#in other words: derek and christy

[dr-spencer-reids-queen]

Zoe's Reprise: Part One

Pairing: Spencer Reid x Female!Reader

Word Count: ~2.2k

Summary: Rossi needs your help when a young girl brings a case to his attention, unfortunately, at her death. High School reunion invitations have gone out, and you receive yours, unfortunately.

Warnings: canon violence, canon language, canon talk of death, methods of kill

Author’s Note: I do not own anything from Criminal Minds. All credit goes to their respective owners. If there are any warnings that exceed the normal death/kills from the show, I will list them. If you’ve seen the show, then it’s the same level of angst unless otherwise stated

x

"I never teach my pupils; I only attempt to provide the conditions in which they can learn." - Albert Einstein

Today is an early day since you and Spencer can't sleep. Usually, you'd find something to do like play indoor mini golf or play some chess, but may as well come to work and get ready before everyone else comes in. Spencer is at his desk doing his morning puzzle while you get coffee for the both of you. You cap both cups and start to make your way to your desk when someone from the mailroom stops you.

"Are you Y/N?"

"Yes."

"This came for you."

You have to balance the two coffees in one hand in order to take the thick letter from the young man. Spencer notices you're struggling and comes over to take one coffee from you.

"What is that?" he asks when the young man walks away.

"I don't know. Nothing ever comes for me. Everything goes through JJ."

You set your coffee on your desk so you can open your letter. Inside is an invitation to one of your high school's reunions. Instead of keeping it the normal ten or twenty years since you've graduated, your classmates thought it'd be fun to make it a lucky thirteen years.

Thirteen years since you've seen some of the worst people you've ever met. You've seen a lot of criminals in your day, but nothing compares to high school girls and boys. They're ruthless, especially to someone with your abilities.

"It's a high school reunion invitation."

"What's wrong? You don't look too happy."

"I went to two high schools in Texas because my family had to move at the end of my sophomore year. The first high school I went to was in Dallas and then in Corpus Christi."

"So, what happened?" Spencer asks.

"I was a quiet kid. I didn't really join many clubs or stood out because that's not who I was. I got good grades but I was bullied a lot because of what I can do. I didn't have a lot of control over it like I do now.

"At my Dallas high school, I caught a teacher having sex with a student. I told the principal which got the teacher fired. When the whole school heard what happened, she became a laughingstock. She started bullying me, then her friends joined in, then the whole school and it got so bad that I had to transfer. I finished junior and senior year in Corpus Christi," you finish.

"Wow, I'm so sorry. Were things better for you at that other school?"

"In the beginning. No one knew who I was but then the same thing happened. I was more quiet than before, but I saw a kid in my class with bruises on his face. I knew he wasn't being treated right at home because all I could see was his father and alcohol bottles. I tried talking to him but people overheard. Once again, I overstepped. People hated me again until I graduated."

"Are you going to go to this reunion?"

"I don't know if I even want to. I'm afraid of what they'll say to me."

"That shouldn't matter. Who cares what they think?"

"You're absolutely right but I'm still scared. I'll think about it. If we have a case in that city at the same time as the reunion, then I'll go. If I do, then you have to be my date."

"I can do that," he smiles.

You kiss him quickly before heading over to Penelope's office with him. She, Derek, and JJ are in there to see the pictures of JJ's son.

"Ooh, let me see my godson!" you grin. JJ passes a few photos over to you, and your heart melts at how cute he is. "He's so cute! You really need to bring Henry over. We really want to babysit. You can sleep all day and relax and leave him to us."

"I did talk to him. We're going to make that happen," JJ chuckles.

"Yay!"

Penelope's phone rings, showing Rossi calling her from being on his annual leave.

"Is this David Rossi, the famous bestselling author David Rossi?" she jokes.

"What are you doing?" you ask over speakerphone. "You're not supposed to be calling on annual leave."

"I think it just ended."

"What do you mean?"

"Garcia, Cleveland police are sending you some files. Get JJ to distribute them to the team right away."

"What are we looking at?"

"I don't know yet. Just see if the team can find a connection with these crimes. I'll call you back in a few hours."

"Yes, sir."

"Back to work," JJ says and puts away her photos.

Zoe Hawkes was found dead this morning by a woman walking her dog. Her dog wouldn't stop barking until Zoe was discovered. Apparently, Zoe was at Rossi's book signing with the intention of talking to him about something, but you don't know if there is any other connection between the two of them.

Zoe was found next to her car with her keys still in her pocket, the car alarm was still activated, and there was no sign of a break-in. There was blunt-force trauma to her head and signs of strangulation. The murderer asphyxiated her with the scarf she was wearing. The motive must not be robbery otherwise her things would have been stolen. She had unused pepper spray in her purse, but you're unsure if she didn't want to use it or never got the chance to.

Local police went door-to-door to see if there were any witnesses but nothing came of it. Police theorize that Zoe was looking into murders that occurred in the area. Most recently, Kayla James was murdered and raped three days ago in a burglary-homicide, and they theorize that she was killed because she was snooping around the older case.

As the team gathers in the briefing room, Rossi is on the phone to give his input since he's in Cleveland right now. He has Zoe's laptop so Penelope can go through it, so while JJ presents the case, Penelope is working on getting access. JJ puts a map on the board with the location of all five victims, not including Zoe.

"All crimes are within a seven-mile radius," you note, "but all the neighborhoods are completely different. They range from poor to rich to industrial to residential."

"The physical locations are dissimilar but the operating zone's well-defined," Hotch adds.

"Okay, I'm in," Penelope says. She immediately looks at what she was looking at last through her search history. "The first thing she looks at is a crime column to probably stay current on her studies. The first three are the most recently opened documents she created."

"It looks like she was compiling empirical data about homicide trends in Cleveland," Spencer says. "Do you think she knew the killer?"

"I don't see any notes indicating suspects," Rossi says.

"Well, Dave, she's a criminology student. She's been taught to analyze statistics and apply theory, not investigate killers. Let's talk about what we know."

"Alright. Victim one is Travis Bartlett who was last seen at a gay bar," JJ lists. "He was shot at night in a park. Victim two is Lily Nicks, a thirty-four-year-old prostitute with her throat slashed. Victims three and four are June Appleby and Troy Wertsler who were shot in their car at a parking lot outside of a movie theater. Victim five was twenty-eight-year-old Kayla James who was killed in her home. She was bound with a bag over her head, and evidence of rape."

"The sixth victim was Zoe," you state.

"Victimology, weapons used, and COD are all different. It's hard to imagine it's even the same unsub."

"It can't be a coincidence that Zoe goes to Kayla James' house and gets murdered," Rossi argues.

"Alright, let's say it's the same killer. Does anyone see a pattern?" Hotch asks.

"With the first crime, the unsub shoots the victim. In the second crime, he rapes a woman and slashes her throat. With the third crime, he escalates to killing two people. By the fourth, he escalates even more to raping a woman, binding her, and suffocating her. It seems like every crime escalates to something worse. If it's the same killer, we can argue that there's a progression of violence with every kill."

"It could be an anger excitation offender getting more daring with each crime."

"I think I got something here," Derek chimes in and shows some of the pictures of the bodies. "Look at this: the slashes in the prostitute's throat are all shallow, unsure cuts. A telephone cord, rope, and duct tape were used on Kayla. It's like he couldn't decide how to bind her. Without a gun, this guy is inexperienced."

"Wait, doesn't the crime scene of the couple in the car remind you of anything?" you ask. "It looks like they were shot with a .44 Bulldog just like the Son of Sam used on his victims. The second crime reminds me of Jack the Ripper with similarities being it's a prostitute whose throat was slashed. Kayla was bound, tortured, raped, and suffocated with a bag over her head like BTK. Pen, what neighborhood was Travis found in?"

"At a park in the Kingsbury Run area."

"Zoe reminded me last night that Cleveland's most famous serial killer was the Butcher of Kingsbury Run. He found his victims in gay bars, shot them, and dumped their bodies there. Travis was last seen at a gay bar and his body was found in Kingsbury Park," Rossi says.

"This unsub is a serial killer studying other serial killers."

"See you in Cleveland, Dave," Hotch concludes the meeting.

He's heard all that he needed to hear.

Cleveland is a little over an hour away by plane, so you get there fairly quickly. Rossi didn't seem too anxious over the phone but when you see him in person, you can feel the guilt radiating off him in waves. Your heart feels heavy, there is a weight over your chest, and you feel uncertain about what you're doing. All of these feelings are coming from Rossi who is feeling them for Zoe.

"Are you okay?" you ask when you greet him.

"Why?"

"There's no reason to feel guilty, Rossi."

"Don't do that," he immediately shuts you down. "I don't need you reading me right now. Don't worry about it." He takes the team into one of the empty conference rooms that he's set up. "We'll get started on the evidence boards. Detective Dan Brady's our point. I'll let you all introduce yourselves."

Dan walks over and Hotch introduces the entire team.

"I know it may seem far-fetched, but copycat killers are not entirely uncommon. This one happens to be copying several different killers."

"If he's trying to be the butcher of Kingsbury Run, why didn't he cut up and mutilate the victims like the real guy?"

"That was seven weeks ago. He was just getting started. Beginning killers are often frightened of the crime itself. They're more interested in getting it over with as quickly as possible and fleeing the scene," Emily answers.

