#idk can’t articulate that last sentence. we just need them to know that they are able to use whatever pronouns they want and have whatever

[ginalinettiofficial]

gotten really into not gendering strangers in public lately. whenever i’m talking about ppl at the playground w mr. 2yo i use “they” rather than assuming he or she and i realized i started doing it thoughtlessly when i was they’ing ppl at my buddy’s dance thing the other day. sometimes ppl give me weird looks but so far no one has gotten outwardly offended. accidentally degendering my mind whilst attempting to raise children in a queer universe

[sencrose]

— READING BETWEEN THE LINES

pairing: suguru geto x f!reader

tags: dc, noncon, fingering, forced orgasm, pwp, use of pet names (sweetheart), suguru being condescending lol

wc: 1.4k

summary: Breaking up with Suguru doesn't go as well as you had hoped.

a/n: idk what possessed me ngl! writing warmup that got out of hand ig lol. dividers by @/adornedwithlight! ao3 link here.

This is always the worst part, the anticipation of the unknown. You dragged Suguru into a private corner of the monastery, stating that you needed to talk to him about something important. Part of you hopes he won’t notice that something is clouding your mind, but another part of you knows how perceptive he can be – of shifting eyes, a nervous shake of the leg. Anything he sees can be interpreted and used against you. It’s just too much for you, to constantly live under his judgment and surveillance.

Once inside the room, you ask Suguru to sit down in an armchair in the corner, because when he’s at a lower height you can convince yourself he’s not nearly as intimidating as he actually is. He almost looks normal when you look down at him. But then his amber eyes catch yours, and you feel like a deer in headlights.

Breath, hold, let it out slowly.

“I think we should see other people,” you say, nearly hushed.

Suguru takes a moment to pause, before looking up at you with a smile. It’s not the reaction you wanted.

“You think?” he asks, a teasing lilt to his voice, “you wouldn’t do all of this to tell me you’re thinking of doing something.”

He’s right; you don’t like that. It only makes you uneasier, inhale shakily and exhale just as unstable.

“We should see other people,” you sigh, a knot tightening in your chest. You can’t bring yourself to look at him, opting to stare down at the ornate patterns on the carpet, anywhere but him.

“Where’s your spirit?” he asks, pouting and high-pitched, as if he’s talking down to a child, “you sound horribly unconvincing.”

You were foolish to ever think you would have an advantage against Suguru in a war of words. He’s always a few steps ahead of you, quick to retort any thought that takes days for you to mold and craft. Still, you do your best. This would be the last time anyways.

“W-we should see other people,” you repeat, attempting to sound resolute only for your voice to betray you, wavering like a tree branch in a windstorm.

“We both see plenty of people here,” he says, leaning back into the chair to sink into the fabric, his posture even more relaxed than before, “I don’t see why you dragged me in here to say this.”

For the first time, frustration overwhelms your nerves, swirls in your chest and manifests into something loud and impulsive.

“Suguru, I’m breaking up with you,” you blurt out. 

An uneasy silence permeates through the room, and you feel the need to smother it. Unfortunately, any semblance of a coherent thought, much less a sentence, eludes you.

“Tell me what you really want.” Suguru says, the first to break it. You start to think the silence was better.

“I am.”

“No, you aren’t. I know you aren’t,” he says so matter-of-factly you’re close to believing him, “say it again.” Suguru shifts in the seat until he’s leaning forward, hands intertwined and planted in his lap.

“N-No, you’re just messing with me,” you say, backing away from him.

“That should be my line,” he sighs, standing from his seat. He takes a step towards you and your heart trembles. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing’s wrong, I just-”

“Nothing’s wrong but you want to break up?” he interrupts, crossing his arms as he glares at you.

“No, I mean-” you fumble your words, unsure how to mitigate the situation. Suguru takes another step towards you, and you take another one back.

“Mean what?” The corners of his lips upturn, and you both know he has you cornered.

You stand there, finally at a loss for words. Even if you were able to articulate your thoughts, you know that Suguru would twist them in his favor. 

“See? You don’t even know what you want,” he says, condescension dripping from his words before he softens his tone into something gentler. The way you would speak to a wounded animal. “But it’s okay, because I do.”

Suguru takes the opportunity to close the distance, taking your hand into his and pulling you into a kiss. His lips crash into yours and you writhe under his touch, desperately pushing him away. But all you get is an arm latched around your waist, the sensation of your bodies pressed together in a suffocating heat. His lips finally part from yours, and you rush to turn your face away from his.

“Suguru, please stop,” you whimper.

“Why? You’ll just lie again,” he answers, his hand reaching for your chin to turn you towards him, “don’t you know how much that hurts me?” he asks, voice too sweet to be genuine.

You do your best to keep your eyes away from him, the only form of protest you can afford right now. He’s unphased by it, releasing his grip on your chin to lift the hem of your skirt and trace the undeniable wet spot on your underwear.

“And it seems like your body is more honest than your words,” he whispers dangerously low in your ear, as if it’s a dirty secret he had the privilege of uncovering. You don’t want to give him the satisfaction but you don’t have much of a choice. 

He pulls your underwear down, lets it fall unceremoniously onto the floor. Before long, his fingers find your clit and you wince at the contact. You bite down on your lips when he starts drawing lazy circles, not wanting to give him any more ammunition to use against you. 

“You don’t actually want to leave, do you?” he whispers sweetly, and it makes your breath catch for all the wrong reasons. His fingers slowly but surely pick up the pace, and it gets harder to choke back your moans. You attempt to maneuver yourself away from his touch, but that only makes him press himself harder against you, tightening his grip against your waist. 

“You’re just misbehaving because I haven’t given you enough attention, right? Then I’ll give you all the attention you want.”

“Suguru, please, I don’t want this,” you cry, and it’s nowhere close to convincing, too high-pitched and whiny.

“We’ve got to work on your communication skills, sweetheart. They’re a hallmark of a good relationship, you know. And I only want the best with you,” he coos, almost songlike. His fingers build up to a steady pace and you feel your muscles involuntarily tighten, prepare yourself for the climax to come. 

“We can even try it now. Tell me, how does this feel?” He slips a finger in and you writhe under his grip.

“Suguru, stop!” you squeal, tears forming in your eyes, making the colors of the room blend and blur together. 

“Don’t think that’s the right answer,” he says in that patronizing tone again, and you can hear the pout in his voice. As punishment he slips in another finger, and within moments he’s bullying the spot that has you crying from pleasure like he’s done so many times before. Your fingers grip around his arm, nails digging into his skin and leaving crescent indents in his skin, but Suguru is nothing if not determined.

“I just don’t see why you’d want to leave when I do all of this for you.” The arm around your waist finally releases, only for his other hand to trace the curves of your body until it reaches your clit. He starts building the pressure again, slow circles to contrast against the rapid pace of his fingers.

Your breathing destabilizes as your muscles tense up again against your will. You know you’re getting close, which means Suguru knows as well. 

“Let it all out for me, sweetheart,” And you do, body shivering and walls clamping around his finger like a vice. The rush of heat and pleasure running through you is too much, and you fall back onto old habits, closing your eyes and moaning his name like a mantra as he guides you through your climax. Suguru only pulls himself out of you once your breathing stabilizes, when you finally come out of your postorgasmic daze and the tears start running down your cheeks.

He gently holds your face, rubbing the tears with his thumb before laying a soft kiss on your cheek.

“If this is what you wanted, you should’ve told me. Spare me the theatrics next time, okay?”

[yapsession]

Ughhjdhhshshei I miss him

Keb I miss you

Kev,,gh ,,, 💤💤💤💤💤💭💭

I love the way you talk, the way you articulate your sentences, your unique vocabulary; how your voice softens when you’re tired and I love hearing you say my name. Thats not much but it makes me feel special, why? It’s just my name! But he’s saying it, he’s saying!! It!!!! I love when you call me by those stupid nickname names, none of them even being remotely romantic but they’re funny and I can always appreciate your humor and jokes. How can I help myself! I can’t even calm my smile when I speak with you, I don’t even notice it sometimes because smiling has become my resting face when I speak with you. (which is great for my mental health but god, SMILEE LINESsss) Ohhhh and how I LOVE when I make you laugh, It fills me with this indescribable joy. Your laughter is just so, so beautiful and I want nothing more than to hear more of it. This is all so incredibly corny but I don’t think I could ever say this to him so I’ll just write it out. Guyssss, kevs normal speaking voice too is so scrumptious. Okay, listen and hear me out for a moment; when he speaks with me his voice gets a tad higher (nothing crazy but he speaks to me in this tone and doesn’t sound as tired ?)(

BUT (LET ME FINISHHHHH!!! GOSH WAIT CHAT

When he’s talking to anyone else (as I would describe, normal talking voice) his tone is more monotonous yet it sounds like he’s tired and god it’s hot. He’s probably call me a freak if I ever said that to him straight up but Jesus that man needs to know that his voice is sooooo attractive. I don’t remember if I actually did this or I dreamt it but I’m pretty sure I’ve told him on multiple occasions that’s I like his voice (?) I can’t be so sure since I speak to him during the night often and I am normally very dazed and tired during those hours so it is very hard for me to differentiate between dreams and shit that actually happened. OH GUYS LISYEN

It’s so attractive when he does this but uhm

When he tells me to continue speaking or when he encourages me to finish a phrase or sentence. Like oh my god have my kids. What …….

there’s nothing more attractive than a man listening likeee oh so you wanna get married and have three kids? ? Hahhahahah I need him.

