rewatch.

The Heart Killers (Weds Gaga) ep 2 of 12 - Dunk is illegally pretty in this show. I gotta say I covet his skin care routine. (I love YinWar as much as the next person, but THIS boy should be the spokes-BL-rep for Laneige.)

Manwhile..... FirstKhao might be GMMTV’s best flirters. It’s a pleasure to watch them just inhabit these characters and bounce off each other. I do keep saying “what tf are they doing?!“ with this show. In this instance, it was the dancing in the bowling alley. What is going on? is it meant to be a Pulp Fiction reference?

Also this gd soundtrack is bonkers. I *can’t!* with the 70s orgy porn music and the very bad not quite metal intro music. And then, I remember, brain must be turned off! (That’s really hard for me OK?)

All that said, both the sauna and the jerk-off scenes were much appreciated. It’s nice to see this kind of visceral physical attraction depicted in a BL, we get it so rarely.  

On a side note, I entirely support Thailand’s one country agenda to put all the cute boys in crop tops. Keep it up. And up. And up. 

Fourever You (Thurs YT) ep 9 of 16 - I just don’t get the (new) main couple. They don’t work for me. I like the surprise gamer boys side crumbs though. They are v cute.

Side quest: Genius move anytime Hill comes on screen to basically have Pond make love to the camera. He v good at it. Break down everyone’s fourth wall, baby. Take no prisoners. 

Caged Again (Fri Gaga) ep 3 of 10 - That exchange! “Are you worried about me” (attempted flirtation) vrs Junior’s response “yes I am.” Just utter frankness. It’s very sweet. All in all this show is very sweet. Somewhat incomprehensible world building, but sweet. And the head lift into the lap was next level adorable. Sun’s shy smile is everything. 

Perfect 10 Liners (Sun YT?) ep 5 of 24 - This show is very silly. I love the sides so much I can’t EVEN. But I think it was a big mistake putting Tay into this show. Never let an OG out of the bottle like that. He gets all our attention because we think he’s gonna grant all our wishes. By which I mean, all I could think the whole time he was on screen was WHY IS HE SO FINE?

I’m not joking, I had to watch his scenes 3x because I kept getting distracted and losing the plot. Not that there is much plot to lose. Just Tay’s mouth. I’ll stop now, but seriously tho LOOK AT HIM!!! 

Every You Every Me (Mon Gaga) ep 8 end - Honestly I’d like to see this pair handed something much more meaty. Like a Japanese adaptation? Tokyo in April is… for example. I think they do a great job with something like that.

Conclusion

This was supposed to be a linked series about reincarnated soulmates, but ended up being more like a Y-Destiny grab bag BL with no rebirth through line, just the same acting pair. The leads were excellent. And I must praise this show for representing things I always want in my BL (and rarely get), switch, verse, communication, and safe sex. It’s just that this format with the same actors but no unifying theme (despite the pitch/packaging) made for a disappointing viewing experience. Some of the installments I enjoyed, and the visuals are on point, but I was ultimately let down by style and execution, if not acting. 6/10 

Ongoing Series - Not Thai

Our Youth AKA Miseinen: Mijukuna Oretachi wa Bukiyo ni Shinkochu (Japan Tues Gaga) ep 4 of 11 - “I won’t fall in love with you” is an easy promise to make if you’ve already fallen. I love this show SO MUCH. “Infect me just a little.” Holy fuck. This BOY. Also, so much for “not kissing.” This BL is fantastic. I’m so worried about where it’s going. Japan could very much hurt me with this. I didn’t expect to fall in love so hard.

Man, JBL...... when it gets you it really gets you (then it locks you in a basement and gets kinky). We are not safe but we must sit back and suffer enjoy it. I hate this. I love this. What a rush. 

See Your Love (Taiwan Weds Gaga) ep 7 of 13 - I think this show has a “crash into me” trope in every single ep. This ep alone had 3, plus a flash back to the first one. Still, their damn date was so flipping adorbs!!!

Teenager Judge (Vietnam Sat YT) ep 10 of ? - I couldn’t be less interested in the stuff with the mean girls. I’m annoyed we spent so much of this episode on them. Fewer bullies more smooches.

Love in the Air: Koi no Yokan (Japan Sat Gaga) ep 5 of 10 - Arashi as the doting bf was cute if sudden, also holy musical montage BLman.  Kai is my favorite character (as was Sky) but I'm still not wild about the blackmail sex start to this relationship. It does seem a little bit more like Kai went after a one night stand, also bit more switchy, which is better...... I guess. But not by much because the chemistry with these two isn't as good as the original.

I remain suspicious.

It's airing but......

Love is Like a Poison AKA Doku Koi: Doku mo Sugireba Koi to Naru (Japan Tues ????) 11 of 12 eps - My source hasn’t yet uploaded 11. So…… I wait. 

Secret Love (? YT?) 13-?? of 81 eps - I don't know what's going on either.

Blue Canvas of Youthful Days (China Sun Viki) paused at eps 9-10 of 12 - I got the "stop" on this one as it's gone (no surprise) dark. Being China can not be relied upon to HEA. So I'm on pause until I'm told it's safe. If it ends sad/bad I will dnf. But for now I wait......

Winter Is Not The Death of Summer (Thai Weds YT) ?? eps - Criminals who meet in prison fall in love. I did find it on YouTube, initially unsubbed, then subs happened by which time I got distracted. The first episode seems to be only six minutes long. It is very pulp. But it is intriguing. For now its to the wayside until someone tells me what it whats to be and if it's headed in a safe direction. Occasionally Thai pulps want to be edgy and it's not a good look on them.

Bad Guy My Boss (Thai Sun Gaga) 10 eps - I DNF'd at ep 7, I couldn't make it. I'm weak. Life is hard enough right now, this show made it harder. It’s not what I want from my entertainment. Ends tomorrow.

Bad to Bed (Taiwan Sat YT) 10 eps - This is a little too low production value even for me + just very very odd. DNF

In Case You Missed it - GMMTV 2025 Line Up

There have been a ton of hot takes already, including mine.

Here are the titles and links to MDL for you (confirmed full BLs only), these are organized in order of the ones I'm anticipating the most at the top.

Dare You to Death - trailer

Boys in Love - trailer

Memoir of Rati - trailer

My Magic Prophecy - trailer

Me and Thee - trailer

A Dog and A Plane - trailer

Cat for Cash - trailer

That Summer - trailer

My Romance Scammer - trailer

Head 2 Head - trailer

Ticket To Heaven - trailer

Burnout Syndrome - trailer

Melody of Secrets - trailer

Only Friends Dream On - trailer

Love You Teacher - trailer

Next Week Looks Like This:

End of year drops:

12/4 0.5D (Japan ????) 10 eps - Sales ace, Sada, has a secret that only his junior, Daiki, knows. He has pretended to have a gf for years, resulting in him being a virgin. But now Sada has fallen in love. Confused, Sada seeks advice from his junior. I sense another queer Cyrano De Bergerac. Info here.

12/6 Be Moon - Falling for my enemy's son (China ????) movie from HBD Studio - Not much on this one just a trailer, looks intriguing...... if it's from/through Taiwan, but if it's all China, I'm wary.

12/13 ThamePo Heart that Skips a Beat (Fri YT) 12eps - A boy band member and his documentarian start a forbidden relationship. I LOVE Est and am delighted to see him at GMMTV. This was my #1 pick for 2024. I've been waiting for a Blinding Lights style idol romance and this looks like it might be it (Korea and Japan have systemically disappointed me). Bring it, boys.

12/14 & 12/21 The Renovation (Thai mini One31) 2 eps - Writer turns his blossoming romance with holiday resort owner into a novel.

12/29 Sangmin Dinneaw (Thai ????) ??eps - trailer Childhood friends (Thai & Korean) reunite after being apart for ten years. As the boys reconnect, their bond matures and feelings of romance begin to develop, in Thai.

Upcoming BLs for 2024 are listed here. This list is not kept updated, so please leave a comment if you know something new or RP with additions.

THIS WEEK’S BEST MOMENTS

His smile. (Caged Again)

Look at them!

Look, I don't mean to tell you your business, but THIS? This is peak Thai BL. This is it. This is What They Do Best. Sure they dabble with silly kinky crimey-whiney fashizzal, but Thailand's true BL power is right here, in the sweet awkward school-set first love arghhhhh. Yes I said, school. Bite me. (Love Sick... damn it, 10 years later and it still has me in a choke hold.)

Hey all you idiots who thought (or think) there is ever a green flag in any Mame ever, this character if for you. This boy, THIS ONE. This is what a walking talking ACTING green flag energy actually looks like. You wanna date a dude? Find you one like him. Okay, peaches? sheesh

Meanwhile, this, this is not a green flag. This is GMMTV thinking they are being clever by calling out Thai BLs' worst behavior to make a character who has 'slightly less than worst behavior' look better. Sigh. When meta is used for ill gotten gains.

This, on the other hand is meta being cleverly deployed.

And this is language play. P'ABL's favorite.

So endeth this lesson.

(last week)

The tag BLigade: @doorajar @solitaryandwandering @my-rose-tinted-glasses @babymbbatinygirl @babymbbatinygirl @isisanna-blog @mmastertheone @pickletrip @aliceisathome @urikawa-miyuki @tokillamonger @sunflower-positiiivity @rocketturtle4 @blglplus @anythinggoesintheshire @everlightly @renafire @mestizashinrin @bl-bam-beyond @small-dark-and-delicious @saezurumurmurs

[fangirl-writes]

Planning Our Future

JJ Maybank x Reader

Warning(s): Mentions of child abuse, mentions of a sex

Notes: I wrote a little blurb when watching the ‘Midsummers’ episode and decided to turn it into a whole fic. Also I still haven’t seen season 3 yet so no spoilers please!

Summary: JJ dreams about running away with the gold and taking you with him.

You and JJ were cuddled together in one of the hammocks tied to the chateau’s trees. It was just close enough to the water to hear the waves, but far enough away not to get sprayed. That, and you could watch the sun dip into the water every evening.

JJ’s arms were wrapped around you tightly, like he was afraid you’d disappear if he let go.

It had been a long day.

John B. was in the hospital after Topper pushed him from the Kildare Hawk’s Nest, with Sarah Cameron by his side.

He was losing his mind about the gold and about her. 

“You think he’s still going to try to find it after this?” You asked quietly. It felt wrong to speak in a normal tone and disrupt the silence that the two of you had built there.

“Probably,” JJ replied. “As long as he didn’t break any ribs or anything, he’ll bounce back pretty quick. I’ve never seem him as determined about anything other than this.”

You hummed. “Don’t act like you haven’t been enabling him a little bit.”

He frowned. “No. In fact I told him that if he kept going down this road he was going to end up just like his dad.”

“JJ, that’s a horrible thing to say.”

“It’s true. They’re too much alike. Big John wouldn’t give it up either and who knows where he is now. Probably floating in the bottom of the ocean somewhere.”

You didn’t respond to that. As blunt as it was, he was right.

A few moments passed before either of you spoke again.

“So...are we gonna talk about it?” You asked.

“Talk about what?”

“J,” you said. “Come on. You take the fall for Pope then turn up with a busted lip and bruises-”

“Can we not talk about this?”

“No, JJ, I’m sick of not talking about it,” you said, moving so that you were on the other side of the hammock, facing him. “You can’t stay there if he’s gonna treat you like this. Everybody knows what a piece of shit he is so why don’t you-”

“Shut up!”

You snapped your mouth closed.

He’d never raised his voice at you before.

“Sorry,” he said. “I just...I can’t leave. I don’t got anywhere to go. If Big John was still around, he’d take me in a heartbeat but your guys’ parents don’t like me and I know it. And I’m not letting DHS take me away. If John B. can stick around and play the system, then I can deal with this.”

“You shouldn’t have to,” you muttered, crossing your arms over your chest.

JJ sighed. “I know just...can you come back here?”

You frowned but slid back over into JJ’s arms, laying your head on his chest; his heartbeat a welcomed lullaby. 

“We get that gold,” he said. “You and me. We’re gonna ship off somewhere nice. Somewhere our parents can’t reach us.”

You hummed good-naturedly.

“We’ll surf waves every day and smoke only the finest marijuana.”

You smiled.

“Our own little slice of paradise. Far from OBX.”

“That sounds amazing, J,” you said, softly.

“We’ll have our own house and everything. Have sex in every room, just to christen it.”

You giggled. “Can we have a waterbed?”

“Of course we can have a waterbed. But also a memory foam mattress for when we need more stability.”

He was staring up at the sky that was slowly fading from orange into inky night, eyes glazed over as he dreamed.

“I’ll buy you a pretty diamond ring. And we’ll get married on the beach in the summertime by the water. Barefoot, but I’ll still wear a tux if you want me too, as long as you wear white. We’ll only invite the pogues...”

You were lapsed into comfortable silence, the hammock slowly swinging.

“I put the gun to his head,” JJ said, suddenly, making you sit up from his chest. “He was asleep and I had it right there” - he gestured to his forehead - “I could’ve killed him...he’d’ve deserved it...but I couldn’t pull that trigger, Y/N. I couldn’t do it.”

You took his head in your hands and pulled him to your chest, the tears in his eyes falling freely and he sobbed in your hold.

“I hate him,” he whispered. “I hate him so much, why couldn’t I do it? Why...”

You blinked back your own tears. “Cause he’s still your dad.”

JJ didn’t reply, just sobbed in your arms.

“Tell me about our wedding again,” you said. “Will we have a priest?”

“No...” JJ said, softly, sniffing and wiping his tears. “Pope will get ordained and perform the service. A full pogue ceremony, nobody else. Not even parents.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah...”

“I love you, JJ,” you whispered, pressing a kiss to the top of his head.

“I love you, too, Y/N,” JJ replied.

“Will we have kids?”

“Yeah...but not for a while. John B.’ll probably have them first. Then Kie. We’ll probably be the last of the group to have any.”

“Names?”

“Booker, after John B., for a boy. I kinda like Bianca, for a girl.”