"He was just using the Butcher's ruse as a way to lure the victim to be alone with her. By the time he killed Kayla, he'd progressed. He came very close to copying all of the BTK's MO. He's reading, learning, and borrowing from others because he doesn't know who he is yet."

"Because of this, we think he's young and impressionable, maybe even a student. He's someone probably enrolled in criminology classes. Our technical analyst is going through the names of local students right now."

"Up to this point, changing his MO has prevented investigators from linking the crimes. That's why we need to work quickly."

"Are you sure about this?" Dan asks.

"It's not a coincidence that all of these random, violent murders in this localized area are copycats of serial killers."

"It's as if all the worst serial killers have converged on Cleveland. Every time he plans to kill, the murder weapon, the MO, and the victimology will all change. Detective, will you let your team know we're ready to give a preliminary profile?"

"Sure."

"Garcia found three male students enrolled in criminology classes with felony records," JJ says. "Before you say it, we don't need to interview them because one of them is studying abroad and the other two are in jail on other charges."

"Tell Garcia to check enrollment in online and correspondence courses and see if we have any luck with those parameters." Rossi leaves the room without a word. "Will you guys handle the profile?"

"Is everything okay?" you ask.

"Everything is fine."

Hotch leaves to talk to Rossi while Dan gathers his men and women to hear the profile. You want to go out there and help Rossi, but you're needed in here right now. Plus, Rossi doesn't want you to read him and you're respecting his wishes.

"We have six homicides in a seven-mile radius in east Cleveland," Derek gets started. "Now, this small zone indicates that he's a geographically stable offender. This type of offender is characterized as young, socially immature, of average intelligence, with psychopathic personality traits. They also usually live alone and have an antisocial nature."

"A serial killer's first murder is very telling. This unsub chose the MO of Cleveland's own butcher of Kingsbury Run for his first murder. The butcher isn't as well known as other famous serial killers, but he is a local legend."

"Because he picked the butcher to be first, we believe he's a native of Cleveland and probably grew up hearing stories of the Butcher. This is someone who is obsessed with serial killers. His computer will be filled with research on them. He'll have abundant images of murderers on his computer and possibly even snuff films. He uses these like pornography as they provide some sort of sexual release."

"Sorry to interrupt," JJ comes into the room. "There's reports of another body."

x

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[jxrm]

book log - 2019

my kind of perfect by hannah ellis

not the girl you marry by andie j. christopher

the wedding party by jasmine guillory

sweet venom by tera lynn childs

obsession by amanda robson

the proposal by jasmine guillory

maybe in another life by taylor jenkins reid

the last librarian by brandt legg

exit west by mohsin hamid

the water cure by sophie mackintosh

the broken hearts' society of suite 17c by leighann kopans

royal holiday by jasmine guillory

the good samaritan by john marrs

fuck marriage by taryn fisher

christmas with friends by hannah ellis

the death of mrs. westaway by ruth ware

gabi, a girl in pieces by isabel quintero

swipe right for murder by derek millman

#therealcinderella by yesenia vargas

shutter island by dennis lehane

the wedding of rachel blaine by amy cross

pieces of her by karin slaughter

these witches don't burn by isabel sterling

a spark of light by jodi picoult

the friend by teresa driscoll

frankissstein by jeanette winterson

how to hang a witch by adriana mather

the bride test by helen hoang

just one bite by jack heath

the babysitters coven by kate williams

blame game by c.j. cooke

about the night by anat talshir

wreckage by emily bleeker

our house by louise candilish

just what kind of mother are you? by paula daly

the other ann by amy cross

in a dark, dark wood by ruth ware

spare room by dreda say mitchell

jar of hearts by jennifer hillier

without remorse by tom clancy

the amateurs by liz harmer

exhalation by ted chiang

the astonishing color of after by emily x.r. pan

all the beautiful lies by peter swanson

batman: year one by frank miller

go by kazuki kaneshiro

the bird and the sword by amy harmon

q is for quarry by sue grafton

guilt by amanda robson

blame it on bianca del rio by bianca del rio

size 14 is not fat either by meg cabot

the banker's wife by cristina alger

a good enough mother by bev thomas

someone we know by shari lapena

the man i thought you were by leah mercer

radio silence by alice oseman

the butterfly garden by dot hutchison

in twenty years by allison winn scotch

what happened at the lake by phil m. williams

the thinnest air by minka kent

you know me well by nina lacour

the waiting room by emily bleeker

sleeping murder by agatha christie

we were mothers by katie sise

bunny by mona awad

the one by john marrs

losing leah halloway by lisa reganby devney perry

the song of achilles by madeline miller

daughters of the lake by wendy webb

remember me? by sophie kinsella

the birthday list by devney perry

a curse so dark and lonely by birgid kemmener

spindle by e.k. johnston

the babysitter by sheryl browne

a serial killer's daughter by kerri rawson

the ex by alafair burke

the meryl streep movie club by mia march

watership down by richard adams

every ugly word by aimee l. salter

the rhythm of blues by love belvin

killman creek by rachel caine

undead girl gang by lily anderson

the turn of the key by ruth ware

smart girls gets what they want by sarah strohmeyer

girl gnoe virals by arvin ahmadi

the perfect roommate by minka kent

brother by david chariandy

that time i loved you by carrianne leung

lock every door by riley sager

the zen man by colleen collins

stillhouse lake by rachel caine

daisy jones & the six by taylor jenkins reid

once upon a river by daine setterfield

the good widow by liz fenton

sadie by courtney summers

dead girls by tim kizer

half past by victoria helen stone

the woo-woo by lindsay wong

ender's game by orson scott card

smoke by catherine mckenzie

the favorite daughter by kaira rouda

xo by jeffery deaver

whiskey in a teacup by reese witherspoon

the truth lies here by lindsey klingele

save the date by morgan matson

i am wathcing you by teresa driscoll

the last time i lied by riley sager

alex and eliza by melissa de la cruz

little fires everywhere by celeste ng

the long deception by mary mccluskey

fast forward by juliet madison

emergency contact by mary h.k. choi

two weddings and a fugitive by donna joy usher

the rules of magic by alice hoffman

i dream of johnny by juliet madison

friends like these by hannah ellids

the perfect mother by aimee molloy

a beautiful poison by lydia kang

girls with sharp sticks by suzanne young

the other woman by sandie jones

from twinkle with love by sandhya menon

the seven husbands of evelyn hugo by taylor jenkins reid

instant mom by nia vardalos

finding claire by lisa regan

the silent patient by alex michaelides

hidden bodies by caroline kepnes

playing with matches by hannah orenstein

the last resort by marissa stapley

robin by dave itzkoff

the perfect child by lucinda berry

sugar run by mesha maren

the afterlife of holly chase by cynthia hand

bright side by kim holden

convenience store woman by sayaka murata

the perfect mother by nina darnton

rush by lisa patton

girls' night out by liz fenton

the tattooist of auschwitz by heather morris

the power by naomi alderman

bird box by josh malerman

all we ever wanted by emily giffin

the haunting of hill house by shirley jackson

this is how it always is by laurie frankel

eligible by curtis sittenfield

the better sister by alafair burke

an anonymous girl by greer hendricks

educated by tara westover

nine perfect strangers by liane moriarty

the good neighbor: the life and work of fred rogers by maxwell king

harry potter and the philosopher's stone by j.k. rowling

five feet apart by rachael lippincott

the seven deaths of evelyn hardcastle by stuart turton

harry potter and the chamber of secrets by j.k. rowling

verity by colleen hoover

the wedding beat by devan sipher

harry potter and the prisoner of azkaban by j.k. rowling

boy swallows universe by trent dalton

the polygamist's daughter by anna labaron

harry potter and the order of the phoenix by j.k. rowling

starstruck in seattle by juliet madison

harry potter and the goblet of fire by j.k. rowling

13 minutes by sarah pinborough

harry potter and the half blood prince by j.k. rowling

the silver star by jeannette walls

harry potter and the deathly hallows by j.k. rowling

the girls by emma cline

the sun is also a star by nicola yoon

[you-are-constance]

I realized that i never showed y’all my Christmas tree!

So it is a tiny baby tree. I have strings of cover art for 70 musicals on it. (I won’t tell you all of them)

My favorite thing I’ve managed to do on it was a string of Kinky Boots, Catch Me If You Can, The Clockmaker’s Daughter, Company, The Grinning Man, Miss, Saigon, and Legally Blonde.

or, in other words, shows with Killian Donnelly, Aaron Tveit, Fra Fee, George Blagden, Stuart Neal, Alistair Brammer, and Iwan Lewis. (i wanted to get Gabriel Vick and Hugh Skinner in there, but i didn’t include the other things they were in as part of the 70 musicals)

[agentsoftie]

marry me? — spencer reid | ch.1

— false engagements

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summary: the one where you propose to your brothers girlfriend for him, and your boyfriend just happens to witness it

spencer r & fem! reader : 1.5k

warnings: pure fluff and confusion

authors note: a series! guys! ahh! omg! i can’t believe it! i’ll try to upload once a week with this series my loves! but ahhhh, i can’t believe it! hope you guys like this first chapter! also, thanks @feverdreamreid for reviewing this. love you kenna <3

────────────

“Y/N, Y/N, could you come here real quick?” Mark nagged.