Oooooo listen kev fans (me)

Okay when he stretches 🛐 yum, I could literally write a religion on how sexy that is

And

When he like ? Idk what’s the word, Murmurs??? Yeah, I guess? When he gets sleepy and speaks alll soft and he’s practically just murmuring all his words and i genuinely feel my heart literally about to fail because of what that does to me, like I jus tell him to not speak to me like that (I will have his babies) and he continues… to teaseeeee like mister you’re playing a very dangerous game but am I gonna stop him? No! Like, stop itttt!!! I won’t try to stop you though ❤️. OH AND WHEN HE GETS THAT WAY heeeee oh my goshshshshhs he calls my name sometimes and god it’s so attractive. Thinking about it right now makes my chest feel all funny. Im sad I didn’t get to hang with him today, if ANY gal hung out with him today I want that lucky b word to just idk I dony kneo have a good day 😕 lemme have my man tomorrow cause I miss him

Oh last time I called him right?

It was my brothers birthday (2 days ago) and I was doing my hair and some makeup since we were going out for his birthday, a simple look but I had a lot of distractions so it took a while to finish this simple ass makeup. He basically wanted to play Fortnite with me (cute, right???!) and I obviously accepted even though I was like in the middle of getting ready and we play like 3-4 rounds I can’t remember but I end up needing to leave!! (Sad but booo had to wait) and before hanging up I had to build up so much courage to call him by this stupid nickname (kevy boo) after I called him that he chucked (that sweeet laugh of his) and said bye. I honestly smiled so much after that, he didn’t call me nothin back but that didn’t matter! His reaction alone made me smile and I wanted to just blab to my whole family about how I called him that silly name. It wasn’t a big deal but I was happy I did it.

It honestly takes a lot of courage for me to do anything like that, I mean if we were dating I wouldn’t have such a hard time since oh he’s mine it’s okay but WERE not a thing so ofc I have to do mental gymnastics when I do something as simple as calling him a dumb nickname!

Oh and omg guysss that same day right? He went to go eat and I was just sitting, doing my makeup watching YouTube and talking to my older cousin and thw topic of him came up! And I was like oh yeah btw he’s just eating rn, i wish that was me and it was funny since we both looked at eachother flabbergasted.

But I’m mentioning this lil interaction cause moments after my cousin leaves to go do something downstairs so I’m just doing my makeup and watching my video and ooh! Kevs back and he says hey guys what are we talking about and his voice sounded …. Idk how to describe his tone but HE KNEW SOMETHING and I didn’t want to admit to saying some odd stuff just because i thought his tone was suspicious so I come up with some bullshit, I stutter like crazy and make myself look dumb. He probably knew i was lying cause it’s really hard for me to just lie to him, I mean I can lie but when it comes to him it’s hard to make it not obvious. Like I just fold

Oh I’ve folded a ton speaking to him

Because I find his voice so alluring and attractive i genuinely have moments where I have to take deep breaths to compose myself cause gahhhh dayum. I will say something inappropriate if I do not control myself and the rare occasion in which I do say some odd shit I want to just explode

GUYS HE TEXTED ME

ohmgh okay I’m done writing this teeheeehehheheheheh

[aeide-thea]

so this post obviously applies in a lot of contexts, but right now i’m thinking about the kind of devotion/disdain binary it decries in terms of fandom, which increasingly seems to frame critical engagement with the source media as rude—i have a mutual whose approach to media is often, in their words, pugnacious, and they got an anon recently that said something like, ‘do you ever have anything positive to say???’ with the obvious implication of, ‘if you don’t, why are you even engaging with this material?’ which sets up a pretty troubling standard of, like, mandatory monolithic positivity or else erasure.

relatedly, i had a BNF in the witcher fandom leave me a pretty defensive comment last year (after which they promptly unfollowed me), for suggesting it was troubling that a bunch of people were citing a passage from the books in which dandelion uses some deeply misogynistic/wh*rephobic language as, like, a charming example of his loyal defensiveness of geralt, without any acknowledgment whatsoever of the language in question—despite the fact that this language was iirc not just contained but literally highlighted in the quote people were passing around. like, as i said at the time, the OP hadn’t just highlighted the ‘leave him alone’ bit, they’d explicitly included the ‘you stupid wh*re’ bit; and while i can absolutely see talking about the scene in general terms without feeling the need to have a whole tangential discussion about misogyny/wh*rephobia, i do think that if you’re going to explicitly point to specific sentences, and they include language this markedly misogynistic/wh*rephobic, there’s something troublingly head-in-the-sand about presenting it as unalloyedly cute, and about having the notes on the post balloon without anyone’s posing any challenges or even caveats to that framing.

(similarly, although i don’t feel as equipped to get into a whole disquisition on this, it’s a little strange to me when people cite not just the character/arc of éowyn in the lord of the rings, but specific speeches of hers, as, like, something they identify with, without anyone’s ever seeming to mention the way she consistently gets framed/frames herself as Not Like the Other Girls because she’s highborn, and deserving of escape from the domestic sphere because of weapons training that, again, she owes to her status—like, i suppose you could argue that’s just intrinsic to a world with nobility, so why even talk about it; but again, it seems to me that identifying with a fictional noblewoman is one thing, and lauding rhetoric that’s explicitly classist [‘not a serving-woman’] is another. but maybe that’s a false distinction, idk! i’m open to pushback on it.)

but a lot of people, including the BNF i offended, seem to think, ‘i’ve already fulfilled the Examined My Societal Conditioning requirement, and also i’m marginalized myself, so that means i can pass around anything i like because it’s my oppression to reclaim and my relationship to this media is automatically one of ~enlightened compromise~,’ despite the fact that like. whatever reservations you may harbor internally, if you don't discuss them externally, the message you're sending your audience is still ‘i didn’t notice the bigotry in this, or i did but decided it wasn’t important enough to comment on.’ and when that kind of silence becomes the group norm... well, then whatever you may (or may not, because again, if you don’t articulate your stance, we can’t know what it is!) believe in private, you haven’t cultivated a public fannish space that cares about these issues.

to be clear, my point absolutely isn’t, cancel anyone who isn’t perfectly vigilant and vocal about Problematic Themes at all times! quandoque bonus dormitat (or bona, as the case may be). my point is, there’s this culture that’s like, if something is problematic, i’ll divest from it entirely; but on the flip side of that, if it doesn’t strike me as problematic enough to make total divestment feel necessary, then i don’t see any need to ever discuss any issues it does have, and if you do, i’ll take that as a personal affront. like, i don’t want everyone to stop reading adrienne rich! but i wish any of the people who are reading and passing her work around on here ever saw fit to mention her association with janice raymond, because it is a troubling association and an ambiguity rich never publicly clarified, and what’s more, it’s relevant to, like, what her work means when it talks about Womanhood—as it is, it feels like there are two camps, the Divesters and the Devotees, and each camp could stand to learn a little of what the other knows, in most instances.

[moon-ness]

books

The Road by Cormac McCarthy - This book pulled me in from the first sentence. It grabbed me by the collar, hand on my face and didn’t get go. It demanded my attention. I think it was the author’s direct way of writing but in a dark romantic way and I don’t mean actual romance. I mean there was no better way of putting this into words. Solemn. From the first sentence “When the man woke in the woods in the dark,” are you kidding me? Immediately I want to know what it is about. “and the cold of the night, he’d reach out to touch the child sleeping beside him. Nights dark beyond darkness and the days more gray each one than what had gone before. Like the onset of some cold glaucoma dimming away the world.” Simple and he doesn’t even use full sentences or commas but somehow that makes the story all the better. It reminded me of winter. Reminded me of now. Cold, gray days. I fight to find sun, fight to find everything I have. The dialogue between the boy and man was different than anything I’d read. I like hearing the man’s thoughts. He’s writing this book with them in his head and doesn’t even know it. Like, when you are falling asleep and your mind is thinking of everything it wants to say and by the time you actually go unconscious you’ve written a seven part book explaining everything exactly the way you want to say it but by morning all of it is gone. You didn’t even know it. That’s how it felt. I should have read this by now. For someone who reads there sure are a lot I still haven’t. It was short. I think of this as sort of a horror novel actually. Remember when I read Girl A a while back? That was horror but so was this. The human kind. Always the worst kind. The human kind is always the worst kind. 

I told someone I started reading it. I am a close part of their family and kids and a part of their lives but the reaction I got when I brought up the book reminded me we might be living in two different worlds. I felt a brick wall that ended my talking about it. “Is that a newer book?” “Well, no I don’t think so. Oh wait, it was written in 2006.” “It’s not about global warming stuff is it.” “No, it doesn’t mention how anything happened.” I learned everything I needed to know in just one unwelcoming sentence regarding the “truth of the world”. Blew my mind. How could you appreciate all of this without also realizing it is finite and therefore involves care. That it has its limits. That we are demanding payment from something that doesn’t owe us. Everything. Everything has a ticking clock on it. Maybe I was born in an existential crisis but how could you not see that and not be bothered by it. 

“Carrying the fire” What a good way to put it. That nameless thing inside us. Destructive, bright, powerful, warm. Extinguishable. The man escapes into his dreams. Even now the mind wants what it wants. It’s so easy for our hearts to break. I shouldn’t say that. None of what happened in this book was easy. I have so many thoughts about this book. “Tolling in the silence the minutes of the earth and the hours and the days of it and the years without cease.” I don’t know. Every sentence was my favorite and I can’t note down every sentence. The honesty and the straightforwardness that this man and the boy shared was something. I guess that is what happens when you are rubbed down to your last bone. The way he cares for the boy “All of this like some sacred anointing. So be it. Evoke the forms. Where you’ve nothing else construct ceremonies out of the air and breathe upon them.” Do you ever think, damn, wish someone could love me like that here and now, someone could, like, articulate that and not have it be weird. Idk. Maybe we silently think thoughts like that about the people we love when they’re doing things and don’t even see us. Like driving or sleeping. Sacred anointing ceremony out of thin air while you wash dishes and I walk by and lay a peck on your neck. 