“I like it, too,”

JJ kept dreaming for a while, until the both of you fell asleep under the stars. In your own little paradise, right in the OBX.

[dmercer91]

ebug's sister, dm91

found the first two stills from @heavenlyhischier (thank you for inspiring this post) the rest i keep in my camera roll for lols and i forget where they're from, probably twitter 😀

last season! (2022-23) part one / part two / part three / part four / part five / part six / part seven / part eight / part nine / part ten / part eleven / part twelve

(2023-24)! part one / part two

blakefriarr_

liked by nicohischier, jackhughes and 7,221 others

blakefriarr_: welcome back all, i hope you've missed me (i know you have, the hoping is just a formality)

this is definitely an episode of the thing. i both seem to have forgotten what i call it and how many times i've done it. uni brain fry, or something.

however, i remember that it's my civic duty to provide a rundown.

the first two photos are of my boy and my son being all smiley and giggly. they're the cutest

the third slide is me finding out that one day i'm going to be married to someone with the middle name jpg. i don't really know how to feel abt that one since i'm definitely more of a pdf file girlie.

it is also me finding out that i was wrong all along, and luke is the one who wears 86 and plays forward... i'm gonna have to delve into that a little more cause i've been calling them the wrong names and nobody even said anything ://

and in the last slide, we have.... that. despite the fact that i was indeed the one to take this incredible photo of captain eyebrows, i cannot say for certain what is actually happening. a sneeze? a kick? an accidental kick, mid sneeze? more to come.

view 688 comments..

holtz_10: son??

holtz_10: i did not agree to this

→ lhughes_06: just let it happen man there's no way out of it

dawson1417: hold that thought, actually, does this make me a dad????????

→ holtz_10: no.

→ blakefriarr_: alex be nice to your father

→ dawson1417: i'm not ready to be a dad

→ holtz_10: yeah man no shit you're like three months older than me?

→ blakefriarr_: will you be my son if i demote dawson

→ holtz_10: . fine

blakefriarr_: @/lhughes_06 you have a new brother !!

→ jackhughes: does that make me and quinn also your sons...?

→ blakefriarr_: you were put up for adoption and quinn filed for emancipation

→ _quinnhughes: i fend for myself cause i figured i was better off being cared for by an actual adult

→ blakefriarr_: is the adult in the room with us????

→ _quinnhughes: at least i know which one of your sons is actually luke??

→ blakefriarr_: omg did i accidentally send moose off instead of jachary ?!?!?!

dawson1417: jack i want you to know that i was only partially on board with giving you up

→ jackhughes: how much is partially?!?!?!?!?!

→ dawson1417: idk like 90%

→ dawson1417: 97 when you make charlie mad

→ jackhughes: feeling the love merc

nicohischier: can you call me literally anything that doesn't involve my eyebrows

→ blakefriarr_: captain slut was a good one

→ nicohischier: eyebrows it is

→ blakefriarr_: pleasure doing business with ya, captain slut

→ nicohischier: i give up

→ blakefriarr_: you lorb me

→ nicohischier: yeah yeah whatever. get away from me

tannercharlotte: no baby, his first name is jpg, he just goes by his middle name

→ blakefriarr_: 😟

→ dawson1417: pls don't divorce me before i can marry you

→ adamfantilli: what he said i can't miss being rookie of honour

→ blakefriarr_: is now a bad time to tell you jj is gonna be my dude of honour

→ jj.friar31: ..wait fr?

→ dawson1417: can i propose before you guys plan my wedding pls

→ tannercharlotte: speed it tf up then buddy

seamuscasey26: blako’s couch cushions

→ blakefriarr_: sheamo’s throw blankets ‼️

→ seamuscasey26: unreal combo

→ luca.fantilli: have i touched on how much i deeply loathe this duo

→ blakefriarr_: you’re salty cause fants’ ottomans was a flop

→ luca.fantilli: lan did say i should've gone with side tables :/

→ blakefriarr_: and you didn't listen?!?!? liked by landen.clark

ryangraves27: hi

→ blakefriarr_: hi gravy, you miss me?

→ ryangraves27: i wouldn't word it like that

jj.friar31: mom wants to know if you're coming for dinner tonight

→ blakefriarr_: what's she making

→ jj.friar31: lasagna

→ blakefriarr_: lasagna fucks tell her im omw

→ dawson1417: she made me let her drive but she would also like you to know that i'm coming and that she brought cookies

→ dougieham: bring some to picture day i want a cookie

load more comments..

[storiesofmyhead]

Pogues - A Rafe Cameron Story

Summary: Rafe and Cassiopia have always had a complicated relationship. A big age gap of 3 years starting at age 16 and 19, Rafe constantly hurting her friends, and in the end her. But hurting he was never what he wanted to do, all he wanted to do was protect her. Put yourself in Cassi's shoes as you live through 4 seasons of The Outer Banks and a rough relationship with the one and only Rafe Cameron.

Also find on Wattpad! @CloveMadden

Season 1

Episode 1, Episode 2

Word count: 1541

"We're the pogues. And our mission this summer is to have a good time, all the time.'

Sitting on the top of a vacant house, John B - a longtime friend of hers - was playing with fate as he balanced next to her, a beer is his hand.

"That's what a- three-story fall to the deck?" Pope said sarcastically. "I'd give you about a one in three chance of survival." He squinted looking up into the sun.

"Hm," John B licks his finger before lifting it up to the sky. "Show I do it?" He jokingly asks.

"Ya, you should jump." Pope answers, holding his drill up to the sky towards John B like a gun. "I'll shoot you on the way down."

"You gonna shoot me." John B plays along holding his finger up like a gun, playfully shotting down at Pope.

"Yep."

Shaking her head, Cassiopia looks down hearing Kie's footsteps come out of the house. "They're gonna have Japanese toilets with towel warmers." She throws her hands up, annoyed at the insensitivity towards the sea creatures and sea life.

"Of course, they are why wouldn't they?" Pope says as if it's the most obvious thing.

"Used to be a turtle habitat but, who cares about the turtles, I guess." She rolls her eyes, walking out onto the dec. More annoyed than she was before.

"I can't have cold towels." JJ jokes as Kie looks up at the three.

"Can you please not kill yourself?" Kie asks sarcastically, squinting her eyes up at him as Cassiopia, or Cass/Cassi for short, laughed at his antics.

"Don't you drop that beer," JJ threatens. "I'm not giving you another one."

Though despite JJ's threat, John B still managed to drop it not even 30 seconds after the warning, whining as he watches it smash on the ground, Casi slapping his leg, "You idiot," as she laughs shaking her head.

"Of course you did. Like right when I said." JJ shakes his head in disbelief as John B dramatically mourns his lost drink.

"Casi! Casi, where the fuck are you!" a familiar voice yelled from behind the house, near the road.

Rolling her eyes she stands, balancing her way to the other side of the house where none other than Rafe Camerom stood. His tongue pushing his cheek out, a clear sign of his annoyance, as he scowled his eyes searching the house.

All the pogues go silent, watching as Cassi slides down the roof until she was invisible, hidden by the other side of house.

Rafe's eyes widen, his body moving towards the house at a quick pace as he watches her climb down the house. "What the fuck are you doing up there?" He scolds. "That's so fucking dangerous. What were you thinking? You could've gotten hurt." His hands grab at her waist lifting her up away from the side of the house until she was safely on the ground.

"I'm fine, Rafe." She breaths out, annoyed at his concern. Well, it wasn't his concern she was annoyed about. She loved that he cared for her and knew he only wanted her to be safe, but sometimes he was a little overprotective. But it was everything she did that concerned him, he was always annoyed when he found her hanging out with the pogues doing some stupid or dangerous shit. And it wasn't just the fact that she was hanging out with the pogues, it was the fact that she wasn't hanging out with him and maybe because she picked the pogues over him.

"How many times have I told you, not to go some stupid shit with those pogues," he spit, saying the word pogue as if it was venom.

"Those pogues, are my friends." She scowled at him, now re-thinking her plans with him.

Huffing, he throws his head back running his fingers through his hair. "Ok. I'm sorry." He says looking back down at the girl in front of him. Her lips out in a pout, her arms crossed as she avoids eye contact.

"Baby-" His eyes catching the on-looking eyes and ears of the pogue's that try to catch their conversation. "Cassi, I'm sorry. Ok? I didn't mean to hurt you; I was just worried." He watches her eyes move from the ground up to him, before glancing back at her friend that try to eavesdrop.

"I forgive you. I know you just want what's best for me." She smiles up at him, his eyes showing true compassion and love as he gives her a small smile back.

"I wish I could kiss you right now. Just to show you how much I love you." He slightly shakes his head, breathing out, his eyes fluttering.

Giggling she grabs his hand and pulls him towards his truck that waits for them parked on the side of the road. Shaking his head, he allows her to pull him as they reach the passenger seat. Opening the door for her, he waits until she sat comfortably in the seat before closing the door and walking to the other side.

'And that's my friend, Cassi. Well, her real name's Cassiopia but we call her Cass or Cassi for short. She's a pogue through and through, but she has this weird relationship with the Camerons. After her dad died, I guess they took her in for a while until her mom came back and then she went back to full pogue. But no matter what Rafe Cameron never left her and refused to believe that she was even a 'dirty pogue' as he likes to call it. Don't really know their deal, but they're close. And ya. That's my crew.'

Gasping, Cassi shoots up breathing heavily now awake thanks to the loud thunder and rain that hit the house. Moaning softly Rafe sits up next to her, his arms wrapping around her waist and his head falling on her shoulder as he digs it into the junction between her neck and shoulder. Placing soft kisses down her neck and collarbone he asks, "What's wrong baby?"

"Nothing," She mutters, slightly shaking her head. "Just the thunder. It's loud. Go back to sleep."

"I can't sleep knowing that you're awake." He mutters, placing a kiss on her lips. "C'mere." He opens his arms pulling her on top of him. "I'll keep you safe, I won't let anything hurt you. I promise." He says placing one more kiss on her head as his hand covers the ear that isn't laying on his chest.

Listening to his heartbeat and his soft breaths, she allows it to lull her back to sleep. The raging storm outside long forgotten.

Moaning, Cassi turns over in the bed to lay on her stomach, pushing her head deeper into the pillow. Trying to block the bright light beams that had tried to wake her up in the first place.

"Cassi, stop moving." She hears Rafe groan from beside her. the arm that once held her close to his side, now laid under her. his grip tight as he rolls her on top of him as if she weighs nothing, which to him, she didn't.

"Mmm, Rafe." She hums, placing kisses on his bare chest moving up to his neck and jaw.

Eyes fluttering open, he smirks at her lifting his hand up to grip her chin and connect their lips. "My pretty girl." He says the rasp in his voice signaling that he just woke up.

Giggling softly, she places a few more kisses on his lips, sitting up to now straddle his hips. He reaches up to push her messy hair behind her ears, smiling tiredly up at her. "You're so fucking pretty. Oh, the things I want to do to you."

Bitting her lips she runs her hands up and down his torso, tracing his abs. His own hands falling to lay comfortably on her hips. "Ya? What do you want to do to me? Hm?"

"Oh," he chuckles, pulling her hips harder into his. "You feel that baby? Feel what you do to me?" He pouts, his bottom lip jutted out.

Leaning down she places another kiss on his lips before they’re interrupted by Rafe’s voice calling up the stairs.

“Sarah!” 

Groaning Rafe rolls his eyes, Cassi swinging her leg up and off of him, jumping off the bed. “No, baby~ Come back~” He whines, his hands reaching out to her.

“You're such a baby.” She giggles, opening his closet and grabbing one of his shirts out of it. 

Turning around she watched him sit up, placing a pillow on his lap, his eyes looking her up and down. The sight of her only wearing a pair of spandex and his shirt that stopped just above her knees, left barely anything to the imagination. 

"Are you hungry? I can makeeeee~" She drawls out as she tries to think of something, since the power was still out.

"Can I have you." His eyebrows lift up, his lips pulling up into a smirk.

Rolling her eyes, "How about yogurt and fruit." She sends him a smile.

"Ok." He smiles back. "I'll be right down."

"Got it." She answers happily before walking out of the room and down the stairs.

Join the tag list!

@carolina6677

[sun-undone]

can we please get in depth podcast episodes on Spotify for season 4?

well i was gonna make a separate post about this but i guess this is as good a place as any to say that i will officially be ending the diver down podcast.

i’d been promising for a long while that i’d get to season 3 and had just recently decided to skip it entirely and cut right to season 4 instead since i enjoyed part 1 so much. but after part 2, it really REALLY fucking sucks, but i think a lot of y’all will understand me when i say that i do not want to participate in meaningful analysis of this show for a very long while (maybe ever again) after the complete disrespect we as fans have been shown by the writers and (some) actors of this show. it hurts so fucking bad and it sounds dramatic but i feel like a safe place has been stolen. we all joked about the pates’ lazy writing and bent over backwards to make their decisions make sense sometimes, but this is a whole other level of bullshit that feels personal. it’s not just the jj stuff either. sarah and pope’s storylines (if you could even call them that) also reeked of some very foul ideologies that the pates seemed to be able to hide well enough in the other seasons but suddenly decided to bring to the forefront in a very disgusting way in 2024 of all fucking years.

i’m just incredibly disappointed and betrayed and angry and while i had a lack of motivation and lukewarm disinterest in deep diving season 3, this is an entirely different level of visceral distaste.

so i will not be making any more podcast episodes about outer banks.

from the bottom of my heart, i’m so very grateful to everyone who have listened and found joy in listening to all of my rants. it means so much that i could be a bright spot in people’s lives, even if it was just for one single hour. this fandom has created so many incredible fucking pieces of art and i feel so lucky to have added a small piece of my own to that. as betrayed as so many of us feel, no one can take away the community we’ve formed and the art we’ve produced. i don’t regret a single second of it because of that.

i’ll probably make a short explanation/goodbye episode but it will likely be very concise and not go into detail about my specific thoughts on what went so very wrong. i hope some of y’all stick around if you’re interested in the other stuff i’m watching/reading cause wow they’re miles better than obx and i will always have rambles to share.

thank you so much again and i’m sorry if this is disappointing to anyone or a piece of even more bad news after an already taxing week ❤️

[lead-us-to-reedus]

Okay I need the rant a little ... I adore criminal minds I really do but wtf are the writers doing? First they have JJ admit she loves Spencer and that he's her first love and things are complicated whatever and of course it's dropped a few episodes later don't even get me started we'll be here all night ... Then I get to the middle of season 15 and they just throw some random girl in the mix to give Spencer a gf this is one thing I hate is when TV shows give characters random love interests just to give them someone to be with at the end of a series I absolutely HATE THAT like what the hell were the writers on. If they were gonna put him with someone they should of just put him with JJ to begin with there's numerous ways to hide pregnancies on TV shows and don't get me started cause I like will and everything but they only ever bring him in for drama or when JJ is with her family for like wholesome family gatherings ECT other than that Will is more so a babysitter at home with the kids which is rarely shown. Maybe this is just my opinion cause I ship JJ and Reid and I can see the chemistry those two have in wave lengths I don't know nor do I care all I'm saying is I just hate how they randomly gave Reid this random love interest it's crappy writing imo.