You and your brother, Mark, were both forced to go to a family reunion. And by forced I mean, they were forced to bring their partners. Mark and Y/N tried to stay away from family reunions, especially when it means coming with their partners. Because every time they came with them, the baby pictures and the awkward stories always came.

“What do you want Mark?” You sneered as you followed him into the empty room. 

“Okay, woah, um, I’m gonna propose to Christy tonight ... I think.” 

You were amused, “What? Oh my gosh! Do you have a ring? When did you know? Am I gonna have a sister-in-law?”

“Calm down Y/N,” he hushed while looking out the door to make sure no one heard. “To answer your questions, yes, I do have the ring on me, and no you can’t see it. And I just knew one night that I loved her and wanted to spend the rest of my life with her.”

“Mark! That’s spectacular! The only thing, can you wait for Spencer to come?”

“Y/N, I’m not gonna wait for your boyfriend to come and just so he can watch me either get a wife or be rejected. Plus who knows if he’s even gonna show?”

“Hey, okay, that’s kinda harsh. You know Spencer with his job! He travels a lot! It’s part of his work! He really does care for me you know. And, if you would bother to talk to him like one-on-one without me being there, you might actually become friends.” You said, defending Spencer. Good thing he wasn’t here yet, or else he would never let go of this.

“Okay well, I haven’t even proposed to her so whatever.”

“Speaking of that, you got something planned?”

“Well um,-” He was cut off by Christy walking in.

 “Oh, there you two are! I was looking all around! Now come on,” she chirped while grabbing both of our hands. “Nana Rose found some new pictures!” And you both looked at each other with the same look you do every time they invite you over for a reunion.

Quickly letting go you rushed into the kitchen to pour yourself some wine. And by some, I mean lots. Quickly chugging it down, you noticed that people were gathering around the fireplace and so to find out why you quickly put your glass down and went over there. And to your surprise, there was Mark, in the middle of the living room on one knee.

A couple of people around him murmured some things, but he, on the other hand, couldn’t say anything.

“I- Christy um- I’ve- um-” He stuttered. It was almost as if he couldn’t move. 

“Wow okay, I’m doing this.” You muttered under your breath while tapping on his shoulder to signal him to get up.

“Christy,” you said getting down on one knee. “Imagine as if I’m Mark right now, it will make things much easier, trust me. Christy, ever since the first time I met you and your beautiful blue eyes, I could t get you off my mind. Even if it took me 5 months to admit that I liked you, I’m glad I did. Because every day waking up to you, is a day I leave the house with a smile on my face. And frankly Chris, I like that feeling! And I want to feel it every day! So will you ... Christy Brie ... Marry me?”

“Yes ... Yes! Yes! Yes! Of course, I will! Mark, I love you!” She cheered as he quickly ran and hugged Mark. You got up and looked around, and saw him. Your boyfriend, Spencer. Standing in awe and amusement.

“I can explain.” You said as you went up to him.

“Oh I’m sure you can,” he smirked while trying to hide his laughter.

Mark and Christy came over right after and immediately went for a hug. “Oh Y/N I love you so much! I would marry you right on the spot if you didn’t have a boyfriend!” Mark nudged her a little, “oh yes and I wasn’t getting married!”

“Y/N/N how did you know what to say?” He asked. 

“Mark, every time we’re together, all you do is talk about her. That’s all you do.” You deadpanned.

At this time, Christy had just hugged Spencer, “Spencer, I can imagine the shock on your face coming in, I’m so sorry if you felt any discomfort. I promise I’m not trying to get with your girlfriend.” 

“Christy, It’s fine don’t worry. All that matters is that you, Y/N, and Mark are happy.” He kept his hands in his pockets, slowly jumping up and down, with a very mediocre expression on his face. You could tell he wasn’t uncomfortable, more just tired. Trying not to say that many words. His hair was still a little messy, and his socks were mismatched. It had looked like he just came from work since he was still wearing the suit he had left the house in.

Spencer and you had been dating for 3 years now. You moved in after the second though. He thought that it would make things easier on both of your ends. Not having to drive almost an hour to see each other. So you moved in with him (saying he had to go to work at a moment’s notice). Of course, you both did fight sometimes … It’s completely normal. No couple would never fight. Not even the best of them.

Although, sometimes … Most of the time, it would be about his work. You knew of course that his work was important. But sometimes even that couldn’t cut it. One time, you got vigorously mad at him when he missed a date. Of course, it wouldn’t make sense to get into an argument over something so small, but he had been promising you about this date for over two months. And this time, you weren’t gonna take any of his “oh I got stuck in work” or “I just got too caught up in a lot of paperwork”.

You had both seated for dinner now, all of you had. Your mom and aunt had just brought the warm food in, and you couldn’t wait to dive in. 

“So, Mark,” my mother asked, “When are you guys getting married?”

“Mom,” he chuckled, “We just got engaged. We haven’t had enough time to talk about it.” 

“Sure, sure.” She said in defeat. “Well, at least now I’ll have another daughter! You know how much your dad and I wanted girls! But, we got stuck with you and your brother Luke instead. Thankfully we had Y/N after. But even she left us. Promise you won’t leave me, Christy. Promise me.” 

“Mom!” Mark and you both yelled in unison, causing everyone to laugh a little. 

“I promise that I’m never going to leave you, Lucy,” Christy said chuckling. 

“And Spencer now that Mark and Christy are off the market, when will you be proposing to my dear- dear Y/N?”

“Mom!” You yelled, jumping up slightly. 

“I- um-” he stuttered. 

You grabbed his hand from underneath the table. “You, you can’t ask that question to people. Especially my boyfriend!” You yelled in a hushed whisper voice. 

“Oh, you can’t ask anything nowadays! Did you know that your father and I got married when we were only 25!”

“Mmm, okay well Mark’s almost 30, so nag him instead of me.” 

“Okay, okay, no more fighting, I’m hungry. So can we eat?” Mark asked.

 “Let’s eat!” Your mom said.

It was around 10 pm now, and you had just gotten home. Deciding to leave early, and a good thing too, because right after you left you got a text from Mark saying “SOS, Nana’s telling stories! Please save me!!!!”

“Okay,” you said getting into your bed, “I should probably explain what happened back there. If the whole proposal thing.”

“I think I already know what happened, but go ahead.” He spoke as he turned on his alarms for the morning. He didn’t really need it, but you did so he always put them on. 

“Okay so, Mark had told me that he wanted to propose and I was like ‘What that’s amazing!’ and he’s like ‘Yeah, I know’ and so he does it but he can’t say anything. So me being the amazing and incredible little sister I am, got down on one knee for his girlfriend and proposed to her for him.”

He simply just laughed. 

Laughed.

That’s all he did.

“Hey! You could at least say ‘I’m proud of you, or something! It’s not that difficult you know.”

“Y/N, Y/N calm down. You know I love you. And I’m really happy you did that for your brother … Happy now?”

“Whatever,” you mumbled while snuggling into him. “I’m tired, so goodnight.”

He kissed your forehead before turning off the lamp. Quickly, he made sure that you were asleep. He turned the lights on and then off 4 times to make sure you had no reaction, and then he called his friend.

“Derek, hey,” he whispered, while looking at you for any sign of movement, “think I’m finally ready … I wanna marry her.”

[quillvine]

Falling for You

Aaron Hotchner x Reader

A/N: This was based off a cloud ask from @genevievedarcygranger where I would shuffle my playlist and write a fic based off my favorite line from the song. The song was Falling For U by Peachy! ft mxmtoon and the line was I was hangin' with you and then I realized I didn't think it was true, I was surprised when I found out I've fallen for you

Masterlist

You can never understand how Aaron can look so good in the dim office light, but you have to admit that he’s handsome. The first time you told Emily that she laughed and laughed for days, telling you that there’s no way you’re not in love with him. But she’s wrong, you’re not in love with him.

It’s just you and Aaron in the office tonight, the both of you electing to stay late and finish your paperwork over shared boxes of Chinese food instead of going out with the team.

Both Emily and Dave gave you knowing looks while Derek herds a giggling Penelope and JJ to the elevator. Reid trails behind them not saying anything but he knows, they all know. But still, you deny it.

You reach over to snag an eggroll from a box on Aaron’s side of the desk.

He glares at you playfully, “Hey! That was mine.”

“You snooze, you lose Hotchner,” you tell him with a smile.

“Well then,” he says reaching over to grab your box of noodles, “I think it’s only fair that I get something of yours.”

Rolling your eyes at him you go back to your paperwork, answering the familiar questions. Sometimes it feels like your hand moves on its own, you’ve filled out so many after-action reports during your time at the BAU it’s like second nature now.

There’s a lull in the conversation as the two of you trudge through your paperwork. It’s a welcome silence, there are no words needed between the two of you. 

You don’t know why you looked up from your work, but somewhere between the monotonous motions of your hand and the soft silence, speckled by light joking between you and Aaron, you look up.

What you see takes your breath away. Aaron is illuminated by the soft glow of his desk lamp, his eyelashes catching in their soft light. You’ve never noticed how long his eyelashes are, but they are ridiculously long, fanning over his beautiful brown eyes.