“Finally the names of things one believed to be true. More fragile than he would have thought.” Yes. It always seems that way. Something, everything that could wink out forever. The man keeps having nightmarish dreams in which he sees a creature lurking. I think this creature is death. Faceless and there. Unavoidable coming. “What he could bear in the waking world he could not by night and he sat awake for fear the dream would return.” And “What you alter in remembering has yet a reality, known or not.” Yes. Always. Remember when I had that dream where that lady at a house party took me down into the basement and sat me down with her small son and told me the date and time of my future death. I asked if I could change it, fight it and she said no. It would get me one way if not another, even if I did avoid it for that moment. I tried to call people to tell them but no one answered. I tried to write them letters but decided I better just keep it a surprise, and that, it would be better for them if they didn’t know. And she sent me back upstairs to the party but not before I told her even if I knew I was going to be murdered at a specific place, date and time, don’t expect me to go willingly. I would still fight and she told me that was okay. It is so strange in the book that the man is fighting for his son and for what? Fighting just to suffer. I have so many unanswered questions about this book. “He could not construct for the child’s pleasure the world he’d lost without constructing the loss as well and he thought perhaps the child had known this better than he.” Yes. “He tried to remember the dream but it was lost. All that was left was the feeling of it.” I’ve said that before. The feeling stays. “He could not enkindle in the heart of the child was what ashes in his own.” Part of him wished they never found the underground bunker because, for what? To survive a moment, to almost almost have everything you need for a moment but can’t enjoy it because you are going right back to suffering? But he kept going because he told the boy he always believed they would find what they needed. “People were always getting ready for tomorrow. I didn’t believe in that. Tomorrow wasn’t getting ready for them. It didn’t even know they were there.” Spooky. This was when they ran into the old man on the road. He said even if you knew what to do you wouldn’t have known. Suppose you were the last one left and didn’t know it. “I might wish I had died. When you’re alive you’ve always got that ahead of you.” These are some of the saddest words I’ve ever read. “And if you were the last one left it wouldn’t matter. It’s the same as if everybody else did too.” Well, maybe. And maybe only to you. Maybe when you put this idea in a different world, a normal one, everyone else would know. They always know. It’s always something to someone even if you don’t know it. 

The old man changes his name with everyone he meets. He says it’s because he didn’t want anyone talking about him. To say where he was or what he did. No one could say it was him. Strange, but true. Everything is in a name. And then he talks about death being the last one in the road with nothing to do asking where everyone went. And being on the road with the last god. They scavenge around “shoppers in the commissaries of hell”. The man is going to the ocean but I don’t know why. I don’t even think he knows why. I think he is moving because he has to. Maybe I missed the part that said where they were going. North, I guess. To find what? The boy has dreams he doesn’t tell the man about. “When your dreams are of some world that never was or of some world that never will be and you are happy again then you will have given up. Do you understand? And you can’t give up.” One thing I didn’t understand was this: When the boy and the man are being followed, “They are watching for a thing that even death cannot undo and if they do not see it they will turn away from us and they will not come back.” I thought for a while about that. Then, “He knew he was placing hopes where he had no reason to.” Sometimes I feel that way. When the boy made it to the ocean he cried. It is the only thing big enough to hold everything. Especially everything the kid had seen. I cried at the end when the man died and told the boy to talk to him. “He did try to talk to god but the best thing was to talk to his father and he did talk to him and he didn’t forget.” The best is talking to people who want to hear you. And the breath of god was in the breath that passed from person to person here through all of time. 

"Goodness will find the little boy. It always has. It will again."

I made it a goal to read my entire book shelf. I’ve been dragging my feet. No new books until I finish. Next up is John Muir’s travels through Alaska. Someone gave me the book because they thought of me when they saw it. I couldn’t even believe that. That they connected that book to me and set it aside.

[blindbatalex]

That 'Pretend' one 🤍

//Yes I'm aware that I quoted too much things, but sometimes I love those sentence so much so let me have this come on

“Of course I am.” Gary pauses for a moment, and Jamie hopes that’s the last of it—in vain. “I’ve been told it’s very easy to tell when I love something actually, or someone. According to Becks, my eyes light up like ‘neon flares visible from space.’”

“But I realised—you don’t know me as well as my best mates do. You can’t tell.”

//Idk but all Gary's answer in this one is very Gary here??? And I absolutely LOVE the way you did it???

And the fact that Jamie just thinking list of ppl Gary loves, where Becks got a mention by himself, then Gary brought him up shortly after that is just 💔👏

What else can Jamie say, when he knows he is far too old to be chasing one-sided relationships, no matter how easy Gary’s smile is, how brown his eyes in the sunlight. He will have to do something about it one of these days, and one day soon, but what else can he say tonight?

//How Jamie is such a decent person that he made a mental note trying to fix it is 😭

If it’s a fight he wants, then fine, a fight is what he is going to get.

But Gary doesn’t let him get another word in.

//Oh I was holding my breath between those two lines there, afraid that if Jamie beats Gary to it, something stupid will be said and result Jamie unnecessarily break his own heart. Never be more glad that Gary speaks so quick and loves to interrupt hahaha

“Say it in words,” he growls. Every cell in his body– this need in him– it burns the way your lungs burn when you have held your breath for too long.

//I can't remember where but I once read an observation that goes Jamie is constantly looking for Gary's attention. Ofc it's cute and harmless on the show and social media in real life, but in here, the need of validation and confirmation it's kind of 😭 for me (give me a drop and I can generate my own sobbing material 24/7)

For your tags

//You go have fun with some delicious angst but I'm glad that when silly happiness calls you home, you just go with it;) This one give me that warm fuzzy feel like the hot cup of milk before bed.

Digging has been fun and supper rewarding, and thank you again for this additional gem 🤍

Ien, this review made me so happy I had no idea how to answer it, to articulate just how much it meant.  I still don’t -- all I can say is thank you 😭💕and to do my best to respond

Gary’s “you don’t know me as well as my best mates do. You can’t tell.” is very much so him being a little bit evil and pulling Jamie’s leg (...and delaying/trying to avoid actually saying ily) which was a delight to write ngl as was Jamie’s reaction of 'oh we are talking about becks again, way to drive the knife in!’ hshshsh

The author is dead and your interpretation is as valid as mine; with that in mind I have to say, in the “[w]hat else can Jamie say...” bit, to me, was him knowing he needed to end things and also not having the heart to let Gary go </3

You can indeed never trust me with a line like “[i]f it’s a fight he wants, then fine, a fight is what he is going to get,” because how many fights were indeed started this way :D with miscommunication and accidental poking of insecurities, but, not for this once! this is a fic that demanded to be fluffy!

And absolutely yes re your last comment!  One dynamic I love writing for them is where Jamie’s love language is very verbal; he needs to be told he is loved (although he will never admit it) and Gary’s is very much so non-verbal; he will say I love you with every little act of service but would rather die than put it into words or just admit that he cares in general.  And this slight mismatch creates such delicious opportunities for both angst and relationship negotiation!! 

[itsclydebitches]

Ironwood tucked tail and ran, he didn't actually consider his options he reacted with paranoia and literally did the thing the villains (Watts) told him to his face was the thing they wanted him to do. Ironwood neglected Mantle for ages, like seriously he was going to tell everyone while Mantle had a huge hole in its wall. And no he wasn't doing everything possible the whole season was all about how he was sacrificing Mantle's safety for his own end.

There are a lot of different points here so I’m going to break things up: 

“[Ironwood] didn’t actually consider his options” except he did. We had an entire, if heated, conversation about it. Is Amity ready? No. So can we use it? No. Are we in any state to keep fighting? No. Has the perimeter been taken out? Potentially. Is Salem approaching? Likely. They ran through a number of different factors and came out with two options: leave now or hold their ground. Based on what they know, Option Two is a death sentence and when no one was able to come up with an Option Three that combined saving Mantle with keeping the rest of the populace alive + keeping relics/a Maiden out of Salem’s hands, Ironwood went with Option One. People also have to remember that from their perspective she could be here any second. This is the opposite of Volume 6 where the group actually had time to come up with various options and chose not to. Here, they can’t afford to spends hours or days trying to come up with additional solutions when Salem may be on their doorstep in a matter of minutes. 

“literally did the thing the villains... wanted him to do” yeah, he did, but again... what’s Option Three? What’s the solution where Ironwood keeps people safe without creating a single bit of division among them? Right now it doesn’t exist. Just because the hero ends up doing what the villain wanted doesn’t mean that decision wasn’t logical or justified. It doesn’t mean they had another way out. It just means that the villain did their job and crafted a scenario where the hero is screwed no matter what they choose.That’s what makes Salem so hard to beat. It’s akin to a trick. She crafts plans wherein even the best solutions have horrific consequences attached, but that’s not Ironwood’s fault. This is gonna sound weird, but I’ve had that Matrix scene stuck in my head the last few days. Neo is offered a red pill and a blue pill and told to choose, now. The fandom’s response to Ironwood’s dilemma is akin to going, “I can’t believe Neo didn’t take the time he wasn’t offered to choose the green pill instead.” That green pill... doesn’t exist... Not yet anyway. 

“Ironwood neglected Mantle for ages” again, building Amity necessitated that neglect. We can argue that Ironwood never should have built Amity in the first place then---letting Mantle have their resources is more important than building a communications tower/thinking you can defeat Salem---but the fandom and the RWBYJNR team don’t get to have both. We can’t demand that Ironwood finish this project and then drag him for doing what’s necessary to achieve that. Amity was not “for his own end.” Nor were things like the military presence. We can argue the ethics of whether it’s ever appropriate to keep soldiers around town, but the intent has always been to keep the people safe. And given how many times grimm broke through the walls this volume? Those soldiers probably saved a lot of lives. If we’re truly going to criticize Ironwood for his treatment of Mantle than we likewise need to criticize the group for staying on his back about Amity. It’s because they allowed him to think that this was a way to defeat Salem for so long and pushed him to get it done that the mistreatment of Mantle continued. How do you keep Ironwood from taking resources from the people? Idk, maybe tell him that the thing he wants the resources for won’t actually save the world like he thinks it will... 