[crystalninjaphoenix]

That's Not How You Play

Paranormal Preteens AU: Episode Thirty

A JSE Fanfic

This chapter turned out to be one of the shorter ones, but a TON happens in here. After all, we're wrapping up the winter season, and spring will be coming soon. Chase and the Jacksons tell the others about how they got rid of the doll, and they talk about what to do next, but none of them feel really ready to take on the Circle some more. So they decide to take some time to relax and think about stuff over the next few weeks... But Anti doesn't like that they're not doing things the "right" way. You're gonna want to read all the way for this one, guys, things go crazy at the end ;) Good reading!

Previous Episode | More of this AU | From the Start | Read on AO3 at CrystalNinjaPhoenix

++++++++++++++++++++

“You guys what?!” Jackie’s incredulous shout echoed through the nearly-empty Zelly’s.

“See, we knew you would react like this!” Marvin folded his arms, leaning back in the booth. “This is why we didn’t tell you! You would’ve tried to stop us.”

“I-I—” Jackie stammered. He glanced around the table. Chase, JJ, and Marvin were all slumping in their seats to varying degrees. Stacy and Schneep looked shocked. Why wouldn’t they be? After all, the other three had just told them that they’d gotten rid of the doll... and exactly what happened when they’d done that.

“Chase, I just... I-I simply wish you told me about this,” Schneep said quietly. He glanced at the twins. “You two, as well.”

I don’t think I was thinking clearly at the time, JJ said slowly. But would you guys have tried to stop us? He looked at the other three.

Schneep hesitated. “Ah... no, I do not... think so?” He shook his head. “I simply wish you told me.”

Stacy frowned. “I probably would’ve tried, but like... if all of you wanted to try it, I’d be outnumbered. But like! We could’ve made sure it was super safe!”

“Yeah, that’s what I was going to say.” Jackie nodded. “If you’d told us your plan, I-I’m sure we could’ve come up with that ‘doll surgery’ idea quicker.”

“Well... it’s in the past now,” Chase said. A week in the past, actually. It had been hard to gather everyone together in person, with school starting up again and Jackie continuing his part-time job here at Zelly’s. And this hadn’t seemed like something you’d want to share over text message or phone. It was too important. So by now, it was well into February. The Zelly’s dining area was decorated with paper hearts in red and pink, ready for Valentine’s Day. Couples sometimes liked to come here for dates. Chase used to find that annoying, but now, he wonders if he had a girlfriend, if he would do the same thing. Maybe. He wasn’t sure. He hadn’t thought much about dating before.

Jackie sighed. “I guess it is. But... no sneaking off and doing crazy stuff like that again, okay? We stick together. Cause the more people we have involved, the more ideas we have. You know? They say two minds are better than one.”

The twins nodded, and so did Chase. Sorry, JJ said.

“No, I’m not... blaming you guys for it,” Jackie said slowly. “Honestly, I think it was about time we took action. I just... think it could’ve gone smoother, y’know?” He sighed, then tried for a smile. “Hey, let’s forget about it, okay? We don’t have to worry about the doll anymore! That’s great!”

JJ’s expression brightened. I’m so glad it’s gone!

“Yeah, that was so fucking freaky,” Marvin agreed.

Schneep sipped the hot chocolate he’d gotten. “I cannot believe Anti was behind it. For so long, we thought it was the Circle. I-I still do not like them at all, but... I-I suppose it is... good that they... did not make that doll.”

“It means Anti is really bad, though,” Stacy said. “I can’t believe he’d do that! Why?”

Marvin shook his head. “Wanted to prove some point that JJ would leave me, I guess. Which doesn’t make any fucking sense. If he does stuff because magic forces him to, then it doesn’t actually say anything about what JJ is like normally.”

“I don’t think Anti thinks stuff through, actually,” Chase said. “I think he just... doesn’t like JJ, actually.”

Well I don’t like him either, JJ said, frowning.

“But now that we don’t have to deal with the doll, maybe we can focus on the Circle things more?” Schneep said.

“Yeah, maybe we can visit city hall or something,” Stacy said. “You can take tours through it! Or... some parts of it. Not where they keep the important stuff, of course.”

“I dunno... won’t that be suspicious to the Circle?” Chase asked. “They know about us. This isn’t like the planetarium where it’s totally normal for kids to be there. We’ll stand out.”

“Well it’ll be much more fucking suspicious if we sneak into fucking city hall,” Marvin said.

Which we shouldn’t do without checking it out a little, JJ said. But Chase is right, the Circle will definitely notice us checking out city hall. He bit his lip. A Catch-22.

“...what’s that?” Chase asked.

“It means that... huh.” Jackie looked thoughtful. “How do I explain that? It’s uh... a contradiction. Or a... circle. It’s like, if you need to have a car to work at a job, but to get a car you need a job that makes money so you can buy it.”

“Oh... I think I get that?” Chase nodded slowly. “Uh... so maybe we either sneak in without checking it out?”

“Uh, I honestly don’t think we should sneak into city hall without some idea of what it’s like inside,” Jackie said, looking nervous.

“Maybe we’re not ready for that yet,” Stacy suggested.

“Well Anti’s gonna keep pushing us to confront the Circle!” Chase said. “How else are we gonna get him off our back?”

“Fuck Anti,” Marvin said.

Fuck Anti, JJ agreed. Why should we do what he wants us to do?

“Well... cause he’s gonna keep bothering us until we do!” Chase said.

“So?” Marvin grumbled. “Maybe we should come up with some way to keep him away instead of, uh... indulging him. Did I use that word right?”

“Mm-hm.” Stacy nodded.

“I... guess it’s maybe worth looking into?” Jackie said slowly. “Anti is... some sort of greenlight creature, right? An ‘Anomaly,’ as the Circle would call him. So... maybe greenlight could keep him away?”

Marvin gasped. “I can cast a spell,” he said in a hushed, excited voice.

Jackie grinned. “Yeah, you can try casting a spell.”

“Okay! I’ll look for a good one in my books.” He flapped his hands excitedly.

“So... are we just going to do nothing about the Circle?” Schneep asked.

“Well... I-I think we should do something eventually,” Chase said. “But I don’t know if we can tackle city hall yet, you know?”

Schneep nodded. “I see... yes, I see where you are coming from.” He sipped his hot chocolate again. “So... this is now a normal ‘hanging out’ session.”

Chase laughed. “I guess it is! So, uh... you guys see anything cool on TV lately?”

“Well, I know you guys might not watch this cause the main character is a girl,” Stacy said. “But there’s this show called Kim Possible. I think it’s like, ended now, but I just re-found this tape my parents made with the episodes recorded and I’m watching them again and I think you guys would like it!”

“Oh I loved Kim Possible,” Jackie said fondly. “Yeah, you guys would probably like it! It’s about fighting supervillains.”

“Really?” Chase leaned forward. “What’s it about? Like, more specifically.”

And so, the rest of the visit passed with them talking excitedly about all their favorite shows, movies, and occasionally books. None of them noticed the extra shadow lingering on the wall. They didn’t see it when it slinked away, or pick up on the strange sadness it felt.

++++++++++++++++++++

JJ hovered in the school hallway, occasionally glancing down at the group hanging out near the corner. A few guys around his and Marvin’s age... among them, River Bailey, laughing and chatting. He stood there, hesitating. Part of him—most of him, honestly—still felt so nervous about approaching someone so cool and nice and... Maybe it would just be easier if they stayed

But there was also this smaller part of himself protesting that notion. That if he was brave enough to get rid of that crazy doll, surely talking to someone was nothing. He didn’t want to be a meek, quiet doll. He was more than that. Chase and Marvin and all the others believed in him. He just... had to prove it to himself.

The other guys were leaving. River waved goodbye to them, then turned to his locker on the corner. There would be no better opportunity to do this. Jameson swallowed a lump in his throat and walked over, clutching his notebook to his chest.

River noticed him approaching and smiled. “Hey! Jameson, huh?”

JJ nodded. He wrote something down and showed River. You can call me JJ if you want.

“Oh, cause of your initials! Cool. Repeating initials are fun.” River grinned. “Uh... anything I can help you with?”

Jameson wrote something else down. I just wanted to talk. It’s weird that we have lockers so close and a few classes together, but don’t really talk.

“Hm, yeah, I guess it is. That might be because I don’t know sign language. Oh! But I think I could learn!”

That would be nice, but you don’t have to. Jameson smiled slightly. 

“Well it’ll probably be helpful, right?” River shrugged. “Anyway. What d’you want to talk about?”

This might be an odd question, but are you part of any clubs or anything?

“Yeah, I’m in Orchestra,” River said. “I play the cello. I wanted to play bass but I didn’t want to stand so that was the second best thing.” He laughed. “Also that’s not a, uh, ‘odd question.’ That’s like... totally normal. Like, watch this. Are you in any clubs or anything?”

JJ laughed a bit. I’m in Theatre. Stage crew specifically, but I sometimes do ensemble.

“En... What’s that word?” River asked. “En-sehm-bull?”

The Es make the long A sound, like “Ah.” So it’s more like Ahn-sawm-bull. It’s the background characters in plays. In musicals, they do the group dance numbers and background voices. I’m surprised you didn’t know that, since the Orchestra sometimes plays for musicals.

“Ohhhh.” River nodded. “Ensemble! I get it. I just thought they were called the ‘cast,’ but I guess the cast is all the actors. That’s cool. Have you ever thought about getting a starring role?”

I’d like that, but I can’t do the speaking lines.

River winced. “Oh. Right. Sorry.”

It’s fine, you didn’t realize! JJ assured him.

“Still, sorry.” River grabbed his backpack and shut his locker. “Hey, can you write and walk at the same time? My mom’s waiting to pick me up and I don’t want to keep her for too long.”

Jameson hid his disappointment. I can, but it’s hard. We wouldn’t be able to talk much anyway.

“Hey, a little is better than none.” River smiled. “And we can always talk in class or something! Or after school some other time.”

I wouldn’t be bothering you? JJ asked.

“Huh? No, why’d you be bothering me?” River shrugged. “Besides, I’m a simple guy. If you were bothering me, I’d leave. Not ask you to walk and talk with me.”

That did make sense. Jameson was flattered that River would want to spend more time with him. He felt his face getting warm and quickly ducked his head to write. In that case, we can walk for a bit. My brother will be waiting at the front entrance so we can walk until there.

“Great!” River smiled. “Let’s go, then.” He started walking down the hallway.

Jameson, grinning, followed him, a light feeling in his chest.

++++++++++++++++++++

The next week passed without much happening. Chase quietly tried to think about how to deal with the Circle, just trying to come up with ideas on his own. But none of his ideas were any good. In fact, some of them were pretty dumb. Like, storming city hall with nerf guns and baseball bats was really stupid and would get them in major trouble.

Nobody else had any ideas, either. Schneep kept asking Chase to text the others to ask, and every time Chase tried, he basically got back a lot of ‘I got nothing, sorry.’ Until, one Friday when he texted JJ and Marvin’s number asking, and got a different response. Hey Chase its Marvin. I still dont know what to do about the Circle but i think i have a spell to protect us from Anti! I was thinking we could meet on sunday or something to do it and maybe we could do it at your house so i can also cast a protection spell over that place! Ive already done it on me and Jjs house.

And so, the group made arrangements to meet at Chase’s house on Sunday. Mom had a work meeting on that day, too, so they’d be able to talk about the Circle and Anti without worrying about her overhearing—and Mom would’ve asked Jackie to babysit anyway, so they only needed everyone else to arrange to come over as well. And that was easily done.

Jackie arrived first, then the twins, then Stacy. Soon, they were all gathered in the living room, standing around awkwardly. “So... how does your magic work, Marvin?” Schneep asked.

“Well, that’s where this comes in.” Marvin held up a book, its cover protected by a plastic wrap. “I got this from the library! It has all sorts of spells! I tried a couple in our house, and one of them seemed to work? But I felt really tired afterwards, so...” He slowly lowered the book. “Um... can we get food or something first? And... hang out a bit before I like... fucking pass out?”

The others glanced around. “Of course we can, Marvin,” Jackie said. “Chase’s mom gave me money for takeout. What do you guys want to order?”

“Oh! Can we get pizza from Queen Cleo’s?” Chase asked.

JJ frowned. I don’t really feel like pizza right now... It’s kind of greasy.

“Yeah, and it’s a lot of food,” Stacy said. “I’m not that hungry.”

“Aw.” Chase slumped, disappointed. “Well... I dunno what else to get, then.”

“Ah... Aunt Jess ordered something a while ago,” Schneep said slowly. “They were... dumplings?”

“Like, Chinese food?” Marvin asked. “I’ve never tried Chinese food. JJ hasn’t either. When we were little our parents ordered some and gave us some of the chicken and we both really didn’t like it. It was weird. Like... fruity.”

“You guys probably tried orange chicken,” Jackie said. “I’m sure you’d like other Chinese dishes. We can order plain rice, at least. Uh... Schneep, do you know if Jess kept the menu for that place?”