Your eyes trail down to his hands, big and strong. His left-hand moves deftly, filling out his paperwork while his other hand anchors him to the desk as he writes. They’re so big compared to yours and idly you wonder how they’d feel wrapped around your-

A sudden throat-clearing catches your attention and your gaze tears away from Aaron’s hands to meet his eyes. They glitter with an amusement that is matched with the smirk on his lips. The corners of his lips only tick up further as you avert your eyes from his gaze and feel the heat rise to your cheeks.

He knows, he most definitely knows.

The fact that Aaron doesn’t try to hide the uptick of his jaw is nothing new. When it’s just the two of you his humor often comes out. But his growing smile isn’t what throws you off, it’s the openness in his eyes. You’ve never seen his eyes hold so much emotion before and quite frankly it disarms you.

They’re full with an affection that warms you to your core. You can’t bring yourself to look away, it feels like if you do the spell will be broken and you’ll never get this tenderness from him again.

He puts his pen down and takes your hand in his, you can feel your heart leap to your throat as his warm hand encases yours. You can hardly move a muscle, waiting with bated breath for him to make the next move.

Slowly, Aaron brings your hand to his mouth and presses a kiss to your knuckles. He then flips your hand and presses a kiss to your palm, then the pulse point on your wrist. Somehow the innocent gesture brings a suffocating heat to your cheeks and his intense gaze makes you squirm in your seat.

The grin on his face grows even wider, he knows exactly what he’s doing and he loves it.

He sets your hand back down and goes back to his paperwork as if nothing happened. The only indication this exchange ever took place is the lingering heat on you feel on your cheeks.

Your eyes once again fall on Aaron’s form, watching him as he works. Feeling your gaze, he lifts his head flashing you a charming grin that you want to slap off his face.

He knows what he’s doing, he knows how you’re feeling right now and he doesn’t care. Smug bastard always liked to play games.

Well, game on Hotchner.

Tagging: (If you want to be added or removed lmk!): @winterscaptain @yes-sir-hotchner @mrs-joel-pimentel-23-25 @crying-river @genevievedarcygranger @ange-must-die @ogmilkis @agenthotchner @dr-reid-ismyspirtanimal  @toasteddragoness @misskirkstark @rousethemouse @good-heavens-chris-evans @arganfics @lcvischmitt @hurricanejjareau @marvels-agents100 @garcia-reid-lovechild @qvid-pro-qvo @christy-winchester

[nellygwyn]

BOOK RECS

Okay, so lots of people wanted this and so, I am compiling a list of my favourite books (both fiction and non-fiction), books that I recommend you read as soon as humanly possible. In the meantime, I’ll be pinning this post to the top of my blog (once I work out how to do that lmao) so it will be accessible for old and new followers. I’m going to order this list thematically, I think, just to keep everything tidy and orderly. Of course, a lot of this list will consist of historical fiction and historical non-fiction because that’s what I read primarily and thus, that’s where my bias is, but I promise to try and spice it up just a little bit. 

Favourite fiction books of all time:

The Mermaid and Mrs Hancock // Imogen Hermes Gowar

Sense and Sensibility // Jane Austen

Slammerkin // Emma Donoghue 

Remarkable Creatures // Tracy Chevalier

Life Mask // Emma Donoghue

His Dark Materials // Philip Pullman (this includes the follow-up series The Book of Dust)

Emma // Jane Austen

The Miniaturist // Jessie Burton

Girl, Woman, Other // Bernadine Evaristo 

Jane Eyre // Charlotte Brontë

Persuasion // Jane Austen

Girl with a Pearl Earring // Tracy Chevalier

The Silent Companions // Laura Purcell

Tess of the d’Urbervilles // Thomas Hardy

Northanger Abbey // Jane Austen

The Chronicles of Narnia // C.S. Lewis

Pride and Prejudice // Jane Austen

Goodnight, Mr Tom // Michelle Magorian

The French Lieutenant’s Woman // John Fowles 

The Butcher’s Hook // Janet Ellis 

Mansfield Park // Jane Austen

The All Souls Trilogy // Deborah Harkness

The Railway Children // Edith Nesbit

Favourite non-fiction books of all time

Catherine the Great: Portrait of a Woman // Robert Massie

Love and Louis XIV: The Women in the Life of the Sun King // Antonia Fraser

Madame de Pompadour // Nancy Mitford

The First Iron Lady: A Life of Caroline of Ansbach // Matthew Dennison 

Black and British: A Forgotten History // David Olusoga

Courtiers: The Secret History of the Georgian Court // Lucy Worsley 

Young and Damned and Fair: The Life of Katherine Howard, the Fifth Wife of Henry VIII // Gareth Russell

King Charles II // Antonia Fraser

Casanova’s Women // Judith Summers

Marie Antoinette: The Journey // Antonia Fraser

Mrs. Jordan’s Profession: The Story of a Great Actress and a Future King // Claire Tomalin

Jane Austen at Home // Lucy Worsley

Mudlarking: Lost and Found on the River Thames // Lara Maiklem

The Last Royal Rebel: The Life and Death of James, Duke of Monmouth // Anna Keay

The Marlboroughs: John and Sarah Churchill // Christopher Hibbert

Nell Gwynn: A Biography // Charles Beauclerk

Jurassic Mary: Mary Anning and the Primeval Monsters // Patricia Pierce

Georgian London: Into the Streets // Lucy Inglis

The Prince Who Would Be King: The Life and Death of Henry Stuart // Sarah Fraser

Wedlock: How Georgian Britain’s Worst Husband Met His Match // Wendy Moore

Dead Famous: An Unexpected History of Celebrity from the Stone Age to the Silver Screen // Greg Jenner

Victorians Undone: Tales of the Flesh in the Age of Decorum // Kathryn Hughes

Crown of Blood: The Deadly Inheritance of Lady Jane Grey // Nicola Tallis

Favourite books about the history of sex and/or sex work

The Origins of Sex: A History of First Sexual Revolution // Faramerz Dabhoiwala 

Erotic Exchanges: The World of Elite Prostitution in Eighteenth-Century Paris // Nina Kushner

Peg Plunkett: Memoirs of a Whore // Julie Peakman

Courtesans // Katie Hickman

The Other Victorians: A Study of Sexuality and Pornography in mid-Nineteenth Century England

Madams, Bawds, and Brothel Keepers // Fergus Linnane

The Secret History of Georgian London: How the Wages of Sin Shaped the Capital // Dan Cruickshank 

A Curious History of Sex // Kate Lister

Sex and Punishment: 4000 Years of Judging Desire // Eric Berkowitz

Queen of the Courtesans: Fanny Murray // Barbara White

Rent Boys: A History from Ancient Times to Present // Michael Hone

Celeste // Roland Perry

Sex and the Gender Revolution // Randolph Trumbach

The Pleasure’s All Mine: A History of Perverse Sex // Julie Peakman

LGBT+ fiction I love*

The Confessions of the Fox // Jordy Rosenberg 

As Meat Loves Salt // Maria Mccann

Bone China // Laura Purcell

Brideshead Revisited // Evelyn Waugh

The Confessions of Frannie Langton // Sara Collins

The Intoxicating Mr Lavelle // Neil Blackmore

Orlando // Virginia Woolf

Tipping the Velvet // Sarah Waters

She Rises // Kate Worsley

The Mercies // Kiran Millwood Hargrave

Oranges are Not the Only Fruit // Jeanette Winterson

Maurice // E.M Forster

Frankisstein: A Love Story // Jeanette Winterson

If I Was Your Girl // Meredith Russo 

The Well of Loneliness // Radclyffe Hall 

* fyi, Life Mask and Girl, Woman, Other are also LGBT+ fiction

Classics I haven’t already mentioned (including children’s classics)

Far From the Madding Crowd // Thomas Hardy 

I Capture the Castle // Dodie Smith 

Vanity Fair // William Makepeace Thackeray 

Wuthering Heights // Emily Brontë

The Blazing World // Margaret Cavendish, Duchess of Newcastle

Murder on the Orient Express // Agatha Christie 

Great Expectations // Charles Dickens

North and South // Elizabeth Gaskell

Evelina // Frances Burney

Death on the Nile // Agatha Christie

The Monk // Matthew Lewis

Frankenstein // Mary Shelley

Vilette // Charlotte Brontë

The Mayor of Casterbridge // Thomas Hardy

The Tenant of Wildfell Hall // Anne Brontë

Vile Bodies // Evelyn Waugh

Beloved // Toni Morrison 

The Murder of Roger Ackroyd // Agatha Christie

The History of Tom Jones, A Foundling // Henry Fielding

A Room With a View // E.M. Forster

Silas Marner // George Eliot 

Jude the Obscure // Thomas Hardy

My Man Jeeves // P.G. Wodehouse

Lady Audley’s Secret // Mary Elizabeth Braddon

Middlemarch // George Eliot

Little Women // Louisa May Alcott

Children of the New Forest // Frederick Marryat

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings // Maya Angelou 

Rebecca // Daphne du Maurier

Alice in Wonderland // Lewis Carroll

The Wind in the Willows // Kenneth Grahame

Anna Karenina // Leo Tolstoy

Howard’s End // E.M. Forster

The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, Aged 13 3/4 // Sue Townsend