“like seriously he was going to tell everyone while Mantle had a huge hole in its wall” 100% agree there. I think it was stupid af to tell the people about Salem at all, let alone during a grimm attack. But remember that our heroes were very pleased with that development. That’s the one thing Ironwood has been praised for. Again, if we’re going to criticize him for that then Ruby likewise deserves criticism for pushing him towards telling others about Salem and then giving her  little, “He’s doing it.” As I’ve mentioned the last two volumes, my primary issue with the writing is not that the characters make mistakes, but rather the hypocrisy that occurs when that happens. Team RWBY is continually let off the hook by both the writing and the fandom despite the fact that their actions contributed immensely to all of Ironwood’s mistakes. Their mistakes are just as much at the center of all this, but no one wants to acknowledge how keeping that secret forced Ironwood to work under hugely false information. Even though we just got a whole volumes articulating how horrific that sort of manipulation was for Team RWBY under Ozpin. Their choice to repeat Ozpin’s actions had far more devastating circumstances, namely hurting Mantle in the name of a plan they knew was doomed from that start. RWBYJNR could have spared Mantle at any time. 

“...Ironwood’s plan sucks” yeah, it has a million holes in it, but again, does anyone have a better plan? If Salem’s flying grimm army is such a threat to a hypothetically sky-high Atlas, why aren’t people acknowledging what a threat those + grounded grimm are to an Atlas that sticks around beside Mantle? To be blunt, there are way bigger priorities here. No one should be asking, “But what will we do about food days/weeks from now?” when Salem is theoretically coming to kill them in the next hour. How about we survive the immediate threat first. If we’re all alive to worry about food later that will be a miracle. 

“take apart a military vehicle or two and used the material to fix Mantle’s wall” maybe he could have. We as the audience have no idea what exactly these “resources” are and how they might be replaced, but if we’re really going to nit-pick like that... why didn’t anyone else? Why didn’t Team RWBY suggest that instead of just yelling at Ironwood to fix everything himself? Why didn’t Robyn do that instead of stealing the materials on their way to Amity? Everyone keeps insisting that Ironwood isn’t united with the others, but it’s everyone else who insists that he fix everything himself while simultaneously betraying, lying, criticizing, and undermining him along the way. I likewise don’t buy the “Ironwood is the adult and he’s responsible for Team RWBY” argument I’ve seen floating around because that’s by the same group who was going, “Team RWBY are adults now Ozpin and Qrow need to trust them more” last volume. They have their licenses. They’re working with a military inner circle. They, as I’ve said before, don’t get to flip-flop between vulnerable children and responsible adults as they please. If the group is mature enough to fight this war at Ironwood’s side then they’re mature enough to go, “Hey, how about the eight of us try to think up ways to help instead of just yelling that we don’t like what Ironwood, as just one very stressed person, has managed to come up with?” 

“maybe he could have updated Mantle’s security” again, we don’t know what Ironwood might or might not have done after the Fall of Beacon in terms of updates. All we do know is that he didn’t have the one crucial piece of information that made Mantle’s security seem vulnerable: Watts is alive. Ironwood only found that out after Watts had already taken over. 

“Maybe he could have told the council and worked with his own government” sorry but this argument always makes my brain go “????” The only thing we know about this council is that they were fully backing Jacques at the meeting, which is not a good indicator of how trustworthy they were pre-his arrest. If we’re praising Team RWBY for not trusting Ironwood---someone who has been fighting Salem for years and who immediately shared his own secrets---why in the world would we expect Ironwood to trust two lackeys of Jacques Schnee? One of these options seemed a whole lot less trustworthy than the other. And I guarantee you that if we had gotten a story where Ironwood brought in the council and then we learned they had been working closely with Jacques? People would criticize him for that too. “Maybe he could have kept things quiet like Team RWBY did and not give information to a corrupt government.” It’s a lose-lose, apparently. 

“did what the kids wanted and it WORKED” literally only because the plot went wonky to accommodate them. No one freaking out, no one angry anymore, everyone coming together to sing the Remnant equivalent of Kumbaya... I’m by no means against hopeful results superseding “realistic” ones, but this was a seriously extreme example of the plot accommodating the group’s preferences. In the same way it accommodated them in Argus. It’s a deliberate choice not to have there be any repercussions to starting huge grimm battles ,or telling an angry mob about the sorceress sociopath out to kill them all, and RT grabbed hold of that choice by both hands. It’s hard to argue who is really “right” or “wrong” when the narrative itself makes sure that only one party’s actions ever have bad outcomes whereas the others always come out rosy. It has been a rigged system the last two volumes. Team RWBY’s choices are always “right” not because they’re justified, but because the writing ensures that nothing bad ever happens as a result. Even when logic dictates that it should. 

“idk maybe tell them to fight on their own they can” this would be a good option if the group were actually interested in just defending Mantle. But they’re not, their goal is to stop Ironwood from leaving Mantle behind. We get that moment where the whole team stands in front of him in a semi-circle, making it clear that if he wants to enact his plan, he’ll have to go through them first. It’s not a, “You do your thing and we’ll do ours” situation, it’s a “We’re not going to allow you to do your own thing.” So Ironwood responds to that with, “Fine. You’re forcing me to move you? You’re under arrest.” 

“maybe see about getting their system back up” Watts had complete control over the system. The conversation at the dinner made it clear that everyone was locked out: Ironwood, the council, even Jacques himself. And I doubt Watts, wherever he is now, is just going to hand that control back because Ironwood asked. Which again, comes back to time. Do they have time to interrogate Watts? No. Do they have time to sit other tech experts down and try to get them to reclaim the system? No. People keep insisting that these are all options that Ironwood willfully ignores, but every one of them results in the same thing: Atlas twiddling its thumbs as Salem slams in with her grimm army. This would be a very different situation if she were days out and they had some time to try these things, but the setup is very much, “If she’s coming she’s going to be here in no time at all. Whatever we’re doing, we have to do it right now.” Long-term “options” of these sort simply aren’t on the table. Telling someone to take the hour-long “option” when you literally have five minutes is just illogical. Rejecting that doesn’t make you a bad person, it makes you the one person thinking the situation through. As I’ve said before, Ironwood and the Ace Ops are the only ones weighing these issues in a “Is this actually possible? manner. Team RWBY is riding purely on confidence and hope. 

“there’s no proof Salem is coming” you’re right, there isn’t. We only have her promise and the silent perimeter, so no, that’s not proof. ... but are you really willing to risk that? I sure as hell wouldn’t be. There’s no way I would trust that many lives to “Well, she might be pulling our leg.” Calling her bluff is a BEYOND risky choice and the only reason the fandom thinks it’s such a good option is because we’re looking at this from a storytelling perspective. We know it’s unlikely that the group will face off against Salem before the final volume. We know it’s unlikely that Salem would start attacking the world in earnest because she’s so damn powerful that this would wipe everyone out in a mater of weeks and then, you know, there’s no story anymore. As characters in this world they have no reason to believe that Salem would lie about coming, especially after Watts, Tyrian, the chess piece, the perimeter... Salem has clearly been setting up something, but Ironwood should just ignore all that to call a hypothetical bluff, risking every single person in the process? That goes so beyond endangerment I’m not even sure what to call it. That would be the action of someone I wouldn’t trust as my leader. Risking the Maiden, two relics, and the lives of an entire kingdom on an entirely unfounded hunch. That’s straight up insanity and if Ironwood had done that I would have hoped the Ace Ops would revolt. You’re clearly unfit to serve, sir, if you’re going to risk all our lives---the entire world even---on a theory that has 4 points against it and 0 in favor. 

[unusual-ly]

Zombie-tongue translations AKA Ly is once again way too invested in fictional things

Don't judge me

I wasn't gonna trust my own bad hearing on his rap so I found that in the YouTube comments on the My Year video, idk if that person wrote it by ear or copied it from somewhere, so that may or may not be official lyrics. It did look copy/pasted so there's a chance? The rest I just played over and over again and wrote down whatever I thought it sounded like, sometimes I couldn't quite tell exactly what it was so I put down a few possibilities and that's where there's /'s. Anyway, here's some notes on how I figured some of these out, just in case it's not obvious. If anyone has some suggestions for what I couldn't translate or alternate translations to what I could, go ahead and share 'em~!

Notes/explanations:

I'm sure we all got "grusic", "za" and "gar-garziga" down straight away. And probably "zagrabage" too, so there's no need to go into them. I'm not feeling too ambitious so all I'll say on the rap is that I think "ziggy" could be "hungry", if only cuz it's the most similar sounding word there? And evidently, you add "-ka" or "-ska" to the end of a name, I'd guess which one you use depends on what flows better with the last syllable of the name. Alternatively, "-ka" could be used for zombie names and "-ska" for human names...?

I guessed "zu ru" pretty quickly because it seems pretty obvious to say "for you" when giving someone something like that, and it fits the kind of syllable count/near-rhyming pattern I'm seeing (side note, this is the most precious moment, his voice is so soft and his tiny smile...!!!)

"Hug-ga ru, za?", again, has a pretty obvious meaning but it's more how it's written/punctuated that I wanted to get down. Since "za" is "yes", it could easily be used for, like, asking for confirmation/permission and I had picked up that "ru" is "you", I could put all that together and that would make "-ga" a sort of signifier or something? It's been a while since I took English language so I don't remember if that's the right word but I'll just hope you know what I mean (you could always just ask me if you don't)

I'm not too sure about his response to "no more classes in a dingy basement!". He might be saying his own name, I can't tell if there's a 'B' there or not, which could mean zombies refer to themselves in third person, or it could just be a habit Bonzo has (more fuel for my autism headcanon!). If not, I don't know what he could mean. "Gu reh"/"greh", I think could mean "go in"? Just "let's go in"? Seems like it could be something a bit more than that, but it's a possibility. Thoughts on this one...?