“Yes, it should be in the kitchen.”

Jackie found the menu, which had the restaurant’s name (Dumpling Mama) and phone number on it. The kids passed around the menu until they all decided what they wanted, and then Jackie dialed and placed the order. Then they all sat down in the living room to wait, playing some more Sonic to pass the time.

“I like the cat lady,” Stacy said. “Her design is pretty.”

“That’s Blaze,” Chase said.

“Blaze? Like fire?” Stacy gasped excitedly. “Does she have fire powers?!”

Fire is evil in this game so I don’t think so, Jameson said.

Chase grinned. Schneep glanced at him and narrowed his eyes. “What does that grin mean?”

“Whaaaat?”

“You make that grin when you know something in a story that someone else does not.”

“No I don’t.” Chase fought back the grin trying to widen.

“I know you have played this game before. What do you know?”

“Noooothing.”

I guess we’ll just have to keep playing to find out, JJ said. We have to be getting close to the end!

“Hm... yeah, I think so?” Chase said, trying to remember what happened in the game. “There’s like... a special ending section that makes it longer than you think. But no spoilers!”

Jackie grinned. “I like how you guys are enjoying this game. Kids my age don’t really like it. My friend Fengge got a copy and he got really frustrated and gave up.”

“Really? I guess some of it can be kinda annoying and shitty,” Marvin said. “Like, if I ever hear ‘it’s no use’ again I’m gonna pull my fucking hair out. And JJ says the vehicles kinda suck.” JJ nodded. “But it’s still pretty fun! And I think the characters are cool! Most of them, I guess, that redheaded lady is pretty boring—”

The lights overhead flickered.

Chase looked up to the ceiling light. “Huh. What’s up with that?”

“Maybe there’s something weird happening with the power?” Jackie suggested. “You should probably save the game.”

“Yeah, good idea. I just gotta finish this stage first—”

The lights went off. And then the TV and game system did as well. “No!” Chase shouted, the others crying out in distress along with him.

Marvin conjured up a ball of greenlight to illuminate the room. “Dude! That fucking sucks!”

“You guys fucking suck!”

The voice was joined by the electronic whine of white noise. A shivering shadow appeared behind the sofa, and hands reached out for Chase—

Jackie shouted and grabbed the TV remote, throwing it at the shadow—the shadow which was, of course, Anti.The remote smacked against the side of his head and a pair of glowing green eyes glared at Jackie. His shadowy form disappeared, but the staticky noise continued.

Chase scrambled to his feet, and the others were right behind him. “Where are you?!” Stacy gasped, looking around. “Wh-what are you doing here?!”

“Are you here to fuck with us some more, bitch?!” Marvin yelled. “We’re tired of your shit!”

“I’m tired of your shit!” 

A bolt of green lightning flashed through the air from the ceiling light, striking Marvin from behind and knocking him to the ground. JJ screamed out, kneeling next to him and making sure he’s alright. “You bastard!” Jackie shouted, spinning around as he tried to find where Anti had gone off to. “Why would you do that?!”

Anti reappears, hovering in the air above the TV. “You guys aren’t going after the Circle, that’s why!”

Marvin groaned and pushed himself to his hands and knees, glaring at Anti. “We’re not playing your game.”

“Yes!” Schneep grabbed the lamp from the end table, unplugging it and getting ready to swing it like a baseball bat. “We quit your stupid game!”

“This isn’t the type of game you can quit, dummies!” Anti hissed. “The Circle’s not gonna let you quit! They’re gonna keep coming for you! Even if you’re too scared to go after them! They grabbed Marvin for no reason!”

They grabbed him cause of YOU! Jameson signed furiously.

“They would’ve grabbed any of you if you ended up in the hospital!” Anti snapped. “It’s not just cause of me!”

JJ’s eyes went wide. He pointed at Anti accusingly. You DO understand me!

Anti froze like a little kid caught in a lie. “I—I never learned sign language!” He insisted. “I dunno how I know that!”

“You’re a big jerk!” Stacy shouted. “We’re quitting your game! Do you hear me?! We don’t want to play anymore!”

Anti recoiled as if Stacy had physically hit him. Then he glared. “None of you get to quit! You don’t get to quit! This isn’t over! This will never be over!” The shouting escalated into a screech and then Anti disappeared. The TV turned on, static crawling across its screen, and green lightning darted down from the ceiling light again. Jameson grabbed Marvin and pulled him to the side, barely avoiding the bolt, and Marvin quickly conjured up a dome-shaped shield around the group—just in time to block more bolts.

“Throwing a tantrum isn’t going to change our minds!” Chase shouted.

“Chase, don’t,” Jackie hissed, eyes darting around. “All of you, stop shouting at him! You’re all egging him on!”

A shadow slammed against Marvin’s shield, clawing wildly at it. Marvin yelped and pushed forward. The shield turned into a wall that pushed the shadow away. “I think we should leave the house!” Marvin shouted.

“Yep!” Jackie grabbed Chase and Schneep by their arms and started running for the doorway, leaving the others to run after him.

Green lightning appeared in lines blocking the door, a cage over their way out. More electricity covered the windows and the stairs. “You guys aren’t leaving until you know the rules of this game!” Anti shouted, his voice bouncing around the room. “You don’t get to quit! You don’t get to quit! Nobody does!”

More electricity shot out from the ceiling lamp, launching itself at the group and wrapping around them. Chase instinctively cried out, expecting to be shocked, but there was no pain. Just discomfort as he got crushed against the others. “H-holy—!” He gasped.

“You cannot trap us here!” Schneep shouted.

Anti appeared again, hovering above the coffee table in the living room. A green glow wrapped around his body. “Well you guys can’t leave!” he snapped. “You have to keep playing!”

“Oh my gosh, shut up!” Stacy shouted. “Just shut up! You’re worse than my sister when she wants to do stuff, and she’s seven years old!”

Anti screeched again—and that staticky noise screeched along with him.

Marvin winced at the sound, but then he took a deep breath. A greenlight fan appeared in front of him and sliced through the electric rope holding the group together. “New plan! Get Anti to fucking stop!”

JJ nodded. He started to run into the kitchen—

Anti threw his hand out. Green light wrapped around JJ and lifted him into the air, holding him upside down as he kicked his legs wildly. Jackie gasped, and looked around for some sort of weapon. The closest item were the kids’ shoes, which they’d taken off once they came into the house, kicking them to the side of the door. Jackie grabbed his boots and threw them both at Anti. They hit him in the chest one after another—Smack! SMACK!—and Anti lost his concentration. JJ started to fall, but Marvin caught him with a similar spell and flipped him over upright again before gently putting him down. JJ nodded at him in thanks and ran into the kitchen.

Meanwhile, Schneep, Stacy, and Chase were running farther into the living room, rushing right under Anti’s nose. Chase looked around for his baseball bat or nerf gun—he had to have left one of them in here!

Stacy gathered up some DVD cases and started chucking them at Anti. His head turned to look at her and he started teleporting through the room, moving so fast that he left a green glowing afterimage for a few seconds. Stacy got a bit confused and tried throwing a few at the afterimages—but she’d distracted Anti long enough for Schneep to grab the table lamp again. He whirled the power cord, spinning it in a circle, then threw it in the air. The plug went in a wide arc and eventually wrapped around Anti’s ankle.

Anti growled. He grabbed the cord and green lightning raced downwards. Schneep quickly let go of the lamp before it reached him—but the electricity arced away from the lamp and hit him anyway, throwing him backwards into the shelf of video games. Cased crashed down onto him and he laid there, not moving.

“NO!” Chase screamed. His head snapped to Anti. Hot rage filled his chest, spurring him onward, spurring him to action! He climbed onto the coffee table and jumped upwards, grabbing onto Anti.

“What?!” Anti yelped. He grabbed Chase’s arms and tried to pry them off from around his waist, and when that didn’t work, he tried kicking him off. But Chase stood firm, and slowly, his weight pulled Anti to the ground—where he finally remembered he could teleport and disappeared from Chase’s arms and reappeared over by the kitchen.

Where Jameson rushed out and stabbed him in the back with a kitchen knife.

Anti screamed in pain and collapsed forward. Jameson pulled the knife out and quickly backed up, looking shaken and scared of what he’d done. Anti hadn’t been in pain when he stabbed him last time!

Marvin rushed forward, wrapping Anti in greenlight rope, pinning him down to the ground with them. “S-stay down!”

“Guys, the door!” Jackie gasped. The bars of lightning blocking the door and windows had disappeared. “We gotta get out of here!”

“No!” Anti shouted, eyes going wide. “No, you can’t leave!”

“God, shut up dude!” Marvin snapped. “Don’t you get it? We don’t want to be here! You can’t make someone do something they don’t want to do! That’s—that’s fucking mean!”

Anti inhaled sharply. “I—I-I’m not mean!”

“Are you kidding me?! Of course you are!” Marvin folded his arms. “If you try to make someone do something they don’t want, that’s mean! And that’s what you’re doing right now!”

“I’m not mean!” Anti thrashed about in his bindings. “I’m not mean! I’m not—I-I’m not a bully!”

“Yeah you fucking are!”

“Marvin, stop!” Jackie stepped up next to him. “You’re just making things worse.”

Marvin shut his mouth, but he kept glaring at Anti as he writhed around.

“Dude, just give up.” Chase said, walking over. But then he hesitated and glanced back over his shoulder. “Schneep? You okay?”

Stacy was helping Schneep to his feet. “I-I am okay,” Schneep said. “I will have bruises, but th-that is f-fine.”

Chase softened. “Do you... need any bandaids or something?”

“I will be fine, Chase.” Schneep gave him a shaky smile. “You were going to say something to Anti, go on.”

“Alright.” Chase turned back to Anti, who was staring up at him, clearly waiting. “Look, just give up. We’re never going to listen to you. Not after what you’ve done to Marvin and JJ. So you should just leave. Because if you keep trying to fight us, you’re going to keep losing! You can’t fight all of us! Not when we work together!” That last part was probably a bit cheesy, on second thought. But too late to take it back now!

Anti stared at him quietly. He began to shake slightly. “I... I’m not going to lose,” he whispered. “I’m not going to lose. I—I’m gonna fight. I’m not going to give up. I’m not going to give up!”

Lightning shot out from his body, and everyone covered their eyes and faces. When they looked again, Anti was gone, the lightning having sliced through Marvin’s greenlight ropes. He had teleported over to the center of the room, where he was kneeling on the coffee table, pressing both hands against its surface. A green glow started to trace the grain of the wood.

“No no no stop!” Stacy gasped. She ran forward, and so did Chase and Jackie—

But they weren’t fast enough. The green glow grew brighter, and suddenly an explosion of force pushed them back. Chase landed hard on his back, but he scrambled up as fast as he could.

There was a crack in the coffee table surface. Small, but... that shape... that’s familiar... 

“A Fissure!” Marvin gasped.

Anti looked down at it. He reached up to his neck and ran his hand across his throat, gathering a handful of blood, which he flicked into the Fissure. “I’m not gonna lose, I’m not gonna lose,” he mumbled. “You guys aren’t gonna beat me. No one’s gonna beat me.”

“Anti, what are you doing!?” Jackie pulled himself upright using the sofa.

“I’m getting more greenlight!”

“Y-you make the Fissures?!” Stacy gasped.

For a second, Anti looked hesitant, unsure. Then his expression hardened. “Yeah! I-I just figured out how to do that right now! I could do this whenever!” He looked up at them. “So you all better watch out!”

Deep within the Fissure on the table, something green glinted. They should have been able to see the carpeted floor through the cracked table surface, but instead the Fissure extended into blackness, and eventually glowing green light. And that green glow is getting closer!

“Anti! Get away from that!” Jackie suddenly dove at him—but passed right through him. And right after that, the green light shot out of the Fissure, hitting Anti in the face. But he wasn’t hurt by it. Instead, the green glow around his body grew stronger and stronger, the static noise growing louder.

Anti slowly raised into the air. His eyes were all green, completely consumed by the light. Bolts of electricity shot randomly from his body, tiny arcs ending midair. Jameson tried to shield Marvin with his body, only for Marvin to make another shield in front of him in turn. Chase grabbed onto Schneep, who was staring with wide eyes, and Stacy ducked behind the armchair to hide while Jackie watched in frozen shock—until he seemed to get distracted by something on the ground. 

“I'͡m n̡ot goįn͡g to ́l̨ose,” Anti said, his voice crackling with static. “I̸'m͝ n̢o҉t̴ ͟g͡oing ̷to—!̧”

And then the front door opened.

Everyone’s heads turned at once. Even Anti’s. All of them stared at the woman in the doorway, her hand still on the doorknob. Her purse fell from her hand as she stared back in absolute shock.

“Mom?!” Chase’s mouth fell open in surprise.

“...what the...” Mom whispered, otherwise at a loss for words.

Anti promptly disappears. The lights, TV, and game console all turned on again the moment he was gone. Stacy promptly popped up from her hiding space. “Um—Mrs. Brody, I-I swear—there’s an explanation for this! A-a reasonable one!”

Mom didn’t answer. She was still in shock. After a bit, she rubbed her eyes and managed to wake up enough to push the door closed and pick up her purse, draping it over the end of the staircase banister. “...what the hell?” she whispered, her voice barely audible.

“Mom!” Chase scrambled over. “I—” What was he supposed to do?! What was he supposed to say to this?! “I can explain!” Can he?!

“Chase...? Henrik?” Mom looked down at the two of them. “What’s... Was that... Did you see that... green thing too?”

Behind Chase, Schneep was frozen, trembling and afraid. Chase quickly backed up and gently wrapped his arms around him. Schneep clung to him immediately. “Y-yeah. We saw that, that... was real.” Chase glanced back at the other kids.

Jackie got to his feet. He was holding something in his hands. “Um... Hi, Ms. Walker. So... I-I guess... it’s time we told you, huh?”

“Nn—!” Schneep shook his head, tightening his grip on Chase.

“Hen... it’s okay,” Chase whispered. “Mom’s not going to get mad at us.”