Even more fiction recommendations

The Darling Strumpet // Gillian Bagwell

The Wolf Hall trilogy // Hilary Mantel

The Illumination of Ursula Flight // Anne-Marie Crowhurst

Queenie // Candace Carty-Williams

Forever Amber // Kathleen Winsor

The Corset // Laura Purcell

Love in Colour // Bolu Babalola

Artemisia // Alexandra Lapierre

Blackberry and Wild Rose // Sonia Velton

The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories // Angela Carter

The Languedoc trilogy // Kate Mosse

Longbourn // Jo Baker

A Skinful of Shadows // Frances Hardinge

The Black Moth // Georgette Heyer

The Far Pavilions // M.M Kaye

The Essex Serpent // Sarah Perry

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo // Taylor Jenkins Reid

Cavalier Queen // Fiona Mountain 

The Winter Palace // Eva Stachniak

Friday’s Child // Georgette Heyer

Falling Angels // Tracy Chevalier

Little // Edward Carey

Chocolat // Joanne Harris 

The Watchmaker of Filigree Street // Natasha Pulley 

My Sister, the Serial Killer // Oyinkan Braithwaite

The Convenient Marriage // Georgette Heyer

Katie Mulholland // Catherine Cookson

Restoration // Rose Tremain

Meat Market // Juno Dawson

Lady on the Coin // Margaret Campbell Bowes

In the Company of the Courtesan // Sarah Dunant

The Crimson Petal and the White // Michel Faber

A Place of Greater Safety // Hilary Mantel 

The Little Shop of Found Things // Paula Brackston

The Improbability of Love // Hannah Rothschild

The Murder Most Unladylike series // Robin Stevens

Dark Angels // Karleen Koen

The Words in My Hand // Guinevere Glasfurd

Time’s Convert // Deborah Harkness

The Collector // John Fowles

Vivaldi’s Virgins // Barbara Quick

The Foundling // Stacey Halls

The Phantom Tree // Nicola Cornick

The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle // Stuart Turton

Golden Hill // Francis Spufford

Assorted non-fiction not yet mentioned

The Dinosaur Hunters: A True Story of Scientific Rivalry and the Discovery of the Prehistoric World // Deborah Cadbury

The Beauty and the Terror: An Alternative History to the Italian Renaissance // Catherine Fletcher

All the King's Women: Love, Sex, and Politics in the life of Charles II // Derek Jackson

Mozart’s Women // Jane Glover

Scandalous Liaisons: Charles II and His Court // R.E. Pritchard

Matilda: Queen, Empress, Warrior // Catherine Hanley 

Black Tudors // Miranda Kaufman 

To Catch a King: Charles II's Great Escape // Charles Spencer

1666: Plague, War and Hellfire // Rebecca Rideal

Henrietta Maria: Charles I's Indomitable Queen // Alison Plowden

Catherine of Braganza: Charles II's Restoration Queen // Sarah-Beth Watkins

Four Sisters: The Lost Lives of the Romanov Grand Duchesses // Helen Rappaport

Aristocrats: Caroline, Emily, Louisa and Sarah Lennox, 1740-1832 // Stella Tillyard 

The Fortunes of Francis Barber: The True Story of the Jamaican Slave who Became Samuel Johnson’s Heir // Michael Bundock

Black London: Life Before Emancipation // Gretchen Gerzina

In These Times: Living in Britain Through Napoleon’s Wars, 1793-1815

The King’s Mistress: Scandal, Intrigue and the True Story of the Woman who Stole the Heart of George I // Claudia Gold

Perdita: The Life of Mary Robinson // Paula Byrne

The Gentleman’s Daughter: Women’s Lives in Georgian England // Amanda Vickery

Terms and Conditions: Life in Girls’ Boarding School, 1939-1979 // Ysenda Maxtone Graham 

Fanny Burney: A Biography // Claire Harman

Aphra Behn: A Secret Life // Janet Todd

The Imperial Harem: Women and the Sovereignty in the Ottoman Empire // Leslie Peirce

The Fall of the House of Byron // Emily Brand

The Favourite: Sarah, Duchess of Marlborough // Ophelia Field

Night-Walking: A Nocturnal History of London // Matthew Beaumont, Will Self

Jane Austen: A Life // Claire Tomalin

Beloved Emma: The Life of Emma, Lady Hamilton // Flora Fraser

Sentimental Murder: Love and Madness in the 18th Century // John Brewer

Henrietta Howard: King’s Mistress, Queen’s Servant // Tracy Borman

City of Beasts: How Animals Shaped Georgian London // Tom Almeroth-Williams

Queen Anne: The Politics of Passion // Anne Somerset 

Charlotte Brontë: A Life // Claire Harman 

Goddess: The Secret Lives of Marilyn Monroe // Anthony Summers

Queer City: Gay London from the Romans to the Present Day // Peter Ackroyd 

Elizabeth I and Her Circle // Susan Doran

African Europeans: An Untold History // Olivette Otele 

Young Romantics: The Shelleys, Byron, and Other Tangled Lives // Daisy Hay

How to Create the Perfect Wife // Wendy Moore

The Sphinx: The Life of Gladys Deacon, Duchess of Marlborough // Hugo Vickers

The Life and Death of Anne Boleyn // Eric Ives

Dancing in the Streets: A History of Collective Joy // Barbara Ehrenreich

A is for Arsenic: The Poisons of Agatha Christie // Kathryn Harkup 

Mistresses: Sex and Scandal at the Court of Charles II // Linda Porter

Female Husbands: A Trans History // Jen Manion

Ladies in Waiting: From the Tudors to the Present Day // Anne Somerset

Ghostland: In Search of a Haunted Country // Edward Parnell 

A Cheesemonger’s History of the British Isles // Ned Palmer

The Butchering Art: Joseph Lister’s Quest to Transform the Grisly World of Victorian Medicine // Lindsey Fitzharris

Medieval Woman: Village Life in the Middle Ages // Ann Baer

The Husband Hunters: Social Climbing in London and New York // Anne de Courcy

The Voices of Nîmes: Women, Sex, and Marriage in Reformation Languedoc // Suzannah Lipscomb

The Daughters of the Winter Queen // Nancy Goldstone

Mad and Bad: Real Heroines of the Regency // Bea Koch

Bess of Hardwick // Mary S. Lovell

The Royal Art of Poison // Eleanor Herman 

The Strangest Family: The Private Lives of George III, Queen Charlotte, and the Hanoverians // Janice Hadlow

Palaces of Pleasure: From Music Halls to the Seaside to Football; How the Victorians Invented Mass Entertainment // Lee Jackson

Favourite books about current social/political issues (?? for lack of a better term)

Feminism, Interrupted: Disrupting Power // Lola Olufemi

Revolting Prostitutes: The Fight for Sex Worker Rights // Molly Smith, Juno Mac

Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race // Reni Eddo-Lodge

Trans Britain: Our Journey from the Shadows // Christine Burns

Me, Not You: The Trouble with Mainstream Feminism // Alison Phipps

Trans Like Me: A Journey For All Of Us // C.N Lester

Brit(Ish): On Race, Identity, and Belonging // Afua Hirsch 

The Brutish Museums: The Benin Bronzes, Colonial Violence, and Cultural Restitution // Dan Hicks

Things No One Will Tell Fat Girls: A Handbook for Unapologetic Living // Jes M. Baker

Hood Feminism: Notes from the Women White Feminists Forgot // Mikki Kendall

Denial: Holocaust History on Trial // Deborah Lipstadt

Yes Means Yes: Visions of Female Sexual Power and a World Without Rape // Jessica Valenti, Jaclyn Friedman

Don’t Touch My Hair // Emma Dabiri

Sister Outsider // Audre Lorde 

Unicorn: The Memoir of a Muslim Drag Queen // Amrou Al-Kadhi

Trans Power // Juno Roche

Breathe: A Letter to My Sons // Imani Perry

The Windrush Betrayal: Exposing the Hostile Environment // Amelia Gentleman

Happy Fat: Taking Up Space in a World That Wants to Shrink You // Sofie Hagen

Diaries, memoirs & letters

The Diary of a Young Girl // Anne Frank

Renia’s Diary: A Young Girl’s Life in the Shadow of the Holocaust // Renia Spiegel 

Writing Home // Alan Bennett

The Diary of Samuel Pepys // Samuel Pepys

Histoire de Ma Vie // Giacomo Casanova

Toast: The Story of a Boy’s Hunger // Nigel Slater

London Journal, 1762-1763 // James Boswell

The Diary of a Bookseller // Shaun Blythell 

Jane Austen’s Letters // edited by Deidre la Faye

H is for Hawk // Helen Mcdonald 

The Salt Path // Raynor Winn

The Glitter and the Gold // Consuelo Vanderbilt, Duchess of Marlborough

Journals and Letters // Fanny Burney

Educated // Tara Westover

Bookworm: A Memoir of Childhood Reading // Lucy Mangan

Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal? // Jeanette Winterson

A Dutiful Boy // Mohsin Zaidi

Secrets and Lies: The Trials of Christine Keeler // Christine Keeler

800 Years of Women’s Letters // edited by Olga Kenyon

Istanbul // Orhan Pamuk

Henry and June // Anaïs Nin

Historical romance (this is a short list because I’m still fairly new to this genre)

The Bridgerton series // Julia Quinn

One Good Earl Deserves a Lover // Sarah Mclean

Nine Rules to Break When Romancing a Rake // Sarah Mclean

The Lady’s Guide to Celestial Mechanics // Olivia Waite

That Could Be Enough // Alyssa Cole

Unveiled // Courtney Milan

The Craft of Love // EE Ottoman

The Maiden Lane series // Elizabeth Hoyt

An Extraordinary Union // Alyssa Cole

Slightly Dangerous // Mary Balogh

Dangerous Alliance: An Austentacious Romance // Jennieke Cohen

A Fashionable Indulgence // KJ Charles

[authenticdesperation]

A Review of Every Single Episode of Inside No. 9 [1/2]

Disclaimer: my opinions are not definitive but they are bloody good. There may be spoilers so read at your own risk. This will probably have to be a two-parter for the sake of my sanity and your scrolling.  