Then as Zed, Eliza and Bonzo are walking past the "no zombies" graffiti and Zed is talking about Addison, Bonzo makes a comment "zabaya/zabala greeska". If "-ska" is like an honorific/signifier-type thing for a person, and, as in a later line, "gree( r )" means "cheer", "greeska" could be "cheerleader", which fits nicely into the context. He's making some comment about Addison which Zed pretends to laugh at and snaps "very funny". So "zabaya" or "zabala" is something Zed would be annoyed at him for saying

Ah, "gazar nutty garzain garstick". Oh, Addy. You tried. Might not seem obvious at first, aside from "nutty", but it does really make sense. Pretty much explained in the table. But what's interesting about this one is we can pick up something about the grammar/syntax/structure of Zombie-tongue from it. The phrase only seems to have "thanks", "peanut butter" (or just "peanut", I guess) and "umbrella", which would mean the "rubbing" part would have to be implied. So Zombie doesn't really structure its sentences like English does, which kind of brings us back to the idea that the language was made to be easier for zombies to articulate. Dropping particles of speech and mostly unnecessary words would help as well. I think a more direct translation would be "thanks for the peanut-butter-y umbrella". That's a thing I just typed. Let's move on

WHATEVER THE HELL BONZO SAYS TO ZED AFTER BAMM. I DON'T KNOW. BUT IT MEANS "WHAT'S UP?" BASICALLY. At first I thought it ended with "-zo" but with the context, "what's up?" or "something up?" made sense and the pattern tells me it should be "-zup", plus it had to be something that Zed could respond to with "I don't know". I just can't tell if that was a 'B' or a 'G'. Can anyone tell? Then "zorog" or "zoro", to which Zed says "don't worry". Just saying "worry" or "worried" to show concern, again, could just be a way of simplifying speech for zombies... or it could be even more fuel for the autism headcanon. Still, any other ideas what it could mean?

"Agraza"/"agaraza". I have no idea. I wonder if Bonzo knows what they're actually doing with the Z-bands? Maybe he was asking what she was talking about? Is he suggesting an actual answer? This one just completely eludes me

And finally, "deh gree( r ) jadganook" gets directly translated by Zed! And I have no clue how to spell the Zombie for "championship", or if there's an 'R' in the Zombie for "cheer" but it's coming up to 1am and I have spent almost an hour on this already

... This was fun. I kinda wish there was more *^* Please, Disney, give us either a sequel or, better yet, a series, if for no other reason than for me to translate Zombie-tongue

[fae-fucker]

Zenith: Chapter 4

Note: I will be editing parts of the quotes from the original preview to reflect the way they appear in the final product. So if something is written like this it means it’s no longer in the book, and this indicates that something’s been added. This is so that I don’t have to explain in complex detail how things have changed if the changes are minor.

Don’t worry, this will stop once we get to more new content. 

Girls shouldn’t be space pirates.

Those were the last words Dex had said to his ex, and, well, look how that turned out. He was eating those words now.

Fike, the irony stung.

What’s with female authors constantly writing meaningless sexism and then have their characters PROVING THE MENZ WRONG.

Like I get that it’s a bit of a power fantasy and everyone wants some payback for being underestimated, but it’s always dumb bullshit like this that serves no other purpose than to impress or prove the male characters wrong by DOING MANLY BADASS THINGS.

I can’t articulate what I’m feeling properly but you get my point, right? The MENZ always end up being proven wrong, but only when the female characters do traditionally masculine-coded things, because not only do female characters need to prove themselves to men, the only talents worth respect are those that men are “supposed” to have.

Whatever, moving on.

Update: That whole chunk of text has been removed. Thankfully.

Dex is a dude who used to teach/date (???) Andi and is now hunting her because ... she ... lied to and cheated on him? Something like that. I guess we’ll find out. He’s the one in charge of the hunt and he’s NOT PLEASED.

A female captain was one thing. But a whole rutting ship full of girls?

You need to settle on your dumb conlang curses or on old-timey curses you saw used in [some SJM series]. You can’t have both “fike,” whatever that is, and “rutting” in the same book. I mean you can, but it’ll look like this, aka garbage.

Update: This comment has also been removed. 

Leave it to the Bloody Baroness, the most ruthless space pirate in the galaxy, to get the best of the best.

[...]

Also leave it to the Bloody Baroness, Dex thought, as he stared at her photograph, to get me to work with the Arcardian Patrolmen.

BLOODY BARONESS WILL NEVER BE INTIMIDATING, I’M SORRY.

And yeah, for some reason, in this HYPER-TECH FUTURE, they still have photographs?

Also, why does Dex think that wanting good people to work for you is somehow unique or particularly impressive?

Whatever. We have a quick flashback to Dex’s latest meeting with Andi. Y’all need to see this so I’ll just post the entire thing:

She was standing in the shadows of a pleasure palace, a Holo cyborg dancing in the window behind her. Androma’s pale, ghostlike hair was streaked with purple, which was new, and peeked out from beneath a black hood, pulled low over her face. He could just barely make out her glowing grey eyes and the smooth metallic plates on her cheekbones, a defensive body mod she’d had done years before. But he could make out the rest of her: perfect curves beneath a sleek, skintight leather bodysuit; the hilt of a knife sticking out from her black boots. And, of course, outside of the hooded cape, her trademark glowing katanas swords strapped across her back like an X of death.

I was gonna make a remark about how people Sasha’s age probably should know better than to write garbage like this, but then I remembered that her KWEEN SJM is 30+, so nevermind.

And yes, Andi has fucking KATANAS. And they are AN EXXX OF DETTHH.

I’m cackling.

Update: So um ... Let’s talk about those edits, shall we? Andi’s eyes are no longer glowing, and as much as I’m happy they toned it down (I wish), this is really the last of their starshined problem.

She has metallic plates on her cheekbones now, which ... let’s examine some official art (from the book trailer):

The art is kind of inconsistent, but those are not on her cheekbones, but on her cheeks. And frankly it looks terrible, as a concept. I would guess it’s the result of miscommunication, but since this is on the official website, I’m assuming Shinsay approved this.

And how is this a defensive mod? She couldn’t have her skull reinforced with titanium or some shit? Ah, yes, the most vulnerable part of the head: the cheek/bone. You gotta protect ‘em! 

Also, I don’t wanna shit on a fellow artist, but I have to say: Idk who this artist is that they got this job but I thought Shinsay would have enough money to hire someone who understands perspective and facial anatomy.

Dex Dogtective is having a BAD TIME trying to catch the Marauder, so he complains about their own ships.

Here I am, the ship seemed to say. Large and in charge and as slow as a rhinoceratops.

I just wanted to include this so y’all could see RHINOCERATOPS.

Update: This line has been changed and is now: Here I am, the ship seemed to say. Large and in charge and as undercover as a Xen Pterran carriage slug.

Also here’s what Dex apparently looks like (from the artist’s Instagram): 

That’s the face of someone who sniffs dirty underwear.

Dex then wanks on about how hot the Marauder is. No, really:

A sleek, beautiful beast that looked to be made of the stars in which it swam.

Deadly and delicious, all varillium glass in the shape of an arrowhead, now concealed by metal shields to protect it during the chase.

He probably has a secret porn stash of plane schematics.

Some little dork comes up to Dex to declare that the Marauder is “making an interesting move,” because I guess the carrier pigeons are dead.

He looked up at the youngest Patrolman on his dedicated crew, a boy just barely of age, who’d never seen battle. Who didn’t know the feeling of blood on scarred hands.

He doesn’t seem like he’s there for battle anyway, considering the fact that he’s near the captain at the moment, is the one delivering the update, and likely isn’t a part of the ground troops.

Update: He looked up at the youngest Patrolman on the ship, a boy no older than fifteen with slitted reptilian nostrils. A boy who’d never seen battle. Who didn’t know the feeling of blood on scarred hands.

Why does he have slitted reptilian nostrils? Is he a particular type of alien? A mutated human? Voldemort? Why do you explain Lira’s whole deal for three paragraphs and then just go “meh, he’s got a weird nose” for this dude? You couldn’t even just throw in a random collection of letters and pretend it’s the name of a type of alien? 

Effort who?

But what is this “interesting move?”

“We aren’t able to catch up to them, as we’d previously hoped.”

Their “interesting move” is ... outrunning them? Like I know what the “interesting move” is, but the way it’s written is so stupid and makes no sense. Who would say this? Dex asks the guy specifically to “use his words” to explain their “interesthing move,” and all he gets is “shit shit we can’t catch up.”

Seriously, who edited this?

Update: Someone edited this as best they could, I guess, because his reply has been changed to “It seems they’re charting a course for the asteroid belt.” 

Does this change anything? No.

The boy asks for orders and Dex tells him to fuck off.

“The rest of you,” Dex said, unbuckling his harness and standing up from his seat, voice rising to a roar, “will catch me that fiking damned ship!”

The glory of his rage was lost in another explosion.

I suspect the glory of his rage was lost some time before that.

Can we just take a moment to go over the dialogue here?

Boy: They’re making an interesting move!

Dex: What’s the move?

Boy: We can’t catch up to them like we hoped! They’re heading towards the asteroid belt!

Dex: I KNEW IT!!

Boy: What should we do?

Dex: GO CRAP YOUR PANTS SOMEWHERE ELSE. THE REST OF YOU: CATCH UP TO THAT SHIP AND GET IT FOR ME!

That was a nonversation. Who put Dex in charge? Is he the Captain of Redundant Orders? He was literally told that they aren’t able to catch up and need to rethink their strategy, and he’s like CATCH ME THAT SHIP.