Mom’s shocked expression softened into concern. “I’m not, Henrik. No matter what’s going on here, I promise you won’t be punished.”

Schneep looked up at her. He swallowed a lump in his throat. “You... promise?”

“I do.” Mom smiled gently. “And you know I don’t break promises, right?”

Schneep nodded slowly. He stayed quiet, but looked up at Chase with wide, pleading eyes. Chase knew that Schneep wanted him to explain. And he would do that. Strange... Chase used to have to look further down to meet his eyes. Schneep was starting to get taller.

Chase took a deep breath. He looked at the others. “Um... Marvin? JJ? Stacy? Do you... want to stay for this?”

The twins glanced at each other, then back at Chase. Both of them nodded. We can explain some things if you’ve forgotten them, JJ said. 

“Yeah, JJ’s memory is really good,” Marvin said.

So is yours, Marvin! Just not for school stuff.

“Ha. Thanks, JJ.” Marvin smiled.

Stacy sighed. “Well... My parents can’t pick me up until later, anyway. And honestly, I’d like to hear some of the stuff that happened during summer again.”

“...what happened during the summer?” Mom asked, sounding worried.

“Maybe you should sit down, Mom,” Chase said, taking her hand and pulling her to the sofa.

“Did you guys break the coffee table?!” Mom gasped, shocked.

“Uh, no, we didn’t,” Chase said. “That was Anti.”

“...Who?” Mom asked, sitting down on the sofa.

Chase sat down next to her. “I guess this started that day I met Jackie again...”

[cult-of-the-eye]

Ok I'm gonna do it. I'm gonna make the new hyperfixation post:

CRIMINAL MINDS:

I started watching it cause I was on the internet during the Dr Reid thirst trap era and let's just say a scrawny motherfucker with autism is the surefire way to get me to watch something

Especially when everyone is going through the horrors

I am in love with the format of the show, with the whole quotes and then different characters saying the quotes and the isolated cases with the slight hints of more background for each of the characters it's really keeping me going

I'm not great with gore and shit but like it's got shitty 2000s CGI so like it's easy to tell myself it's just actors with fake blood

Also listen I had to tap into my 9 yr old undiagnosed autistic obsessed with psychopaths phase at some point

It just tickles the right parts of my brain

Anyway the characters are why I stuck around

Gideon <3333 I love that strange walrus looking man I love how he's simultaneously such an emotional rock for everyone in the BAU but also dealing with his own things, he goes into each of the crimes with such calmness and compassion and I just love that weird old man especially when he introduced himself as Jason to the little girl he was saving in that one episode, i was like HE'S MAKING HIMSELF SEEM LIKE LESS OF A THREAT BY INTRODUCING HIMSELF WITH HIS FIRST NAMEEEE, HE'S TRYING TO PUT HER AT EASE

Hotch oh man it was one scene specifically that literally started my brainrot for this guy, I wasn't that into him in the first couple of episodes and then it was revealed that he was horrifically abused by his dad and actively chose to go into a pathway that would catch people like that and people who get abused and then go on to abuse others and I just. AH. i am such a sucker for any character who has endured things that no one ever should endure at the hands of another human being and then instead of becoming completely bitter and taking the eye for an eye mindset, they vow to make sure the cycle stops with them and they may not be all sunshine and daisies and instead rough a lot of the times but they do it and they do it realistically

He's got a wife and a kid!!! He did it!! He made a better life for himself and it makes me feel like I could too, he's so strong and I feel like my strength can one day be used for more than just survival

Elle!!!! God I love her I feel like she's so realistic for a woman in her field, she's smart and strong and capable and she acknowledges all the things she has going against her, she's compassionate to the female rape victims, she gets furious at the people targeting women in particular what i would do to be this woman's friend

Reid. Oh lord. Listen I'm not on the thirst trap train but I do understand the love for this guy. My love for him however stems from the autism. The whole wanting to be useful and only knowing how to through interests and hyperfixations and feeling like he's missing out on some things cause he's different

It was the hostage situation on the train that got to me he was just so REAL and it's so awesome to see autistic people succeed in stuff like this

It's also nice to see him accepted by the team for who he is

I do also like him cause he's cool but it's easier to explain the autism stuff

Garcia - wonderful amazing spectacular I love me a confident woman in stem

Morgan - i like how he's sort of the "cool guy" archetype but his whole thing is getting into the mind of the UnSub I feel like it gives him more depth

JJ - god she's so cool and calm under pressure I love her

So yeah. The BAU is my new comfort character crew I'm taking Elle with me everywhere

But also do I have major issues with the idea of behavioural analysis in crime? Absolutely. It is so insanely subjective the way they're going off of probability, the way their precedent probably lacks temporal validity and also population validity with both the androcentrism and ethnocentrism it does feel wrong to be coming to such a conclusion about the UnSub so quickly and decisively, even though I understand their whole thing is getting there quickly. I just know that categorising human behaviour is never as simple as it seems.

Do I think they tackle some of these issues in the show? Sort of. Am I also aware this is a fictional drama TV show and it may not be that deep? Yes.

Anyway

[le-trash-prince]

Food as a Motif in This Love Doesn't Have Long Beans Part 5

Part 4

The breakfast episode! I was very excited to see both of our couples get breakfast scenes this week, since breakfast has a level of domesticity to it that lunch and dinner sometimes lack. Breakfast scenes are often kept between lovers or family- people who would naturally be around first thing in the morning.

So now that Oab and Plawan have had their granita, we get to see Plawan making breakfast for Oab the next morning, and we get our daily recommended serving of gay bread.

I feel like this is a rather sweet gesture from Plawan, considering his panic the night before over having slept with someone that he's trying to scam. There's a level of care that goes into cooking for someone this early in the morning, even if it's a simple dish like this. Frankly, this is a far cry from the person in episode 1, who invited his agent to coffee only to ask her to cover the bill. Although he's still a beginner, Plawan is starting to discover the joy behind cooking for other people.

We now have a pretty solid pattern of Oab and Plawan feeding each other in turns, but it's always Oab giving Plawan one dish and Plawan giving Oab another dish--they haven't shared the same food yet, which, again, means that even though they're getting closer to each other, they haven't fully connected. They're in a pattern of flirting back and forth without finding a mutual balance.

So this sweet moment is then disrupted by Oab's work brain: he immediately begins critiquing the dish rather than simply letting himself enjoy it. Work gets in the way of the meal, just as it is getting in the way of their relationship. Plawan asks Oab if he likes him, and Oab tells him to wait until things with the restaurant have settled down.

But, in spite of his own doubts, Oab still makes an attempt to get closer to Plawan later in the episode, under the guise of taking the team out for dinner.

Oab gets the connective power of food.

And Kluer does, too.

But Methas's contract gets in the way of Oab and Plawan's development, the same way it does every time. After initially accepting, Plawan turns down the dinner invitation, leaving Oab to eat with Kluer and Punsib.

Punsib came here to eat, and he's gonna eat. In fact, he's the only one happily digging into the food. Kluer merely picks at the vegetables, ignoring the pork, and he comments directly on the fact that Oab isn't eating anything at all.

If eating with someone forms a connection, then not eating with them shows distrust and a lack of care, and it can damage a relationship. Not only is Plawan and Oab's relationship put under stress by Plawan's absence, but Kluer and Oab's relationship also becomes very strained as Kluer makes his intentions towards Plawan known. After this failed dinner outing, things only get worse at the restaurant.

Meanwhile, Methas and JJ get their own breakfast scene. JJ arrives at Methas' house, finds him buried in work, and it occurs to him to ask whether Methas has even taken time for breakfast. To which Methas responds that he only ever has coffee for breakfast. This falls in line with Methas' money-oriented mindset, since he would rather be making money as early in the day as possible, instead of stopping to eat. Methas' mindset of valuing money over people isn't limited to just other people- he considers money to be more important than his own health.

Luckily JJ is there to teach him otherwise. Again, there's a level of care that goes into making breakfast for someone, and it's immediately obvious how little care Methas has had in his life, based on both his response to JJ cooking for him, and the way he says he's "never eaten breakfast" in his life.

^ absolutely the face of a smitten man who's just had someone make him breakfast for the first time ever

JJ has only set up a place-setting for one because his intention is not to share a meal with Methas. His goal is to show Methas that people can be genuinely selfless, and this is just another example of that. He doesn't expect this to help him get closer to Methas, he just wants Methas to learn about doing nice things for other people.

But Methas is quick to stop him and invite him to sit. And after taking a single bite, he immediately compliments JJ and starts to ask about his life. And what does JJ do? He picks up a fork from the plate of fruit.

Let me tell y'all I never had so many feelings about a damn fork before. Because it's the way JJ doesn't even realize he's picked the fork up. He sets it down and tries to pull back, only to immediately pick it up again. JJ keeps being drawn into Methas' orbit in much the same way. Even though he tells himself he only thinks of Methas as a client, he stays later than he needs to, he makes him breakfast, and when he's not trying to bite Methas' head off... he catches himself actually enjoying being around him.

They were SO close to forming a connection here. JJ agrees with Methas about how much he has to take care of Plawan, JJ smiles... and then Methas offers to buy a clinic for him.

JJ has made breakfast for Methas, a domestic act of service, and Methas turns it into a moment to keep their relationship on a transactional level. And JJ immediately, definitively puts the fork down. "Are you planning to invest in me and squeeze profits from me every day?" From that point on, the conversation turns into another argument, and the connection is gone.

We are now more than halfway through a show about food, and neither of the main couples have had a proper meal together yet. Will we be seeing something different on Friday, or will the conflicts only deepen?

[absolutebl]

This Week in BL - Getting hot under the collar and in the kitchen and on the pool table and...

Organized, in each category, with ones I'm enjoying most at the top.

Aug 2024 Week 3

Ongoing Series - Thai

Monster Next Door (Thai Thurs Gaga ) eps 3-4 of 12 - one of the things I'm enjoying about this show is the fact that the introverted super shy uke is having hot fantasies, and the extroverted seme is having the sweet fantasies. It's another way this show is highlighting God being the world's greenest flagged seme BL has ever produced. (And he's being given stiff competition this year - trend alert.)

Anygay: God is so cute and so not cool and so in love and all the consent asking word salad coming out of this boy. I LOVE him. 

Diew: It’s ep 4 so I’ve decided we can talk face-to-face.  God: So how many children do you want? 

The teaching him to play basketball bit, where God politely asks to hold his hand, is so freaking adorable I can’t.

I'm thinking of calling this show the anti-Mame pill.

Blue pill? Red pill? GREEN pill!

My Love Mix-Up Th (Fri YT) ep 11 of 12 - We gotta talk. I do like this version, but it’s starting to feel lackluster. Perhaps it always was by comparison to the bright sparkle uniqueness of the original. Perhaps I didn't notice because I was distracted by G4. But now I gotta say it's become a bit disappointing and even my love for G4 can’t seem to bind me to this. Frankly, this show is making me want to watch either the Japanese version, or My School President. It’s never a good sign when a currently airing BL makes me want to stop that and go rewatch an old one I’ve already seen.

NO SINGING.

Meanwhile, the "locked on the rooftop" trope! I haven’t seen that one in years. Cool. Also cute kisses. They learning. 

This Love Doesn't Have Long Beans (Fri iQIYI) ep 7 of 8 - I can’t believe this is ending next week. But also I can. And I have thoughts.

I really love SailubPon. They might be one of my favorite newer pairs on the scene right now. But I just don’t believe in these characters or this couple. I don’t feel like they are going to have a lasting relationship. It feels like they’re just using each other for sex and distraction, and that’s how the script to set it up, and as a result they’re never gonna make it as a couple. As soon as the sexual fire between them burns out, what do they have to build a relationship on? Frankly? That would be fine if this were a modern love drama, and not a BL. But this IS a BL.

Putting the health code violators aside, I really do believe in the secondary pair, but they haven’t been given enough bandwidth to develop as a couple. There’s no way they’re going to adequately resolve Methas and JJ in the final episode.

At this juncture, I’m mostly finding this show annoying. Which in itself is annoying, because I wanted to love it.

Why is it that Thailand, the land of the best food in the world, king of BLs, struggles so hard to produce the restaurant set BL of my dreams? I’m really pissed about this.

That said, the Methas & JJ stuff is killer. Loved JJ running away. So good. Plus the age old decision - love or money? 

Battle of the Writers (Sun YT) ep 2-3 of 12 - The issue was me and I've managed to get hold of this show again. The story within the story is so ridiculously badly written I'm going spare. I’m not sure if the outside show is not ALSO badly written. That said, I do love how the 3 writer friends are all shipping our leads. It’s VERY silly. Meanwhile, cohabitation trope is a go. 

I like the side couple too. Stern Daddy + lost puppy is a very cute dynamic, I hope we get more than just crumbs. I actually am enjoying this show now. Ep 3 kinda derailed into this weird chimera novel that they’re all writing together and I’m finding that bit the least interesting, but I adore the domestic components which I think may turn out to be TutorYim's strength (if they're allowed to lean into it). 

Addicted Heroin (Thai Tues WeTV) ep 1 of 10 - Man I hope this gets some kind of distribution at some point. It was a pain to find and watch. But I enjoyed it. The focus is more on the seme in Thailand’s version. Which I don’t mind since that's rare in BL, and it’s more August on my screen. It’s all round softer than China’s version but still feels very familiar. I know some fans are struggling with it, but not me.

Sunset X Vibes (Sat iQIYI) ep 10 of 12 - I like that Sam’s crafty business espionage has paid off. Them teasing Sam & Yo really had me belly laughing. It was so funny.

Legitimate question. Would one put perfume on one’s cheeks in Thailand, as one does on wrist or sternum? Because of the sniff cheek thing? Scented face powders?

I do feel like with MosBank & SailubPon scorching up our screens, we’re being spoiled by some of Thailand‘s best high heat pairs at the moment.

I Saw You in My Dream (Weds Gaga) ep 5 of 12 - It remains kind of sweet and cute. It's also calm and slow moving. Oddly it reminds me of La Cuisine in its style and execution (if not content). I’m enjoying it more than I thought I would.