Series 1

1. Sardines 

A killer way to kick off a series with an absolutely top notch cast. This episode probably wins the award for the episode I’ve spent the most time thinking about after watching, putting all the little things that went over my head at first into place. I love the set design in this episode as well with everything seeming delightfully old fashioned. 

2. A Quiet Night In

This episode is something of a masterclass in farce and it is a Bold Move to have the second episode of a new series almost completely free of dialogue. It’s dirty, it’s fully of silly slapstick and it’s a nice change of pace after the rather harrowing ending to the first episode. 

3. Tom and Gerri 

This is an episode I enjoyed more when I thought about it more. It beautifully shows the decline of Tom’s mental health (acted impeccably, lovely work from Reece) due to grief. Also it was quite nice to see Reece and Steve acting opposite each other more, they have great chemistry together and Steve as Migg is perfectly unsettling. 

4. Last Gasp

Now, I have to be honest with you: I do not exclusively have glowing praise for this episode. I enjoyed it far more after watching it more than once as I liked the humour of it. One of my favourite things was the video camera perspective at the start, as well as some lovely moments with the music. However, I’m not overly keen on the ending, I just found it slightly underwhelming. 

5. The Understudy

Back on the praise train kids! I am a big old Shakespeare nerd (as are Reece and Steve, apparently) and I studied Macbeth for my GCSEs so I was particularly excited when I watched it. I will also have to give a little nod to the directing of this episode, it was an absolute feast for the eyes. 

6. The Harrowing

Oh hell yes (no pun intended). I think this episode is a great one to cap off the first series, really demonstrating the versatility of Steve and Reece. Also, I’m a big horror fan and the entire atmosphere of it really appealed to me. Though I would say that the second I saw that house I would have run about fifteen miles in the opposite direction.

Series 2

1. La Couchette

This episode is very similar to Sardines in the sense that it feels rather claustrophobic, but this time it leans far more towards the comedy side of things rather than drama. Bonus points for Steve demonstrating his German skills. 

2. The 12 Days of Christine

Ah yes, the episode I’ve cried at every time I’ve watched it. This one is a strong demonstration of how to wrong foot an audience: you never quite know what’s going on until towards the end and all of the horror-esque moments just add to the confusion making the ending one hell of an emotional gut-punch. I wouldn’t watch it if you need something to cheer you up, though.

3. The Trial of Elizabeth Gadge

My second favourite episode of series two, The Trial of Elizabeth Gadge is packed to the brim with silly puns and smutty jokes. I personally predicted the twist but in this case I don’t think it really mattered as I was too busy enjoying the Horrible Histories for adults thing that was going on. Bonus points for another killer cast.

4. Cold Comfort

The first of two episodes directed by Steve and Reece and really quite a bold one at that. The whole thing is filmed in the style of a CCTV feed, which I’m pretty sure an experienced director would warn you off trying, but it really pays off in the narrative. Since the camera doesn’t switch focus at any point, it really relies on the acting performances to keep your focus which, in my opinion, the cast fucking nailed.

5. Nana’s Party

If I had to describe the episode in two words they would be ‘domestic drama’. It’s a fairly classic setup of a family with their fair share of secrets, namely adultery and alcoholism, but happily doesn’t give the game away too early and a layer of humour is added by the slightly irritating prankster character of Pat. It’s the second episode of the series directed by Steve and Reece and has a sort of understated quality to it, showing Claire Skinner’s character’s exacting nature above a layer of familial drama. 

6. Séance Time

My favourite episode of series two, at first you think you’re walking into another haunted house scenario until you find out it’s a prank show that went off the air due to a scandal. There’s a great sense of humour throughout, and I don’t know whether I’m easily freaked out or the final jumpscare was genuinely terrifying but I flew about fifteen feet into the air when I saw it. Once I’d peeled myself off the ceiling, I really appreciated that it felt like a slow burn horror despite still only being half an hour. 

Series 3

1. The Devil of Christmas

I live for schlocky horror films that are so cheesy they give you nightmares if you watch them before bed. So the 1970s film within the episode, accompanied by a director’s commentary-cum-police interview performed by Derek Jacobi, was an absolute treat. The story of Krampus is one that has been done a lot, but never as a snuff film (as far as I know) so it was a nice little twist.

2. The Bill

Every time I rewatch Inside No. 9 this is the episode I always have to watch no matter what. It is such a simple premise and it feels slightly reminiscent of the Geoff, Mike and Brian sketches from The League of Gentlemen. Now is probably the moment where I should sing the praises of director Guillem Morales who has, quite frankly, become my personal hero having seen the many, many episodes of this series he’s directed. The framing in this episode is absolutely genius, but it’s only really obvious after you’ve watched it a few times and I have to give kudos for making a dialogue-heavy episode visually interesting. There are jokes that I think about at least twice a week and I am obsessed with Jason Watkins’ acting...I think this will be my longest review of this whole post. 

3. The Riddle of the Sphinx

This is the best episode I will never watch again. I love horror, and I’ve watched some bone-chilling films but something about this episode made me feel so uncomfortable. It is also a real testament to Steve Pemberton, who I’m led to believe is the cryptic crossword fan who took the lead writing this episode, that he wrote something involving cryptic crosswords that didn’t give me a migraine. 

4. Empty Orchestra

Ah, what a nice change of pace after the last episode with something far lighter. The karaoke booth concept is so fun and I’ve never understood the criticism of the episode. That being said, of every single antagonist in every single episode of Inside No. 9, Connie is the character I love to hate the most. All of the characters feel more like people you’ve met before and the vibe of a group of work colleagues in a karaoke booth going through the usual petty drama feels familiar. I think series three is one that has some of the darkest concepts and this is a great exception to that. 

5. Diddle Diddle Dumpling

When I looked in the background more while rewatching this episode, I noticed a lot of things were in twos. I can only assume that was a deliberate choice made somewhere along the line, and one that pays off when you notice it. Both Mat Baynton and Keeley Hawes played their parts to perfection, with Mat really doing quite a lot with a fairly small part. The whole episode reads as an interesting analysis of grief, in a similar sense to Tom and Gerri. Also, Reece’s character did not murder the remaining twin and apparently I’m the weirdo for thinking that was what was being implied. In my defence, there was cannibalism earlier in the series; filicide did not seem like that big of a leap.

6. Private View 

Agatha Christie eat your heart out (that wasn’t meant to be a reference to the ending, it’s just a happy accident). Murder mysteries are my absolute jam so I am obsessed with this episode. The modern art show is such a great setting for a whodunnit as demonstrated by the reaction to the discovery of Peter Kay’s character’s body. All the characters have their brilliant little quirks, and the killer is revealed at the perfect time and it was a good idea to not make that reveal the twist. 

[smartbrained]

my pre-show cast takes:

creds to @nerdphobic for the tiermaker!!

ALYSSA: thought her bio was alright, love to hear that she’s a superfan and that she’s there to game hard. her instagram annoys me because she just seems very influencer wanna-be. i would say she’s showmance bait, but she might have a boyfriend? or at least did as recently as january. (not that that stops anyone on bb) also side-eyeing her bb connections

AZAH: had the best takes in her bio. hates showmances and loves jun. will play for herself, not the house. i like her instagram because it’s more normal/less influencer-like than others. let’s go queen 👑

BRENT: idk on him. don’t like that he might gun for a showmance.

BRITINI: i think i’ll either love her or be extremely annoyed by her. maybe both! i like that she’s into theatre (like me djdnsnshshs) but tiktok dancers lowkey annoy me so i’m not as into that. glad that she’s there to really compete/make big moves and give it her all! but WOOF her bio is exhausting

CHRISTIAN: he’s a white man so i kinda automatically don’t trust him BUT i trust him more than travis atm. i’ve seen that ppl who know him say he’s sweet, so that’s nice!

CHRISTIE: love the bald rep and her baldtourage dance group is pretty cool. don’t like that she likes derrick/cody, but her loving haleigh partially makes up for that. love that she wants to kick the guys’ butts in physical comps. ayanna pressley commented on one of her insta posts 😳 she said she’s loud in her BB insta vid - could be a good or bad thing

DEREK F: plus size queer rep 🙌 seems entertaining! rooting for him

DEREK X: a cutie. have no idea what his gameplay will be like - could see him floating.