One of their engines gets fucked.

Dex tumbled into the metal siding, his anger tumbling with him.

Multi-level tumbling.

Update: This has been changed to: Dex’s temper rose as he unclasped his harness and toppled against the metal siding.

Why did he unclasp his harness twice? Or is there a difference between unbuckling and unclasping?

Dex thinks it’s time to take matters into his own ... claws?

Dex squeezed his fists. The pilot flinched back as a triangular blade sprung out of each of Dex’s gloves, just over his knuckles. “Move the fike over.”

Or he’ll scratch you to death with his kittycat claws.

Update: Dex squeezed his fists. The pilot flinched back as four crimson triangular blades sprung out of each of Dex’s gloves, just over his knuckles. “Move over.” 

I’m so fiking mad that they removed fike, so I’ve decided to bring it the fike back, just like we all fiking deserve.

And obviously one blade isn’t enough, you gotta have FOUR, and they gotta be CRIMSON, like the BLOOD OF HIS ENEMIES. How else will you communicate that he’s HARDCORE. 

He could hear commotion in the background, the sound of the pilot’s whining voice as he phoned Cyprian, a glorious tattle-tale.

Yet another Smaas-ism. And this sentence is a trainwreck.

Update: He could hear a commotion in the background, the sound of the pilot’s whining voice as he commed the general. Pathetic tattletale.

Did Shinsay read my first snark or what? So many of my favorite bits have been changed and I hate it.

“You were right,” [the co-pilot] said. “They’re heading for the Asteroid Belt.”

Of course I’m right, Dex wanted to say. Androma always runs until she finds a place to hide.

Damn that wily Androma, always running when she doesn’t want to get caught and hiding when she doesn’t want to be found! Only she could come up with such outside-the-box, wild card strategies!

Update: The copilot, a man covered in purple spikes, stared at Dex openmouthed. “You were right,” he said, his massive canines visible. “They’re heading for Gollanta.”

Shinsay, are you gonna explain your random aliens or what?

Dex sets up a trap for the Marauder in the asteroid belt and we end on this:

Androma was good at what she did. But so was Dex. 

And besides, a prodigy protégée could only outrun her master for so long.

Androma has literally nothing to do with the ship moving too fast for them to catch, but ok, whatever.

[faridahmalik]

lmao i have nothing super amazing written for v-day bc

well. depression. 

it’s def not finished, but idk. teaser/this will probably never HAVE a full fic but. it’s kinda cute?

modern au fake relationship stuff with Will n Wilson sort of climax scene, aka ‘okay to get them to leave me alone would u be willing to almost marry me?’ aka I have not been to a wedding since i was like five. research was weird.

it’s just self-indulgent fluff. happy valentine’s day.

Wilson tried not to wince as the music starts, he was already steeled for the fact Will wouldn’t even show, just as they’d talked about two days ago, on the veranda of the restaurant they’d all gone to after the rehearsal.

Despite his mother's want of a full traditional ceremony, Wilson had coaxed her into a more relaxed procession, it starting with him at the altar because they didn't have a huge friend group, and Will's only family was Jack and the kids, while Wilson's family was sprawling.

It also made William vanishing easier.

He’d looked determined as they talked about the plan, and really, after all the trouble Will had gone through for him, Wilson couldn’t help but understand. Once this mess was over and done with, he wouldn’t even blame William for not wanting to even be friends anymore. It’d just kept spiraling, and selfishly, once he realized it was more than just platonic love with Will, Wilson had held on. Excuses were made, and more time was spent pretending that they were a couple.

More time both of them making stupid jokes, sarcasm at his parent's antics, living together. More nights in the same bed, talking quietly. More owed lunches, for putting up with all of this, and Will, in good humor, mentioning that at the very least he was fed well for all of this.

The rare staged kiss, which always provoked both thrill and worry.

Their fake engagement rings, which Wilson couldn't help but sigh when he had to put it away until the next visit, wishing it wasn't just a bargain bin set, a pair of cheap fakes, but instead something actually gold, with a real gemstone like amethyst, not glass, that he'd picked out for Will specifically.

Still, he'd fucked this up royally. By not actually asking Will out the first time, too scared he'd lose his best friend, but wanting more time closer than just friends with him.

One deep breath, and he was prepared to feign sorrow, thinking it was cold feet, not their plan. Apologize to his folks for wasting their time and money, though really, he could care less about their money. They’d been the ones who pushed for a traditional wedding, even if the attendance was his family, their friends, and Jack and their kids, and since they said they’d pay, he relented. Really, besides feeling sorry for himself, he was mostly sorry his siblings had to come out with their families. He’d never thought he’d be jealous of them. But there they were, with spouses they cared for and loved.

And then there was their friends, who'd insisted the moment they heard even the slightest rumor, even though they knew this was all a show. He didn't feel sorry for them, just... annoyed.

The room was silent, save for the music; it felt like everyone else was also holding their breath. Wilson couldn't help but bite the inside of his lip, trying to hold back tears that were threatening to fall, at least he could claim nerves. God, he'd made so many mistakes and Wilson just wanted it to be over. Let him go wallow in his broken heart already. He could tell Willow and Woodie were both fidgeting behind him, they were probably tired of this too.

The door opened. Maybe Charlie to say William wasn't coming, his folks had demanded at some sort of best man/woman for both of them, they wanted at least something traditional, even if their son wasn't traditional in the slightest. It'd have to be Charlie, Wes hated speaking.

The music didn't stop. There was no words indicating William was a no show.

So Wilson turned. Wendy and Abigail were first, they had demanded to be the flower girls for their uncle, fake event or not after Jack had explained it to them. His youngest sister's daughter, Wisteria, had joined them, a few years younger then the twins.

Webber, Charlie's nephew and the not official, but basically adopted younger brother of the twins with the rings, also cheap, he'd bought them. Though, with the next sight, Wilson wished he'd spent more on them.

William, with Jack next to him, with the real flowers Wilson's mother had insisted on. If he remembered the mix; poppies, lavender, and lilies. William had acted engaged in the planning, and chose his favourite flowers.

He finally met William's eyes, and there was the same look on the other's face as two nights ago. Wilson's heart pounding so hard he couldn't hear the light whispering from their friends, the right side still silent.

It was as hard to believe as someone claiming he'd finally gotten his dream job, even with the quiet "Hey," out of Will's mouth as he joined him at the altar. Wilson turned to face him, a little early, but no one stopped him.

Stars, he still might cry. William had a soft smile across his flushed face, and was fidgeting slightly, more obvious without the flowers in his hands, already passed to Charlie. His throat couldn't form words, it was like all of a sudden he couldn't find words at all. Their hands though, like they had during rehearsal, slid together, and it was comforting.

Thank the stars they'd asked his old mentor, Wickerbottom, to be officiant, as they'd be able to let her in on what was going on. She, thankfully, was always articulate, even in surprising circumstances and even as he couldn't make out many of the words, the mere sound helped.

William was here. William was still here.

There was a period of silence and Wilson realized that it was one of their turns to speak and oh hell, he couldn't remember the vows he'd only really wrote two days ago and could recite when they were fresh.

"I... I didn't expect to fall in love, you know." Was the first thing out of his mouth and boy did it sound dumb to him, and most likely weird to his folks. "This wasn't what I expected to happen when all this began, a-and honestly, I wasn't expecting to be standing here today, with you. You were... are, one of my best friends. And when I asked for your help, it was for a number of reasons, but one, one that's extraordinarily important, came to light after the fact, and I realized I couldn't let you go. You're so special to me, William. We've been friends since college, and... and, I think I should have realized it sooner. And I'm sorry for that." His face was red, that was completely off script and not at all the vows they'd written.

"Wilson..." Oh stars. That smile was going to kill him. "This... has probably been a long time coming for me. When all this started, when I was helping you, I went in with an aching heart, it was probably unrequited, but you were one of my best friends, and you've helped me so much... I wanted to help you when you needed me. Even if it ended up with my heart breaking in silence."

Oh no. Oh hell. How much had he... Wilson could feel the tears almost budding, how much had he hurt Will through this, by not saying something. Did this tear him apart earlier then it had for Wilson. Had William felt used after a point. That, alone, was terrifying. Will had been though enough of that.

"So I kept on. And I decided to keep going, no matter what laid ahead, and decided to lay my feelings bare, once and for all... even if it ended up a mistake. Because if I ran, I wouldn't know. And so I'm here, right now, with you. My best friend. Someone who makes me happy, who I trust and love with my whole heart. As long as you want me." William's voice broke on the last half of that sentence, and there were tears running down his face, and that egged on Wilson's.

Wilson released the other's hands, then pulled William to him, instead, and hugged him tighter then he'd expected he would, their positioning letting him whisper into the other's ear, along with comforting both of them. "It was breaking me to know you weren't supposed to show." He wanted this so bad, William and him in the house he'd inherited, without his folks around. To wake up and see William sleeping still, the other was a light sleeper but he slept late when he wasn't disturbed.

"I wanted to say something... even if you rejected me at the altar." Will whispered back. "I thought you would..."

"Never. Stars, William, how could I? I love you." This close, he could feel the start of what would have been a sob, before being swallowed down.

"Th-they're waiting on us, you know. Not that it exactly matters, this is about us, but I'm starting to feel a little like a show, and not your groom." There was a swallow, "Though, I'd assume they're just living for the drama, if I know your family and our friends." A little humor and Wilson chuckled, pulling back to wipe a thumb under one of Will's eyes, lifting the glasses.

There was an amused hum before Wickerbottom game an "Ahem?" to convince them to return to how they had been.

"Now that we've heard them speak... are there any other vows you two would like to say before I continue?" There was a teasing smirk on the professor's face, and both of them looked away before nodding.