The Trainee (Sun YouTube) ep 7 of 12 - I don’t know. I’m getting bored.

Love Sea (Sun iQIYI) ep 10fin - Fort’s acting during the break-up was truly great. But I feel for Rak. It’s rough to learn that someone else is playing a long game with feelings while you were playing a short game with d**k.

Ultimately this is probably a solid 8/10 show but I’m mad I wasn’t madder at it, and I'm mad I was so bored throughout. So it gets a 7/10 and let us not speak of this again. I’d like to simply forget about it. Trash watch.

Ongoing Series - Not Thai

Sugar Dog Life (Japan Sun grey) ep 1-2 of 10 - OMG a uni student who looks young and a... COP! GAH. The subversion and kink of it all. I had to go grey to get it and I hate everything about what I had to do. But ya know what? Fucking worth every single repeated crash-causing advertisement.

I love it. The grumpy lonely little student cook and the cheerful mature police officer. What a fabulous dynamic. Is the cook looking for a boyfriend or a Daddy, and do we care if it has the same result? It is filmed VERY manga style camp. I’m a little nervous about that, but this means it’s also very fluffy and so damn sweet. It made me squeak with the cute. I’m gutted this didn’t get distribution.

Ironic that Tawada Hideya is in a new BL while Sunspot is re-airing.

Cosmetic Playlover (Japan Tues Gaga) eps 3-4 of 8 - Ah, the gays are doubting the bisexual again. How familiar. I like how this one is paced and moving through time, even if the relationship seems to be going comparatively slowly by contrast. I love the way Sahashi is always looking at Natsume, even when they’re in conversation with someone else. Ah yearning. I think the conflict was kind of inevitable, given the two personalities of the protagonists, and I like that. (No manufactured angst here.) But I still hope they can repair the breach and I’m still interested. Frankly this is so classically Japan - I don’t know what story beats it’s following and I’m not entirely sure where it’s going, but I kinda like that unpredictability. Makes me think it could go into "must you, Japan?" territory but fingers crossed.

I Hear the Sunspot AKA Hidamari ga Kikoeru (Japan Weds Gaga) ep 9 of 10 - I'm enjoying it very much. I could do without the girl character. I know she’s more interesting than most (this is Japan after all), but she’s not really for me. It’s the complexity of the connection between the leads (and why they like each other) that’s being executed so brilliantly in this show (and in the manga, FYI). Both actors are so on point with their roles and the nuanced emotions required of these characters that every time it’s only them interacting I'm riveted. I could do without the rest of the cast tho.

Seoul Blues (Korea Fri? YouTube) ep 1 of 8 - I have a confession to make, I’ve been watching this whole series as it goes along. But this is the pair I absolutely like the most. I’m not sure I would necessarily recommend any of the installments, and I’m not sure how this one is going to go, but I’m VERY invested in this particular couple. They are so pretty!!!! This is a true friends-to-lovers struggle. I like that a lot. (Reminds me of I Cannot Reach You but a different dynamic.) Did I mention how pretty they are? And we already know they gonna kiss well. I bet the uncut version is stellar.

Meet You at the Blossom (China) - It's no one's funeral, turns out! Reports are in - not only are there kisses but it ends happily with wedding plans. So I'm eating crow, binging the fucker, and live blogging. I'm enjoying it. Ya'll know I adored Chinese BL before censorship. It has a certain unhinged quality I very much apreciate (and is the reason I'm so tolerant of the Thai pulps) that I think will marry well with Wuxia's effervescent and ever-present tropes. Watch me suffer here.

First Note Of Love (Taiwan Mon Gaga) eps 1-2 of 12 - About a singer with stage fright and his timid fan starring Charles (H4 the puppy one) and Michael Chang (the youngster in My Tooth Your Love), plus side couple featuring a Thai actor Jame (Koh in Gen Y) and Liu Min Ting (of Guardian fame). What a damn team. With their powers combined they are...

fine.

This is a fine BL. The fight scene was fun and I like the meet cute. I’m not sure about the chemistry of the leads, but I think they’ll probably do okay. I admit I’m struggling a bit with a singing and the music. Are you surprised? I think I like it enough, but I’m not wowed.

Takara's Treasure AKA Takara No Vidro (Japan Mon Gaga) ep 7 of 10 - Oh! Out of the blue attack kiss. What IS this show? I don’t get it at all. Bah. I guess they’re dating now. It’s… so odd...

It's airing but...

4 Minutes (Thai Netflix/Grey) - A rich boy at uni suddenly gains the supernatural power to see four minutes into the future. I have a source, but I've decided to hold off and binge if it ends okay, since it's only 8 eps. I depend upon y'all to tell me if it's safe.

8/16 The Last Time (Thai Fri YT) ? eps - Convoluted story of loss and possible reincarnation or something. Again delayed? Not sure what's going on with this one but the continued push-backs do not bode well.

In case you missed it

The Time of Fever AKA Unintentional Love Story 2 (Korea movie) trailer IS COMING IN SEPTEMBER!!!! (Yeah this is gonna sit here until then).

Next Week Looks Like This:

Upcoming BLs for 2024 are listed here. This list is not kept updated, so please leave a comment if you know something new or RP with additions.

Still Coming This Month!

8/22 The On1y One (Taiwan Thurs Gaga) 12 eps - announced in 2023 this one has a high school set stepbrothers trope and is reputed to be high heat. From Taiwan! It's made for me. Based on a novel Mou Mou from the Your Name Engraved Herein folks, so it could go dark. Still, I'm very excited.

8/22 The Paradise of Thorns (Thai movie) theater release - Jeff Satur is back but this does not look like a BL (the gay lover's death is the inciting event). More in Goodbye Mother vein. Looks dark and dramatic. He opposite and extremely well known actor Toey Pongsakorn who has never done gay before.

THIS WEEK’S BEST MOMENTS

WHY IS HE SO FINE?

I truly belly laughed. Sam & Yo did not go in the direction I expected, but this scene alone made me not mind that they curtailed the suffering Sam was rightfully due. (SunsetXVibes)

Tall boyfriend armpit, anyone? (Monster Next Door)

The two extremes of BL in one show (Long Beans indeed).

(Last week)

Streaming services are listed by how I (usually) watch, which is with a USA based IP, and often offset by a day because time zones are a pain.

The tag BLigade: @doorajar @solitaryandwandering @my-rose-tinted-glasses @babymbbatinygirl @babymbbatinygirl @isisanna-blog @mmastertheone @pickletrip @aliceisathome @urikawa-miyuki @tokillamonger @sunflower-positiiivity @rocketturtle4 @blglplus @anythinggoesintheshire @everlightly @renafire @mestizashinrin @bl-bam-beyond @small-dark-and-delicious @saezurumurmurs

Sigh, Tumblr in its infinite wisdom doesn't like too many tags.

[stcrgazings]

honestly, I know im mostly an f1 blog now, but I finished obx4 pt 2 and I need to vent. SPOILERS AHEAD

I knew JJ was gonna die, since like chapter 8 because the way they screw up his character so bad in the span of 10 episodes, that I just knew there wasn’t any coming back for that one but it just angers me so much, because he deserved so much better than what was given to him, honestly I would’ve rather that he and Kiara just left for their surf trip and never see them again than this.

I don’t know, whatever it is that happen between Maddie and Rudy but it is obviously so much more than what they let on and i think that sucks because it is part of their jobs to ACT like they like each other, part two had BARELY any scenes of them together, and JJ didn’t even looked like he actually liked Kiara and I’ve been saying this since part one, because my girl Kie fought for that relationship and JJ was just there, like when they said in part one that they’ve never even went to a date in 18 MONTHS, two years and a half and my man never even bothered to take his girlfriend for a date, and there was so much more that annoyed the living crap out of me, because what do you mean that he only told her that he loved her when he was dying, like bffr.

let’s talk about his death, now I hated the way that this scene went because it was completely anticlimactic and underwhelming in all aspects, because after everything, after JJ spent 4 seasons thinking he wasn’t enough, and didn’t have a future, and that he wasn’t worthy of anything he dies because his actor wouldn’t shoot scenes with a girl that used to be his best friend, because it’s just so unfair to fans that been through this show who used to love his character, his relationships not only with Kiara but with all the Pogues in general, for him to just get stabbed out of nowhere by his crappy father, his OTHER crappy ass father because he doesn’t have one but two suckers that deserve to die, I didn’t even understand what was going on, and Maddie’s acting was on point and it was great but it just felt so unnecessary, and annoying and unfair.

also the foreshadowing was crazy, might as well just tell me he is going to die with the “your luck is gonna run out one day” and “jj would be a great name for a kid” this was literally me 🧍🏼‍♀️🧍🏼‍♀️

Now, let’s talk about Jiara for a sec because this was a big issue for me too this season, If you know me you’ll know that I’ve been obsessed with the ship, since I first saw the show back in 2020, and this blog was actually supposed to be an obx blog, but yeah, I was obsessed with them since the beginning, but I truly would’ve rather them not ever getting together than this, or one kiss at the very end of the show and them going on their surf trip than this, because they deserved so much better than what was giving to them, Kiara doesn’t deserve to lose the only thing she’s got left and JJ deserved more than anything his happy ending.

Their whole thing felt forced, in both parts but even more in part two, because they acted like anything BUT a couple, an 18 month couple too because what do you mean they said goodbye with a handshake for godsake, an JJ was completely uninterested with Kiara whatsoever.

They spent two seasons telling us how much JJ tried with Kiara, how that door is locked bla bla bla, and then she’s his gf and he couldn’t give less of a fuck.

They made Kiara’s entire storyline JJ, and my girl had more chemistry in a scene where she almost stab Rafe cuz she was scared to death than in most of her scenes with JJ.

Also, in the last couple of episodes where JJ went completely mad and rogue, she was just there, and that pretty much sums up Kiara’s entire arc this season, she was just there, they are about to shoot her boyfriend and she’s like “no! Jj! Jayj!” 😟😟

Her boyfriend almost drowned and not a single tear was shed, she was just there sleeping and sitting like this 😟😟😟 and then they actually get to live and she doesn’t go to see if her boyfriend is really alive and well she just does this 😊 like are you serious right now??

And when JJ had that alcoholic episode in the boat, she didn’t even went to see him, she cares more about RAFE than him, not even one talk about her telling him he is worth it, he is deserving and that she loves him, might as well for him to be stranger to her rather than her boyfriend and friend for years.

But yeah, I think that’ll be all, I’ll pretend that season 4 doesn’t exist and I won’t even bother to watch season 5, we were robbed in all senses, I’ll keep leaving the Jiara life in AO3, where the writers are actually good and would’ve made a better season than this piece of crap, love y’all hope you find some peace and liked my rant that’s a little over the place 💗💗

[dmercer91]

ebug’s sister, dm91

part one / part two / part three

we're gonna ignore the drastic hair change and the fact that the people in pictures 2 and 3 look absolutely nothing alike despite being twins in the au

pictures saved from pinterest !

blakefriarr_

liked by jackhughes, lhughes_06 and 4,867 others

blakefriarr_: my brother's an ubug, episode 3! birthday edition!

jj was not actually the ebug for tonight's game, he's just a huge suck and he got me devs tickets for my (our) birthday cause he LOVESSSSS MEEEEE

he was gonna get me a mercer jersey and then i apparently offended him by drawing dicks on the printed pdf of his 10 commandments

i can't not provide context for these photos, it's my brand. so buckle up.

one is me after unwrapping the gift my dad got for jj and accidentally put my name on. yes that is fire. yes this was our father telling jj to go get an actual job. yes i laughed. yes i kept it.

the next two capture jj and i's entire relationship visually, and they are me wanting to drink out of a much too heavy, glass bottle without using my hands. jj was incredibly concerned for his safety as well as the condition the floor would be in after i inevitably dropped the bottle and got glass everywhere. however, that did not happen because i am actually god himself. next.

dawson looks very displeased with whatever he is looking at (they were winning?????? the puck was in the o zone?????? hisch had the puck?????? idek. maybe he's got digestive issues)

the boys are having a pre faceoff chat. dawson is eating his gloves.

view 525 comments..

jj.friar31: i want that torch back

→ blakefriarr_: tough shit james

→ drayanewman: HIS NAME IS JAMES?!?!?!?!?

user6543456: dawson eating his gloves just like jack

→ user93456: will ny is the original sporting goods eater

dawson1417: happy birthday <3 hope you had a good night

→ blakefriarr_: this comment squished my heart like a pimple in the best way

→ dawson1417: you're welcome? 😭

→ blakefriarr_: thank you, handsome <3

→ dawson1417: i understand the pimple comment. good lord.

dawson1417: now that we're done being cute i do NOT have DIGESTIVE ISSUES???

→ blakefriarr_: it's nothing to be ashamed of, daws. just a tummy ache :(

→ dawson1417: i did not have a tummy ache i am a grown man

→ blakefriarr_: shit ur right my bad you've got functional dyspepsia

→ dawson1417: i've got WHAT

user230237: this is so chaotic

user098765: i love that everyone just goes with this

dawson1417: final comment i promise but why is your shirt half see through

→ blakefriarr_: why ISN'T your shirt half see through 🤨

→ blakefriarr_: lemme have a look

→ jj.friar31: this is why you didn't get a jersey

→ blakefriarr_: @/dawson1417 can i have a jersey

→ dawson1417: @/blakefriarr_ i will get you one from every theme night as long as they've got my number on them

→ jj.friar31: you're a TRAITOR, dawson.

njdevils: happy birthday, blake!

→ jj.friar31: happy birthday blake AND JJ. IT'S MY BIRTHDAY TOO. I'M THE EBUG!!! I'M MORE SPECIAL

→ blakefriarr_: i wouldn't say more special but you're definitely a different flavour of special

→ blakefriarr_: also technically your birthday was yesterday so stop acting like a colossal piss baby

→ jackhughes: huh

→ blakefriarr_: i REALLY did not want out of there bro i was hanging on for dear life

→ jackhughes: oh shit i thought dad had mad game

→ quinnhughes: then they wouldn't be twins ?