FRENCHIE: using “supercalifragilisticexpialidocious” as a word to describe yourself automatically annoys me. britney haynes/rachel’s hair extensions as an iconic duo though 💀 proud member of the NAACP??? okay. hearing that he’s harassed women on twitter means that i automatically distrust and dislike him. wild that he’s the stan twitter person going into the house

HANNAH: houseguest that’s younger than me… i feel old. like azah, has good takes! is a superfan and is excited for the whole experience. seems smart, and i love that she’s got a minimal social media presence. let’s go 🙌

KYLAND: cool that he’s a movie nerd. is a longtime bb fan and excited to game. love that he’s read all the twilight books. has good takes on social media!

SARAH: seems sweet, could be boring. plans to float. she’s heard abt the house ant problem. cool that she does cosplay. haven’t seen any social media for her.

TIFFANY: what does “i utilize my alter ego” mean 👀 a CEO! also haven’t seen social media for her.

TRAVIS: showmance bait. loves brett and winston - what more is there to say. says he’s obsessed with cinema - maybe he and kyland will bond over that. published author? what? likes pranks…. that worries me. also why would you announce you’ve been sued multiple times? 💀 follows fox news and prager u on insta 🤮 anyways, the barstool video of him has ruined me and i will never get some of those quotes out of my head

WHITNEY: i actually have had white chocolate raspberry tillamook ice cream (it’s really good) so i wanna know the story of how she’s responsible for that? her bio didn’t super bug me but i’ve heard she’s into guns and also her instagram annoys me + her video intro on the BB insta was SO BORING. go girl give us nothing ! showmance/floater bait 🙄

XAVIER: hot af. chilltown (RIP) 💀 loved britney haynes goodbye message to boogie and danielle reyes’ impressions - that’s taste 😘🤌 probably won’t bring any drama - only wants to win when he has to, doesn’t want to make things personal. has a cat and wants a dog but only when he’s got a yard for it 🥺💕 could be boring, but at least he’s hot 😌 him deadpan saying he’s fun loving in the BB insta videos killed me

[caritobbg]

Secret Love Song (Part 3)

Part 1 Part 2

"Next time I'll let you get me ready for a date" said Penelope jumping from happiness "let's get to work sweeties! The time is approaching and Joey will come in at any moment to kick us out of here " "Ok ... I guess I'll have to close my eyes, right?" "I'm sorry to say yes, you can't see until we finish enlisting, again" Emily always had an emergency plan ready for these cases "I can only say that this is true to your style"

"AND…. ready!!!" adding a beautiful necklace from your favorite series "Can I see myself already?" "Yes, darling" said Penelope "turn it around and open your eyes"

When she looked in the mirror she was speechless, Emily hit the mark! She was not one of her best friends for nothing since she joined the team.

"I ... Em ... I ..." surprised; it looked amazing! "It's time! Go to your places "said Joey entering with Rossi "Go see you in half an hour!" (Y / N) said with a giant smile as they waved her off and wished her luck "You look beautiful little one!" said that person who she considered her father "I wish Reid were here, I would have no words to describe you" laughing "Yes ..." with a muffled voice and looking at her feet "but there is someone else in her heart ..." "Don't be so sure" sitting next to her "what did she tell you?" “That he was in love with a friend who since the day he met her cannot get her out of his head. I know it's not me ... " "Come here" hugging her "how is it that you are so sure what not ..." “David, I am not the girl of your dreams. I'm shy, clumsy, distracted, I hate going out to nightclubs… ” "Hey! Don't even think about saying that again !!! " Rossi said making her look at him “of all the girls he's dated, they all considered him a weirdo, they never made it past the first date. You are the only one who saw it with other eyes that were not to judge it "he said firmly" I am very sure that you are that girl " “Her name is Kiara” (Y / N) said with a trembling voice “I know they were seeing each other, I know that Spence likes that girl. I know it's not me "

"Come on, it's about time" Joey said again "The fourth person is already finishing singing" “Okay…” as they got up “is Cam there? "Yes, he came in next to us" Rossi put a hand on her shoulder "they told me that one of those is going to make her angry, a lot" "It better all go well ... and yes, the first one is going to make him angry" laughing "he deserves it"

“There he is," Derek said whispering and glancing at Cam as he sat down at one of the tables in the front row. "Remember the plan" meeting with Hotch "we must not approach if there is no suspicious movement" “(Y / N) will be the last. After I finish he will come with us ... " "Surely he will come too, almost a year ago they finished" said Spencer "will try to do something" "And that's when we'll catch him" added Rossi "I'll go talk to Joey, it's already starting," he said by the time the lights dimmed and he began to give a brief introduction of the first person who was going to sing.

Time flew by. Spencer kept thinking about the things that could go right or wrong… she thought about what (Y / N) would sing, dance, and how she would be dressed for the occasion. He had heard Garcia and JJ talk about wanting it to be something “sexy”, to leave everyone who passed by drooling and, of course, he did not like that idea, he felt more nervous than before ...

"Easy kid!" Derek said taking some of his drink "Derek, we are not supposed to drink in the middle of work" whispering and listening to a man in his 50s singing Queen's Love of my Life. “You don't have to suspect us” referring to Cam “also, this is grape juice” "I know you don't have to suspect us" "I know you are afraid, but nothing will go wrong, and do not come with the statistics, on this precise day they do not count" "(Y / N)?" asked on the intracom Hotch seeing that Emily, Penelope and JJ were approaching "Nervous. He's talking to Rossi "JJ replied sitting in their respective places" we already saw our unsub "

The next two people sang love songs again, TOO cloying for Spencer's taste, you could feel the sweetness and love in the air. I was begging (Y / N) to cut with that, it was not something surprising. By the time the fourth person had finished his performance of L’amore si Muove by Il Volo, he knew that her turn was approaching. His nerves took hold of him when he saw Rossi approaching the bar to order a whiskey while he motioned for her to come talk to him.

"What's going on?" once it got closer. "(Y / N) told me that you were dating a certain Kiara" he said without mincing words "is that so?" “Ah… I…” but she couldn't lie “yes… an old friend from college… we went out a couple of times, but I told her that I didn't want anything with her, that my heart was with someone else” "And why didn't you tell her you didn't see her anymore?" "I don't know ... I panicked and it was the only thing I could say" "Do not worry child. Today is your chance to fix things "

“Ladies and gentlemen” said Joey once the applause had stopped “our last participant is a very special client for us, and today she is going to delight us with her beautiful voice… she will sing two incredible songs: one by the famous English band Little Mix, the second, an indistinct song that we will hear for the first time here live and direct. Please give (Y / N) a loud applause !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ” -------------------------------------------------

(Y / N) POV’s I started dancing and singing all over the place, I was nervous but happy to do this, I had to unburden myself of everything that this damn thing did to me in these years of relationship. I was with Cam for four years, in the last one it was that he changed and I decided to cut, I couldn't take it anymore ...

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bFDzhKdrN9M)

“This is a shout out to my ex Heard he in love with some other chick Yeah yeah, that hurt me, I'll admit Forget that boy, I'm over it I hope she gettin' better sex Hope she ain't fakin' it like I did, babe Took four long years to call it quits Forget that boy, I'm over it…”

And it was a one way trip !!!! I never felt so free in my life, seeing his angry face was what I wanted to provoke, something easy to capture once and for all! He wouldn't hurt any more girls, he wouldn't do the same thing he did to me anymore. I kept singing with a smile until the moment I least wanted came. I could hear Penelope cheering me on and shouting my name from one of the last tables, I laughed when I saw her together with JJ and Emily screaming and singing, seeing the astonished faces of Dave, Hotch, even Derek !!!! Her jaw almost touched the floor !!!!! But… I was looking for that tall, intelligent, shy boy, my best friend… what am I saying? Best friend? No, it wasn't just that.

"Thank you all!!!! That was fun "while trying to smile" I have to confess that I was never very good with words, less when it came to expressing my deepest feelings ... I realized that when I returned home a few weeks ago ... "sighing I progressed with the first that came to mind “… at that time, I didn't know if love at first sight actually existed, I thought it was a passing thing. It wasn't until something happened that made me realize that it does exist. ", I sat on the stool in front of the keyboard, wondering whether to say his name or not ..." when I found out that that person who made me believe in that started dating one of his best friends, my world fell apart, I could never get to confess how I felt, I never got to tell him that since I met him a few years ago on my first day of work I felt that I was going to be someone special in my life, I could not confess that I loved him. And… if I have to be honest, I am happy that I have found someone who can give you everything that is out of my reach… The song is called Secret Love Song, because I never dared to say any of the things that I saved for myself. I dedicate it to my best friend… ” fuck it! Just say his name !!! "Spencer Reid."

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DUblXdhp1r0)

We keep behind closed doors Every time I see you, I die a little more Stolen moments that we steal as the curtain falls It'll never be enough As you drive me to my house I can't stop these silent tears from rolling down You and I both have to hide On the outside where I can't be yours and you Can't be mine But I know this We got a love that is homeless

Why can't I hold you in the street? Why can't I kiss you on the dance floor? I wish that it could be like that Why can't it be like that? 'Cause I'm yours Why can't I say that I'm in love? I wanna shout it from the rooftops I wish that it could be like that Why can't it be like that? 'Cause I'm yours

It's obvious you're meant for me Every piece of you, it just fits perfectly Every second, every thought, I'm in so deep But I'll never show it on my face But we know this, we got a love that is homeless

Why can't you hold me in the street? Why can't I kiss you on the dance floor? I wish that it could be like that Why can't we be like that? 'Cause I'm yours Why can't I say that I'm in love? I wanna shout it from the rooftops I wish that it could be like that Why can't we be like that? 'Cause I'm yours

I don't wanna live love this way I don't wanna hide us away I wonder if it ever will change I'm living for that day Someday....