"Wils-"

"Will-" They'd both opened their mouths at once and quietly laughed, Wilson squeezing Will's hands, asking to go first. "William. I vow to be with you as long as I can, and to love and support you always, and in whatever I can do, to be with you no matter how things are around us. To make amends for how foolish I was, and make you happy. To make you laugh when you are sad and when I can't, to hold you and love you still." Off the top of his head, wasn't too bad, if he said so himself.

Even with tears on his face, the vow seemed to have been received well, eyes wide, staring at him with a smile. "Wilson, I vow to be with you through whatever life throws at us, through bad jobs and broken machines and failed plays, as things don't seem so bad when I'm with you. I vow to love you, to care for you, to support you, to find solutions and working to make things better with you." Show off. "I vow to embrace being your partner, your husband, for the rest of my life."

He hadn't looked at anybody but Will since he'd stood up here, though he had a feeling the sniffling nearby was Woodie.

"We come to a close, in this ceremony, after a final question posed to both of these devoted lovers. Webber, dear, the rings?"

Oh god, he was going to replace these as soon as he could. Wilson mused on the design possibilities as the young man delivered the rings, sliding behind them.

He felt a tap, Wickerbottom handing him a ring, then William the other. "Now, if you would slide the rings onto the tip of each other's ring finger..." They both compiled, "Wilson Higgsbury, do you take William Carter as your lawfully wedded husband?"

"I do." That wasn't something he'd been expecting to say today, but it left him warm.

"William Carter, do you take Wilson Higgsbury to be your lawfully wedded husband?"

"I do."

"Would you both fully slide the rings onto one another's finger?" There was a pause as Wilson did it for Will, and Will for Wilson, this felt too surreal and wonderful to actually be happening, but it was. "With the power vested in me, I now pronounce you two wed, you may now kiss your groom."

Oh hell. It was simple and innocent, they've kissed before, unexpected and few, but this took the cake. This was real. Will's lips were warm and uneven, chapped, possibly bitten slightly in nerves.

It wasn't long before they drew back, to the triumphant noise from their friends, mixed with laughter, and clapping (along with a few cheers from his sisters,) from Wilson's side.

However, it was almost too tempting to stop himself from peppering William with more kisses, for every missed moment he should of been kissing him. Though, even the mere passing thought of that was dashed as his parents approached, his mother certainly upset with that frown on her face. His father looked like he couldn't even care.

"Wilson Percival Hig-"

"Wilson Percival Carter." Wilson interrupted. "I'll be taking William's family name, thank you."

"Wilson." She huffed. "I'm not even prepared to go into that little tidbit of information but what was that absolute farce of a ceremony! You made us look like fools!"

No, Wilson considered, he made himself look like an idiot, but that was fairly normal. "I'm completely sorry for deviating from your perfect, pre-approved plan." He managed a straight face. "I wasn't exactly expecting my groom to show up."

"What?!"

"It was supposed to be a farce so you would get off my back! It was always get married to this girl, she's the daughter of one of dad's business associates, I want grandchildren out of you, all your siblings have given me grandchildren, why haven't you! Do you have a girlfriend? I could arrange a date for you! Every time we talked it was always about my lack of a love-life, which I was fine with!"

"You were willing to let us waste our money! Why you self entitled..."

William stepped between them slightly. "You were the one forcing this on us originally. Demanding when we were getting married. If you hadn't, we would of continued to fake being engaged."

"Did your friends think you were dating?" Oh boy, she was seething, Wilson had seen that look in her eyes.

Stars, he was thankful for Willow at that moment, noticing the distress on both of their faces. "We had a bet going on if they'd own up to being in love!" She stated, drawing enough attention away so both of them could half embrace, one of their arms wrapped around the other's waist. Will was shaking, even if his voice was steady, confrontation was not his strong suit. "They might not have been properly dating, but they were both so love sick, it was almost sad."

"So this was all to deceive us." She almost hissed.

"It wasn't wasted!" He shot back, holding Will close. "We tried to get you to let us have a very small ceremony, but you wanted big. But, right now that doesn't matter because your money wasn't wasted. I'm married! To someone I love! Who I greatly would like to go eat some cake with after we both change, thank you very much." He turned and pulled Will along, the other having to take a few longer strides to balance himself again. "Let's go get ready for the party..." He whispered. "We can change and head to the restaurant, I don't want to deal with her for the rest of the night."

It was odd, he wasn't exactly expecting to actually have a reception. Maybe a self-pity reception. Cake and alcohol for one. Their hands were entwined as they headed to the small rooms where both of them had been given to change, and out of habit from being away from everyone, especially his mother, Wilson almost pulled away. He stopped, swallowing as he realized he didn't have to pull away, they were both legally married and genuinely together. It wasn't an act anymore. He could hold Will's hand without much of a reason. He could kiss him whenever.

[imperialsea-a]

LAYER ONE: THE OUTSIDE.

name: Elizabeth Eva Alexandria (Fujioka-) Cross

eye color: Emerald Green

hair style/color: Too long-- reaching to her thighs when left loose. Straight and sunlit/golden blonde, always combed through carefully and neatly. No bangs, they just annoy her, so they’re kept long and swept to the right side of her face.

height: 5′7″

clothing style: richer than you. Very fancy and feminine. Usually keeps things lighter in color and elegant in style. Nothing overly exposing, but is inclined to show off her shoulders if the weather allows, though she’s likely got a shawl or something else to go over them in case she gets cold.

best physical feature: her face?? idk beth’s really pretty.

LAYER TWO: THE INSIDE.

fears: Being controlled / unable to make her own decisions. Failure. Would not be a fan of losing her loved ones but knows it’s a fairly high possibility given their positions. Really does not like wasps.

guilty pleasure: Sweets. She ate less of them before arriving at the academy.

biggest pet peeve: She’s got a list that deserves a post of its own :\

ambitions for the future: To keep doing what she’s doing as a hunter, protecting the people, keeping order & peace, etc. She’d like it if one day if her profession would no longer be a necessary one; people do enough crap to each other, no one really needs to have deranged vampires tearing people to shreds in the background? but that simply won’t happen without reckless Purebloods being reigned in, so she’ll do her job without much complaint. If she could, she’d love to be a music teacher or something else in the performing arts world.

LAYER THREE: THOUGHTS.

first thoughts upon waking up: When she’s married, she usually just rolls over to see if Takashi is there or not tbh. Otherwise Beth’s mentally going over her day plans as she’s getting ready.

what you think about most: Planning her day, and the next day, so on, so forth. She keeps things orderly.

what you think about before bed: Relieved to be comfortable in bed, probably with some more planning going on sjhffjdhh.

what your best quality is: I think, even when she’s 1000 years old and has lost so many people she’s loved in that time, she still has the ability to care about things? She doesn’t fall into that ‘jaded, bored, ‘woe is me’ immortal’ trope, she genuinely still tries to do what she feels is the right thing and she loves her children and life so much. If we’re talking young Beth, I’d say her best quality is-- euh. ._.  Maybe...her....dedication? =-= Maybe that’s what makes her so relaxed as an adult too. Haven’t thought about it before.

WHAT’S BETTER?

single or group dates: single!??! though i can gentle tides & sunny sweets going to some event or another, and people mistaking siblings dating another set of siblings. 

to be loved or respected: Respected tbh. She has love from the people she loves and that’s all she needs in regard to that.

beauty or brains: taka 8I

dogs or cats: CAAAAAAATS

LAYER FIVE: DO YOU…

lie: Yes. Kind of has to lie. She can’t just tell people ‘Hi, I’m probably going to outlive you bc of some weird vamp genes my family has under less than savory circumstances and also I kill vampires for a living so you’re less likely to be murdered by one sometime.’

believe in yourself: Yes, but she does have moments of self-doubt. It mostly hits her when she’s younger; by the time she’s matured, Elizabeth has got a good grip on her place in the world.

believe in love: YAYAYYAYAA???

want someone: she’s married, man

LAYER SIX: EVER BEEN…

been on stage: Yes; she’s worked on numerous productions while in school.

done drugs: HECK NO she just takes her prescription meds for depression in the morning.

changed who you were to fit in: Yeah, though I guess she hid things more than changed them? She tends to stick around hunters, but she did have some average human friends in middle school, and as a result, had to hide a lot of things from them.

LAYER SEVEN: FAVORITES.

favorite color: Pastels all the way.

favorite animal: CAAAAATS

favorite movie: hggnghghgh-- Probably The Last Unicorn, I swear this is not me being biased with how much I love the film myself. The music catches her attention, and the ending is one of her favorite things about it. It’s a little bittersweet at the end, but she’s found that scene to be very relateable. It’s not the same situation, clearly, but she’s  loved people she knows she’ll outlive as a result of who and what she is, and she feels that regret, but she loves them and the time spent with them nonetheless. i lowkey can write an essay to better articulate this but i wont--

favorite game: She’s a fan of video games, though it wouldn’t seem like it at first glance. She’s played a few violent ones, but she prefers to play rhythm games, or games that are fast-paced.