→ blakefriarr_: oh my god one of them has a brain cell

→ quinnhughes: glad i could be of service, congrats on being whatever age it is that you are

lhughes_06: i was gonna say happy birthday and then you said i had less braincells than quinn.

→ blakefriarr_: correction- i said quinn had one (1) braincell. therefore implying that you have none <3

lhughes_06: happy birthday jj

→ blakefriarr_: and you WONDER why i like quinn better

jackhughes: you were born on this day 🎉 jj wasn't, i guess. but happy birthday to him

jj.friar31: @/blakefriarr_ thanks for pissing off 2/3 of the hughes' i needed that

→ blakefriarr_: you're welcome it was your birthday gift

→ blakefriarr_: but just cause i'm butthurt i'll leave you with the thought that ellen would probably like me better

nicohischier: happy birthday to you and jj, thank you for calling me something normal

→ blakefriarr_: kinda weird that you don't find cap normal do you have something to share with the class

→ nicohischier: no i am 24 and i do not attend class

dougieham: i would never in a million years have thought you two were twins before your first post i actually just assumed you'd hid behind him until you got to meet us and that there was no correlation

→ blakefriarr_: is it cause i am really cool and he is just jj

→ dougieham: no.

→ dougieham: well actually sort of

→ blakefriarr_: aw thanks dougie

→ dougieham: i said sort of

ryangraves27: my head made it into this one

→ blakefriarr_: i can't tell what tone of voice this was meant to be read in

→ blakefriarr_: like are you sad?? thrilled?? terrified?? should i crop you out next time?? emote please

→ ryangraves27: i think i will not

→ blakefriarr_: this comment made me call my therapist

→ jj.friar31: thanks man she needed this

→ blakefriarr_: remember when both of the gifts had my name on them and nobody was shocked and the first one was money and things i was actually interested in and the second one was a propane torch that nobody will ever use unironically (remember which one was meant for you?)

→ jj.friar31: while ur on the phone with her can you make me an appointment too

→ blakefriarr_: she made it right before mine in case you need more time.

→ jesperbratt: you're joking about the gift thing... right?

→ blakefriarr_: they paid his college tuition

→ jj.friar31: they paid for part of your car

→ blakefriarr_: i drive an '11 civic and the check engine light has been on for a year and a half

→ jj.friar31: they pay for your apartment

→ blakefriarr_: we live together???

→ jj.friar31: that is definitely a point

view more comments..

[onequeerhuman]

Caught up again- an emily prentiss/larissa weems fic

during an investigation that took the bau team to a Special school in Vermont, Emily runs into her one love she thought she lost forever while trying not to get wrapped up in the bs that is now her life and larissa grapples with the sudden re-appearance of the one who got away while dealing with yet another serial killer in her woods that threatened her precious school and it’s unique pupils.

pairing: Larissa weems x emily prentiss warnings: language, arguments, gruesome violence (like a typical c.m. episode), tension, angst, etc.

3.6k words

Chapter 1:

Emily sat with her team again in the round table room, waiting for penelope to introduce the latest crime that needed their attention. This was her life now, a typical tuesday, really… but maybe it’s become too much of her life.. She dosent know. Then again, with everyone telling her she needs to let off some steam, take a vacation, get laid, maybe she does know, but refuses to admit it ... oh well, who cares? It's no big deal anyway, shes lived this long she’ll be fine. she just has to get through this case and then her weekend- or whatever few days of the week it'll be- will be free to do as she pleases.. Which is mostly sleep, but that works. Emily is pulled from her thoughts when Penelope finally shows up and starts the debreif.

"Alright people, our next case is a series of murders, believed to be a serial killer in Jericho, vermont...”

Jericho? emily thinks man, I havent been there since... no, not gonna think about that now, em, dont. she disciplines herself before her focus is back on garcia and what she's saying

"..So this is their second serial killer in two years, which is part of why we’ve been called, also because the last killer was a hyde boy being controlled by a woman who groomed him."

There's a slight pause as everyone takes all this information in, before Penelope continues.

"Because of this, we'll all be having to take a quick refresher carse on outcasts with a member of our OCR(outcast crimes and relations) division, who's supposed to arrive in...5 minutes! Anyway, that's all l've got for you guys, buT I told SSA Oakley we’d be all Together in this room when she arrived, so…” pen shrugged, plopping down into her swivel chair next to where she was standing and fidgeting with her fluffy purple, sparkle pen.

There's yet another pause, a brief moment of silence while everyone processes this information and then it’s all over as soon as it began, the entire room envellopped in overlapping conversation. JJ talking about what she remembered when she worked with outcasts at the pentagon, rossi and Alvez asking a slew of questions, penelope and Tara gossiping over what they think having to work with outcasts will be like, matt babbling over them about professionalism and so on, and then there was Emily... Just... sitting there, in silence, Thinking. Contemplating, really, Because emily has more secrets than the team knows, and one of those is her status as an outcast herself, another being - no... she chastised herself again. were not thinking abat that right now,.. and so she didn’t, She thought about the case and her plan and not a moment later when JJ was asking why she was being so quiet,her answer was interrupted by a knock at the door, penelope rushing to get it...

"Ah! SSA Oakley, l'm penelope, it's awesome to meet you!" she said engulfing the woman infront of her in a hug.

"Likewise" the woman said, ner voice sounded strange, like a breeze rustling through leaves in the spring, but pleasant.

“I assume everyone already knows why i’m here?" she kindly asks the group and a chorus of yes-es and other such agreeing sentiments are returned her way.

"Wonderful! Then let's get started." she said, pulling out a laptop and hooking it up to their tech.

"So.. Number one thing I need to ask, is who nows anything about outcasts, just in general." the agent asked the group and everyone immedately has Ideas, but JJ speaks up first.

"There are many types of outcast and just like us, obviously, there's good and bad ones. I worked at the pentagon for a bit and one of my favourite coworkers was a werewolf named chelsea, she was so sweet and gave the best hugs!"

"On you know chels? shes super sweet, never met a warmer body, either!" SSA Oakly smiled, and it finally clicked for the group what made her seem odd, she was an outcast herself, seemingly a vampire at that.

“Anyways, yes, SSA Jareau, that’s actually the first thing on my list as a reminder, arcasts are people, too. Pretty much exactly the same in all aspects but their particular quirk, actually.” She smiled, closed-lipped this time before asking “Anyone have anything to add? I know this is a refresher course but if you’ll just bear with me I need to know how much of a refresher is really needed..”

And surely, as she trailed off, garcia gladly spoke up.

"ooh. I got something-although you may be enthralled with them, staring or making comments is Just weird, so try not to do that." Emily smiled at what she said though internally was a bit bored. As a siren herself she found this all quite stupid, for it was all clearly normal and obvious stuff... but she had to remember her team was all normies, albeit quirky ones, so she had to just shut up and hope this "refresher course" helped.

"Yup!" Oakley said, "Just like it'd be for anyone else.... I mean- any normies." She finished, waiting to see if anyone else weld speak un-pronted and catching eyes with their unit chief, a look of mutual understanding briefly lashing in their eyes as Oakley clocked Prentiss but knew not to say anything.

After a moment of no one speaking Oakley moved on to continue her reminder.

"Well, if no one else has anything

to add, since you’ve got down the general basics, l'd like to give you all the opportunity to ask questions about anything you want to know. Anything at all, nows the time to ask.” She said, pointing around the room.

Emily held back as her agents bombarded the OCR agent with questions upon questions upon questions about seemingly, as Oakley had said, absolutely anything. But eventually as everyone else's curiosity dwindled, they began to notice emily's lack of involvement in the whole ordeal and the gazes of her teammates began to shift towards ner more and more before Rossi finally had the courage to speak

about it.

“Prentiss? You’ve been pretty quiet this whole time.. anything you wanna ask or what?” He questioned her.

Not anything I didnt learn in school already, but thanks she thought, but didnt dare speak. instead easily lying with an “Oh, no i'm good - you all managed to cover anything I wanted to learn, and everything else l’d learnt back in university. I actually took a few classes on outcasts and i’m not that old yet." Fortunately, everyone seemed happy enough with that answer, though JJ was a little skeptical.

"Really? I didn't know that..." A sideways questioning glance was thrown her way by the blonde but emily just avoided her questioning gaze, instead locking eyes with SSA Oakley who swiftly moved the conversation- and lesson- away from her once more.

"well, since we were so thorough in that questions period " everyone looked a little guilty but Oakley reassured them

“Oh no worries, it’s honestly easier that way, it just means we’re nearly done now. The last things you all need to learn are just some simple facts about the most common species which you should mostly know of already, and some of the most common misconceptions,” Oakley explained further, “How about we start with the easiest one for me: vampires, tell me what you think you know.” She announced casually, Rossi immediately speaking up.

“You will never be able to enjoy the wonderful food of my people, for one.”

“Albeit a very common allergy among vampires, that’s actually not completely true. Being allergic to garlic is like the lactose and gluten-intolerant normies. Pretty common, sure, but honestly most just suck it up to enjoy good food, even if they’re stuck in the bathroom for three hours afterwards. What else?”

“Well, in most stories you can’t go out during the day because the sun will kill you.. but obviously that isn’t true.” Tara said.

“Yes, correct! Giant myth. We’re all naturally nocturnal, so our eyes and skin are much more sensitive to light but it can’t actually make us burst into flames or dust or whatever the current normie stories are saying.”

“What about blood?” Alvez asked, “I mean- like, you’re obviously not all murderers so…”

“Actually most of us are like… the equivalent of a human vegetarian- we don’t need human blood, it tastes much better though, and if you’re lucky you can find a blood donor, but otherwise we mostly just drink animal blood.”

“Oh, cool!” Alvez smiled, clearly fascinated.

“The next species we could talk about are sirens, what do you know?”

At the mention of her own classification, Emily became slightly anxious, worried about what their perception of her would’ve been if she was forthright about it.

“They trap sailors with their voices and seductiveness and have sex with them just to kill them.” Penelope said.

Oof. that hurt. thought Emily before she spoke up. “Actually sirens are much… more like sharks, like, they prefer fish and humans have only accidentally been eaten during siren-song a handful of times. And the sex thing is just a huge lie.” The moment she finished speaking, Prentiss realized her mistake when all eyes were on her. She backpedaled quickly “They were my favourite species to study in university” she added on a bit nervous yeah, because I am one was the thought that passed through her mind afterwards.

“Yes, actually! Chief Prentiss is absolutely right- siren-song isn’t used for sex or any personal gain normally, and is actually just traditional communication between them. Almost all sirens wear a special piece of jewelry or something of the like to keep their song from affecting others.” As Oakley said this, Emily played with the necklace hidden underneath her shirt, praying no one noticed all of her odd behaviour.

The team were impressed with this answer and the questioning continued on with a comment on werewolves from tara.

“Ah, yes! well, as JJ so kindly said…”

…

About 20 minutes later, after everyone but Emily had learned many new things Oakley was finally satisfied enough and began to pack up.

“Well, it was absolutely a pleasure to meet you all, and hopefully we can see one another again!” She smiled wide at the group, showing off her fangs once more, before turning to Emily with a knowing look in her eye, “And if you ever find you need it, you can always call me.” She slipped a business care to her on her way out the door, a chorus of ‘bye’s and ‘nice to meet you’s following her out.

Merely a minute or two later, after Emily had announced wheels up in 30 and sent everyone to collect their go-bags and prepRe had she been sat back in her desk, grabbing for that business card.

The front was simply a standard issue FBI card with a name, title and number on it, but when she flipped it over it read

“Really, if you ever need any support, there’s an FBI outcasts group. Give them a ring. xxx-xxx-xxxx

-Oakley of Antipaxtos.”

There was a knock at her office door and she quickly shoved the card into her blazer pocket “come in!” she called, turning towards the door to see which it was.

…

About 25 minutes later and everyone was set and ready on the jet. They’d have to fly out to Burlington and then make the hour drive to Jericho to meet with the sheriff before heading another half-hour out to the school for outcasts - nevermore - where they’d be conducting most of their investigation as well as staying at.

With penelope paged-in on one of the many tablets, light conversation rolled for the first hour or so of their plane ride and Emily joined in here or there, but remained mostly in her head as she thought about returning to nevermore for, well, the first time ever. She wondered who the current headmaster was.

Less than a second after what thought crossed her mind she was pulled down, out of the clouds from which her head was floating in.

“I’m sorry, what?” She asked and JJ frowned at her for a second time that day.

“Are you alright?”

“Yes, yes i’m fine, what is it?”

JJ seemed skeptical but continued on, “Pen asked if you’d lived out in Jericho when you were younger for a bit.”

“Oh. Yes, actually I did. My mom thought it best I spend some time with other ou-my father. It was only a couple years when I was 18 and 19 but it was quite nice. To my memory Jericho is quite quaint ..and has a lovely hot-chocolate spot.” Emily added, reminiscing on a time long since past when her and a delightful blinde would spend hours in that cafe together after school…

She coughed, bringing herself back to reality “..Although i’m pretty sure theres high tension between the outcasts and normies, if it’s anything like when i graduated..”

“Really?” Tara butted in “I mean, I know theres still a big gap in knowledge on our side, but i assumed its just like in any of the cities, where were civil and kind at minimum…?”

Emily laughed, a sarcastic sound “yeah… no, Jericho was originally filled with pilgrims, and most are still pretty nutty, so they think outcasts are less worthy than them, or something.” She sighted, everyone feeling a twinge of sadness for the outcasts in the area at that.

“Well, to brighten up the mood a bit, guess what i’ve just gotten?!” Penelope squealed, “Your sleeping arrangements at nevermoreee!! Ooh, i never thought i’d get to be this excited about dorms after college… so! who wants to hear who their roomie is?!” she clapped excitedly, waiting expectantly for someone to speak up.

“All right, I’ll bite,” Alvez told her, “where am I staying?”

“So lovely for you to ask, newbie, you’ll be staying in the empty teachers apartment at the end of the Dickinson boys hall with our de Rossi and Matt. Don’t worry, it’s quite spacious, and there’s three separate beds for you all.” she told them with a smile.

“ and what about us?” JJ asked.

“ yeah! what are we, chopped liver?” tara joked.

Emily smiled along, though she still felt like a fish out of water as they got mirror and mirror to her former school and the secrets she left buried there.

“ of course!” she heard Penelope say, but her mind had drifted as she listened to what Penelope was saying, only catching onto the last bit…

“… and you, my dear Emily, get the room right next to the headmistresses, all to your lonesome, which I’m sure you won’t mind” she informs her.

Oh great thought Emily, how fitting for the former student.

“ yes,” she ended up saying instead with up or smile on her lips that she looked real enough. Emily digited with her hidden necklace.

…

Later, when everyone was loaded up into what was basically a limousine and getting driven to Jericho 13 was once again feeling quite chatty… Too chatty for Emily’s scatterbrain at the moment. And unfortunately, for her, Tara could tell.

“Hey, you,” Tara said sitting down beside her and bumping their knees, “Whatch’a thinking about? You’ve been pretty weird this whole time, is there anything that we should know about?” She spoke softly, almost in a whisper, to the other woman and when Emily dosent answer at first she adds, “or that you want to get off your chest? I promise i won’t judge.”

After a bit of internal deliberation on Emily’s end, she decided to leg at least a little bit of whats bothering her off her chest.

With a sigh she spoke “I just.. I never thought i’d ever be back here to be honest.. A lot of shit went down when i was here, a lot of bad shit.. and of course i expected to come back to Vermont for work but.. not here, you know? its just a lot of memories and emotions and events to get thrown back in..” It’s a bit vague, what shes saying, she knows.. but to give much more detail she’d have to tell tara- and by consequence, most likely the who team- a secret she’d been keeping from them since before she even joined the FBI.

“Wow.” Said tara, “Yeah, that cant be fun.. but i’m sure whatever happened back then is long over now- it was practically 30 years ago was utterly not? I-I cant promise you’ll be fine, but i’m sure it’s just nerves and that everything will work itself out in the end.”

Emily really doubted that, especially id all the memories in the form of photos and trophies of hers were still there, she was actually just screwed.. but she wouldn’t tell tara that, she was just glad tara didn’t seem to want to push the topic and just said something along the lines of “yeah, thanks” before leaning on her shoulder and staring out the window, waiting out the rest of the drive in silence.

…

When the team finally reached jericho the charter that had previously infected the group had developed into nerves. This was the first ever case they’d had that included outcasts and none of them had any real experience with them.. or so they thought. because of this, emily found it in their best interest to go meet the sheridf as a collective before splitting off to begin their investigating and profiling.

“Hello, sherifff galpin. Cheif prentiss, i assume?” a scruffy mean about emily’s afe asked, and out for a shake.

“Yea, thank you for bringinv us on. These are SSA Alvez, Rossi, Lewis, Simmons and Jareau. Out tech js patching in through your computer, if needed.”

“thank you all for comjng, if you’d just follow me, i’d like to discuss a few things..”

once they’d arrived in the small station’s one boardroom and gotten settled, sheriff Galpin, shitty coffee in hand, immediately began to blab.

 “ oh boy am I glad to have you and your team here!” the sheriff said, voice laced with exhaustion. “I really was getting worried here- ‘specially since I cant be working this case…” he trailed off woefully.

Emily had to hold in her surprise at this development, taking a sip out of the styrofoam cup she calmly asked “well, what exactly do you mean you cant be in this case? I assumed we’d be working closely together..” her expression turned to show a look of professional concern.

“Well..” there’s a long and awkward pause between them, with the sheriff seemingly fighting an internal battle before speaking up again with a sigh, “unfortunately i’m unable because i’m considered to have a conflict of interest.. you see- my son Tyler, and his mother my late wife, are hydes. Actually, he’s the hyde that caused the deaths of so many last year. though he was under the control of laurel gates.. it’s quite sad, really. she was a damn good woman in many ways with agreeable values. Felt her opinions should be more valued and represented in the community, with the whole segregation and all that. too bad she went crazy.. Anyway, considering my son, Tyler, was part if the whole situation last year and just recently escaped his centre for troubled youth, he’s one of the prime suspects, and as it turns out i’m not allowed to work a case that he’s a suspect in..” the man says solemnly.

Emily has to take a few moments to process these bombs that have just been dropped on her when before she can even speak up, he continues his scary speech.

“But don’t worry,” he says, “it’s no big deal. we all know it’s those.. fucking FREAKS up in their special school that did it. This time i’m sure of it. Man, those guys are fucking creepy and weird as shit. Hell, their headmistress didn’t even die from poison. Big ass bug in my opinion..” he finally stops, seeming to be internally fuming over his one-sided hatred of outcasts, and to this headmistress in particular it seems.

Emily just sits there, stunned at how open he was and vocal of his opinions… I mean, she knew the people still thought like this, but she really thought it would’ve gotten marginally better since when she attended there.. She toyed with her necklace, trying to compose herself and the inner turmoil she was having with her life at the moment.

When she managed to gain enough control over her emotions -specifically towards this sheriff she was now glad to not have to work with- Emily found her voice once more, making her first comment since this little.. rant debacle began.

She cleared her throat, “ahem, so, speaking of this.. headmistress, i’m assuming i’ll have to be working with her as opposed to you?”

“Yes, yes.. as you’ve probably gathered we’re not exactly a big town, and as much as i hate to admit it, she does have grounds and different levels of authority over her school per the outcast laws anyways, damn outcasts, always taking more than they deserve- she’s not even American you know?!” Sheriff Galpin spoke on as Emily began to get a gut feeling about this no, it couldn’t possibly be- right?! i’m crazy, snap out of it prentiss! you’re better than this, she was in her head as the sheriff was still speaking.

“…And I swear the guts on that woman, fucking english giant! That weems woman will be the death of me and all that I stand for, I swear.” He said, anger in his tone like he still had more to say, and he did, but it was at this moment where it all ended for Emily as she was mentally transported back to a time lived and long since passed of her youth.

Fuck. Fuckfuckfuckfuckfuck. Weems?!

…

over the course of that …’meeting’- if you could even call it that- emily learned several unfortunate things.. among them were thag the sheriff had called them in to help because he himself could not work the cae- considering his son was the last killer out here ans one of the main suspects. The second thing she learned was, although his late wife and son are outcasts, he seems to have an irrational hate for all things not 100% normie.. and worst if all, the main thing she was running from out here was the headmistress of the schol she had to work with. Her ex.

Larissa Weems.

Apparently, without realising it herself until later, she managed to black out everything that happened after that last discovery. about the lo-her ex. Larissa. That woman always managed to do that to emily. make her forget about everything else in the world but her, that is.. Seems like she still can, though its not nearly as pleasant as ut waa when they were together. Granted, emily probably deserved tgat after what she did.

Unfortunately, though, she really needed to pull herself out of her head. she could hear someone saying something to her.

“Hmmn?” She muttered, turning her head. Oh good, it’s just JJ.

“I asked if youre ready to head to the school now? everyone else is in the car, we were just waiting to see if you were out of your meeting with sheriff Galpin yet?

“Oh, yeah. Great timing actually, we just finished.” She said with a smile trying yo seem like her normal self.

Larissa. Larissa. Larissa.

“Okay, cool.” JJ said grabbing her hand and dragging her up and outside to the car.

“Everyone’s ready? Feeling prepared?” Emily asked her.

Larissa. Larissa. Larissa.

“As much as we can, i think., and were all a bit nervous but…”

“Oh, no thats totally understandable I wou- i am too.” She smiled again.

Larissa. Larissa. Larissa.

“Okay, everyone’s in and buckled. Off we go!” The driver said to the team when Emily and JJ were settled.

Larissa. I miss you.

—————— end of chapter one ——————

A/n: Hello everyone! so sorry for this long ass wait, and apologies in advance for the VERY slow updates I will continue to have. I promise I’m still very much in love with writing and I won’t give up finishing my fics but I have some family obligations along with classes that have to take precedence over my writing. Updates might be more like once a month, but hopefully they can be longer! Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this, remember to drink water and go outside today! xx -bug💜

[ssaalexblake]

the thing about cm is that the writers have always been totally upfront about there never being an inter-team romance played out on the show, that's not what it's about and that was the score and remains it. What Other show that's been on air as long hasn't had a will they/won't they? lasting for like 8 years before they finally do it? Or had a pair have a very ill advised affair? or any number of other combos.

CM is different to that by design, not by accident.

(that they had luke and garcia flirt all the time with nothing to show for it, and then when they thought they'd been cancelled they had them agree to a date in the last 5 minutes of the show is Telling. That they tanked it in the very next episode 2 years later that they never thought would exist is More telling.)

teasing moments between characters is not promising you that they're gonna suddenly have an ooc gay affair, and while i'm going to assume what's happening here is that they've not mentioned the No Romance rule for a while not realising that their audience is not all the same one they Used to have back on CBS, they really have made the score clear multiple times in the past.

If you're waiting for JJ to divorce herself from her own personality and suddenly decide to have a steamy gay affair with Emily you're going to be waiting a Long Time. And this is Really obvious and doesn't really even need stating, to be frank.

I've seen some Wild shit coming from the fandom, like somebody saying with their whole chest that the only reason jj ended up with will was because of aj's pregnancy (that part is true) but devolved into 'what universe are You from' territory when they claimed that otherwise they were going to do a shippy story with jj and emily. And even Aside from the whole No Team Romance rule, you are Aware this was in like 2007 right??? I know you're all young and all but in 2007 every gay thing in a tv show was a Groundbreaking Moment in television history still. Stuff you slam for being tame representation that's not good enough for you was ground-breaking rep in the mid 2010's!! This was 2007. CM barely acknowledged that gay people existed for an entire 15 seasons.

That their first episode on paramount made one of the leads queer is actually kind of funny in that regard, and Incredibly telling in general. It was Never the writers who were against that (in fact, a number of them in the cbs years were gay themselves) but got forbidden to go there by the network.

For the record, other topics that were considered unpalatable by the network and not to be used in stories very often were things like cannibalism and a variety of other disturbing things you can do to people. So gayness was ranked with them. Charming. (there used to be webchats with writers after episodes aired, and you learnt some Shit in those, let me tell you).

Anyway, i digress, they're not going to go there and have been honest about it. Whatever ship 'there' is is sitting somewhere at Snowball's chance in hell, and while i'd sell maybe a rib for tara and emily to be canon, i'm more than aware it'd be a waste of a rib. At Most i think maybe they'll do another 11th hour thing with luke and garcia when they eventually get cancelled again.

Because the same show runner is still in place. There's not been a change of management. Maybe If they'd got a new person in, but they haven't.

[taloumina]

You, Me, and the Sea Turtle

Kiara "Kie" Carrera/Female Reader

Fluff

Spoilers: light spoilers for season 1, episode 6

Summary: You surprise Kiara with a “just because” gift.

When I was watching the first few episodes of season 1, I really thought Kiara was queer. Honestly, I would've loved to see her in a queer relationship!

= = = = =

“Our planet is fucked.”

“So fucked,” you agreed, sitting with Kiara on an outdoor bench.

She glanced up at you from your shoulder where she was resting her head. “So what’re we gonna do about it?”

In a nonchalant tone, you suggested, “We can always kidnap some rich Kooks and force them to actually put their money where their mouths are.”

Kiara groaned. “God, the amount of good–real good–that Kooks could do if they weren’t so obsessed with all the wrong things, like making themselves richer… I wouldn’t feel guilty at all for bankrupting them. Don’t tell JJ about this, by the way, or else he’ll call me a hypocrite for never agreeing to his Kook-kidnapping schemes.”

“Don’t worry, I won’t, and neither would I,” you told her. “Might even be fun watching their fellow Kooks turn against them when they’re broke as hell.”

“It’d be the Hunger Games, only Kook style!”

You burst out laughing. “Oh my god, Kie! If any cops could hear us right now…”

“We’d be so fucked!”

You laughed like a crazy couple, and when you were calm again, you said, “Okay, so I know we’re not big on gift giving, and it’s not a holiday, but I made you something.”

“Made?” Kiara echoed, watching you lean over to reveal the gift bag you’d been hiding out of sight.

“Yeah.” You hold it out for her, nervous now that this was actually happening. After weeks of working on it, you were finally giving her her gift.

“I, um… hope you don’t mind the plain brown bag.”

“Please,” Kiara said encouragingly. “I’d take one of these any day over some colorful crap.”

Seeing her smile eased your mind some, but any remaining worry in you was enough to twist your stomach as Kiara opened the bag. She gasped, pulling out a handmade stuffed animal she easily identified.

“A sea turtle?”

“Is it okay?” you asked.

“More than okay–it’s perfect!” Kiara brought you and the turtle in for a hug and only pulled away to ask, “Where did you even learn how to make this? Have you been hiding a secret talent from me all this time?”

“I wish,” you said, laughing again. “YouTube taught me everything!” You lightly touched the turtle. “I remember when you told me about saving baby sea turtles with Sarah, and I know you guys are cool now, but that story stuck with me, and I…” You shrugged and shook your head. “I just thought I’d–I don’t know–turn it into a stuffed animal you could remember it by. Does that sound stupid?”

“No, no way is that stupid! I mean, look at this face!” Kiara lowered her head to the turtle’s level and turned puppy-dog eyes on you.

“Like twins,” you teased, and if you were still worried about her hating her gift, then you definitely weren’t anymore. “I’m really glad you like it, Kie.”

She sat back, holding the turtle in her hands. “(Name), I love it, thank you.” A smile curved her lips as she pat the turtle’s shell. “This right here is way better than anything mass-produced you could’ve found on a shelf.”

“Made with sustainable materials, too,” you added proudly, “and one other thing. Guess what it is?”

Kiara tapped her chin in feigned thought. “Hmm, does it involve the word love?”

“And if I say it does?”

“Then I’d do this.” Kiara kissed you, and neither she nor you were bothered by the fact that the turtle was still there.

The three of you were happy to sit and enjoy the day together.