LAYER EIGHT: AGE.

day your next birthday will be: 18th of October

how old will you be: entirely verse dependent, yo. she could be 18, or could be friends with ur muse’s great great great grandchildren

age you lost your virginity: i don’t really want to answer this one, nothing bad happened, i don’t want to share it is all??

does age matter: Yes, of course it does??? D:

LAYER NINE: IN A PERSON.

best personality: Kind & trustworthy, honest, level-headed, and hard-working. Takes things seriously, but still can still make her smile.

best eye color: im gonna level with u, this entire section is just about taka

best hair color: taka again

best thing to do with a partner: She wants to do everything on earth with him. She wants to travel the world, to simply waking up in the morning with him at home and making breakfast and coffee/tea for themselves + the kids, im going to b emotional fjdkfjdlkfd they deserve this so much

LAYER TEN: FINISH THE SENTENCE.

i love: living my life

i feel: fine

i hide: parts of myself sometimes

i miss: the people i can’t be with anymore

i wish: we wouldn’t have to fight

[lostinafictionaluniverse]

Riverdale 1 x07 thoughts

Starts with Jughead’s dream - seemingly perfect family with everyone fake smiling, and Juggie’s bewildered expression through all of this to kinda indicate that maybe he thought it was too good to be true? Interesting though that he wants his family to come together so bad, yet he dreams of being part of another (Betty’s) who he knows is not perfect either. Does that mean deep down that he’s given up on his family? That the only way for him to be happy would be if he were with another family? Which is what happens at the end of the episode, he ends up living with Archie! So was the beginning meant to bookend the end? Its also evident that he feels guilty about stabbing Archie in the back, presumably because he’s married to Betty in the dream. Why does he feel that? He knows Archie doesn’t feel that way about Betty. Betty did have feelings for Archie but she’s obviously getting over them, since she’s willing to move on with him. Why the guilt? Okay, Archie wasn’t exactly over the moon when he found out about bughead, but Jughead already sensed that he wouldn’t be and I wonder where that’s coming from?

The next scene with Juggie waking up in the closet under the stairs, a clever reference to Harry Potter, which is surprisingly not misplaced. Since Harry had a miserable life till Hogwarts came along and Juggie’s having a miserable life now until his friends - Archie and Betty come through for him. And Archie finding him was good. His secret was finally out. He could tell someone everything and unburden himself. The matter-of-fact way in which he did broke my heart actually. Archie was understandably shocked and immediately offered to ask Fred to give FP his job back and for Jug to live with him. And this is where I get caught between loving Archie and wanting to hit him on the head with a sharp instrument! Its just the way his character has progressed so far - I can’t really tell what to do with him. He’s bland and uninteresting and trivial. But in this episode he really came through for his friends, so yeah -idk.

Jughead asking Archie not to tell anyone - especially Betty. I think the reason is that he doesn’t want to come across as needy and screwed up, you know, he wants to show his best side to his girl - he wants to seem like he’s together and there for her instead of throwing his problems at her at a time when she’s already bogged down by so many of hers! I just think he wants to keep her away from worrying about him! And that’s so Juggie!

I was kind of meh about Veronica and the whole power struggle between the Lodge women thing. Oh and looks like Hiram is really in prison, so bang goes my theory of him being in hiding someplace and driving this whole thing remotely. Ronnie choosing Reggie as arm candy was great, Reggie IS hot btw. If only he wasn’t such a douche! But points to him for going along on that search for Polly! A gal pal, a gay and arm candy? Really Ronnie? You’re reducing Kevin to that? The whole town (or at least all of Riverdale high) seemed to be on the Cooper’s team. So that left the Blossoms with Keller and who else?

Jughead putting his arms around Betty when she’s worried and she reaching to him for reassurance was so adorable! And everyone’s reactions were revealing - Veronica looked surprised and then smug and Archie was kinda surprised too, but was he jealous? I think as they go deeper into bughead, Archie is gonna become more and more resentful as he finds his two best friends drifting away from him and towards each other and that is gonna manifest in a bad way. How? I don’t know yet. But he’s probably going to do something stupid that gets them both (or perhaps Jug) in trouble. Or perhaps be irrational and angry without knowing why. Why was Ronnie calling Juggie Holden Caulfield? Is it because he’s perceived as mysterious and a loner? But I love that she ships bughead!

Juggie saying “We may have had a moment” in that hesitating, halting manner, not really meeting Archie’s eyes? I think that meant that he really thought Archie would be mad at him or feel betrayed or something. He tried to downplay what he felt for Betty twice - once when FP asked him and this once with Archie. Both times Archie was there. I think he’s trying to spare Archie’s feelings. And right now he’s not sure what Betty feels either. In that scene where he’s walking her home, he struggles to articulate what they are “People like us” he says adoringly stuttering, and I think it means he doesn’t want to pressure her to commit and also because he’s uncertain if she’s reciprocating only because she’s going through such a stressful time herself and thinks maybe that’s why she needs him around? Idk.

Cheryl - idk what to make of her! She’s such a bitch most of the times and then one time she does something nice that makes me rethink her character. But I thought she looked really upset when Alice announced that Polly was pregnant with Jason’s baby! Like it was some kind of betrayal. I’m still on board the “twincest” ship!

Back to bughead and the sweet scene when he’s walking her home. Jughead being her “clarity” is like such a bughead thing and I’m loving it! Betty seems to have all her best ideas around him. And the kiss was just so them! And the little smile he gives after! Oh god, I’m just dying of the adorableness that is bughead! Also how badass were they leading the whole search party and belting out instructions like the power couple they are! And finishing each other’s sentences!

Polly still seems a little bit crazy to me! Maybe its her eyes or just her whole demeanor. 

Now the FP and Fred backstory. They seemed like they were really good friends, but then FP makes it as though Fred kicked him out when he was really down. Fred’s story seemed more believable to me. Again, here’s where carrot-top surprised me again. By insinuating that Fred was being a bad friend by letting Jughead drown along with FP. I’m amazed at the amount of character development for Archie in this episode. Its as if they want us invested in him and his story if indeed the Archie/Betty/Jughead love triangle thing is where they’re heading. I know a lot of people are rooting for Barchie and that wouldn’t really pay off if Archie wasn’t a sympathetic character. We’re supposed to feel bad for him that he lost the girl. Jughead already has oodles of audience sympathy. 

I liked the scene at Pop’s where they were reminiscing. And FP brings up how Jughead isn’t interested in sports and stuff like him but is more like his mom - into writing and books and literary things, and he says its good. I can get the sense of self-loathing from the man. He needs help.

Also, the scene where Juggie’s taking off his drunk dad’s boots and talking to him about Jellybean and his mom was all kinds of heart-breaking. Its so obvious the boy loves his family and wants them together. Its also obvious he’s proud of his mom and sis! (She listens to Pink Floyd on vinyl and has Juggie for an older bro - of course she cannot get any cooler!). The thing I notice about Jughead is that he downplays everything that’s going on with him - be it good or bad. He just doesn’t think its worth talking about or worth anyone’s time and that’s a whole new level of heart-breaking for me, because it just reinforces where this boy’s coming from - years of being bullied and made to feel unworthy and family breaking apart too! I think this warrants an entirely new post, a Jughead meta that I will get to soon!

I hate how they put Juggie through the wringer - first, by being embarrassed by his dad (Cole was superb), then blaming his friend and his dad for his condition, sticking up for him, believing in him only to have him let him down when he needed him the most. My heart shattered when he asked Betty at the station if his dad was there and Betty says Archie and Fred are. He wanted his dad there, dammit! Stupid, stupid, FP! But even he knows that his son’s better off without him. But he cannot use that as an excuse to not even try! The scene outside the station when Juggie gets ready to leave with his dad was so so heart-breaking. Both Cole and Skeet played it to perfection! I was crying, my poor Juggie. He was so conflicted - angry, disappointed, resigned and then finally determined to still not give up on him. Didn’t I say earlier that his most defining trait was his loyalty? Yeah!

I’m glad he has a safe place to live where he will be warm and well-fed. Also get to peek at Betty from Archie’s window and have conversations with her? Maybe? I’m not holding out hope that it’s going to last given the spoilers for episode 8 where Archie is blaming Jughead for betraying him by not telling him his dad was a Serpent. 

I’m also glad Polly found a place to live at Ronnie’s! Hermione was like - any daughter of Alice Cooper is welcome at my place? Does that mean she and Alice share a cordial relationship? I seem to recall them sharing some bitchy moments earlier in the Mayor’s fundraiser. I don’t think anyone likes Alice. Is Hermione an exception? 

I expected the clash between Alice and Penelope to be more - uh, bitchy? I’m not sure why Betty agreed to meet up with the Blossoms. I think its more to get financial support for Polly that she knows she won’t get from her parents since they clearly want to give the baby up for adoption. But still- the Blossoms? What are you thinking gurl?

All in all, this episode really focused on Jughead and how screwed up his life is, and it makes my heart bleed for the poor boy! The scene where he implores Betty to believe that he didn’t do it and those fearful, desperate eyes! Like he’s managed to stay afloat but now finally the net is closing in and he’s choking. He doesn’t know if he can get out. I don’t think he was thinking about evidence and how they could or couldn’t pin it on him at all. He looked totally cornered in that scene. There is some resentment there against Fred Andrews, he clearly believes he did his father wrong. Now that he’s living under his roof plus the fact that Fred helped forge an alibi for him, not sure what he’s gonna think? And how long is he gonna keep the faith in that pathetic excuse of a man called FP? I still wonder why his mom didn’t take him along to her parents? Did he refuse to go? Did he choose to stay with his dad?  Fred making up that alibi for Jughead made me want to applaud him and the next minute I was back at throwing shade at him  because Archie says “You’ve done this before”. Fred definitely seems to have something to hide. 

Also, FP tells Hermione that Lodge took care of the rest of the money. When? How? I thought Hermione was his only conduit. Does he have other people on his job too? Who?

So Jason’s jacket is with FP. So did he torch the car or kill Jason or both or neither? Why would he retrieve that one piece of evidence? I read an interesting theory someplace that FP might actually be Jason’s father (Cheryl being Juggie’s half-sister?? Now this I cannot take!) and he kept the jacket as something to remember his son by. Also Clifford Blossom maybe the real killer since he discovered that Polly was pregnant and did not want the Blossom millions to end up with the Coopers. I don’t know that I buy this theory, but its certainly interesting. Cheryl is supposedly devastated when she learns who the killer is. So it could be one of the Blossoms. But are they that unfeeling and ruthless that would they torture Jason? I’m not really sure about this.