I remembered the moment when he accidentally kissed me once leaving the cinema and arriving at my apartment. He had told me that it had been a mistake, something on impulse, and I was stupid and told him exactly the same thing ... my tears were already trying to spill ...

* "Thanks Spence, I had a lot of fun tonight" I said smiling "I hope that, if there is no case, we can repeat it again" "It's nothing" like me "and I would love to repeat it again" “But…” she looked at me in confusion “next time it will be here at home with an Agatha Christie’s Poirot marathon. I can't believe you've never seen the series !!!!! " seeing how he laughed at my statement "I mean it" "I'll get the popcorn then" her smile ... I felt trapped in her We both fell silent, dangerously close to each other, her lips brushing against mine in a careless moment. "(Y / N) l ... sorry ... I ..." clearing his throat "I shouldn't have done that, it was a ... big mistake by ..." "Don't worry Spence" trying to sound calm "I think ... you should go home, it's getting late and we have to go to work and ..." "I promise to let you know when I arrive" he said in a thread of voice "see you tomorrow" and then run away and leave me alone with my thoughts. *

When you hold me in the street And you kiss me on the dance floor I wish that we could be like that Why can't we be like that 'Cause I'm yours, I'm yours

Oh, why can't you hold me in the street? Why can't I kiss you on the dance floor? I wish that it could be like that Why can't it be like that? 'Cause I'm yours Why can't I say that I'm in love? I wanna shout it from the rooftops I wish that it could be like that Why can't we be like that? 'Cause I'm yours…

I paused a little and, meeting those beautiful caramel eyes, I continued with the last verse while tears fell from mine ...

Why can't we be like that? Wish we could be like that....

Everyone was clapping, but I couldn't stop staring at him. He looked beautiful with that lilac shirt, dark blue jeans, different colored stockings and his black conversations ruined by constant use ... I felt stupid to be in love with someone who doesn't feel the same ...

"Thank you all" I finally said to get out of there.

"YOU ARE NOT GOING ANYWHERE" I felt a strong grip on my neck and a cold metal on my head, the more I struggled to release myself, the more force Cameron made; I could see Penelope, Aaron and David taking people out of the place to keep them safe, and Emily, JJ, Derek and Spence pointing at us. Nice way to celebrate Valentine's Day, right?

"CAMERON, LET HER NOW" Derek yelled without lowering the gun "We don't want to hurt you" "Hurt?" he said laughing “how funny, here the only one who hurt me was HER !!! HE ABANDONED ME, LEFT ME IN MISERY !!! " "You hurt me" tried to push him "you mistreated me, you hit me and you cheated" "QUIET!" the gun was going to leave a permanent mark on my head if I kept pressing it "Cam, listen, I know she hurt you ..." Spencer started to say to play along "she left you alone ... I understand that you want revenge, but this doesn't have to end like this" 

My mind raced thinking about what I was going to do, I had to get out of her arms unscathed, or try to do it. She wasn't going to let this bastard get away with it. "Love ..." making him look at me "love, I'm sorry .... I'm sorry I left you, I didn't know what I was doing. Without you I am… lost… ”his breathing began to accelerate“ do you remember… that Il Volo song that I like so much? ” humming the song "... my heart paused, hugging nothing, clinging to nothing ... my illusion is blind ... there is no tomorrow ..." I felt his grip loosen and, without saying that any sound came out of my throat, I managed to look at Spencer and say "I'm sorry ..."

After that I felt a stabbing pain and everything went black ...

[todoiidoriya]

Anastasia at the Pantages (10/20/19)

Prepare yourselves because I’m about dump so much fucking information on you. 

Okay so first let me begin by saying the set design? Fucking incredible. Literally the second the lights went down I was absolutely stunned. I have no words. 

Alright, so to start off: Delilah Rose Pellow was so adorable as young Anastasia. Her dialogue was a little clearer as Alexei (she kind of ran her words together at the beginning) but her acting was amazing for both of them.

The change in lighting, the explosions, and the choreography were amazing at the end of the ballroom scene. The choreography when Anastasia went back for the music box was especially cool!!

Jake Levy plays Dima a lot differently than Derek did. His Dima is a little less scoundrel-y if you know what I mean. He seems younger, more like the kid he is. He’s jaded, but he’s still young. (He’s less asshole-with-a-heart-of-gold and more just sweet boy. I love him.)

When he pops up behind the podium in A Rumor in St. Petersburg? I literally cried. Precious.

Lila Coogan is so fucking incredible as Anya!! Literally from the first note she sang, I was damn enthralled. She sings higher than Christy, and it was so unexpected and so gorgeous. Her voice is so clear and strong and steady and GOD.

She does this kind of growling thing in her dialogue parts. I heard it especially on “r”s and in that scene when she and Dima fight those guys before My Petersburg. (It was highkey hot ngl, my gay ass was so shook. But I digress.)

Vlad (Edward Staudenmayer) was so fucking funny. It’s usually not very easy to make me laugh but pretty much every line of his got me. Just,,, his delivery? HYSTERICAL.

Now Gleb. Gleb. My boy. The love of my life. I was a little thrown off at the beginning because Jason Michael Evans sings really differently than Ramin Karimloo, but he’s so talented. 

All the like really strong Gleb notes were a little higher, and the vibrato? Through the roof. It was insane how much vibrato he used. And damn they were stunning. 

He also did an incredible job portraying how conflicted Gleb is through all of it. And in the little dialogue before The Neva Flows he was so awkward. It was hilarious. 

Stay I Pray You was so lovely. Brad Greer was so amazing as Count Ipolitov, and all of their voices fit so well together. I was shook. 

The same goes for We’ll Go From There. At they end, when they’re all overlapping each other? Stunning.

Still really got me. I love Gleb. That’s all I can say. 

Journey to the Past beat me up and stole my wallet with how good it was. That’s all I can say. Lila Coogan is so fucking incredible. 

Lily (Tari Kelly) was so amazing. Her voice is really different from Caroline’s, but GOD is it amazing. The woman can BELT. 

The Countess and the Common Man. Was so fucking funny. I wheezed. I literally wheezed. Just all of it. God. The delivery? On point. The body language? Hysterical.

Anya’s nightmare gave me chills. Alexei’s dialogue especially was just so bone-chilling. It was astounding. 

In a Crowd of Thousands was so fucking sweet. Anya and Dmitry are so fucking soft for each other. I cried. They love each other so much. Fuck. 

Quartet at the Ballet was so fucking stunning too. Like again the way their voices blend was just EVERYTHING. If I could I would listen to that on repeat for the rest of my life. I want it played at my funeral. Oh my God. 

Everything to win was so sweet as usual but GOD when Dima says “woah! better knock on wood!” he knocked on his head! I wheezed. It was so fucking funny. Is this a thing that happened in the obcr? Did this happen in other shows? I need to know.

And now, the moment we’ve I’ve been waiting for: Still/The Neva Flows Reprise.

Just like, watching him slowly lock the doors during the Everything to Win Reprise was so chilling, especially since I already knew what was going to happen. 

When he said “stop playing this game, Anya” HIS VOICE BROKE. I cried. I love him so much. He’s so conflicted. GOD.

And then on “hear their screams, imagine their terror, see their blood” Anya was actually screaming at him. And she did the growly thing! I was so stunned.

I feel like Christy’s Anya is more like,,, almost trying to convince him? But Lila’s Anya was just so angry. I loved it. 

At one point, she kind of collapsed to the floor for a few moments and he was standing on the other side of the stage, looking down at her. It was a really cool parallel to the Romanov ghosts in the background, looking their killers steadily in the eyes. 

After his last line, when Gleb is just standing there, holding the gun to her chest, he was shaking so hard that I could see it from the literal back row. He made this kind of gasping/choking/sobbing noise before he collapsed on his knees. 

He really seemed like he was having a panic attack. It was so well done and impactful. I adore Gleb and Jason Michael Evans does such a wonderful job portraying him. 

When Anya found Dima at the end, when he said “I’m not your prince, Anya”, he sounded so young and like,,, wounded. Jesus Christ, it hurt me so bad. I love Dmitry with every ounce of my being. 

When they’re singing the finale and Anya and Dima, Lily and Vlad, the Dowager Empress, Gleb, Anya’s family, and young Anastasia are all standing together? It was so gorgeous. I was absolutely blown away. Not just by how wonderful it sounded, but by how powerful that image was. It was amazing.

[koltarmi]

things i noticed/liked/thought while i was watching anastasia live ver 2.0

This past summer, I got the chance to go see Anastasia again and was lucky enough to see it with a whole new cast! At that point, Zach Adkins had become the principal Dmitry, Molly Rushing was Anya, Ken Krugman was Vlad, Max Von Essen was Vlad, Lily was Vicki Lewis, and the Dowager was Janet Dickson. 

Details are below:

Act 1

Kelli Youngman did an extra twirl trailing behind the rest of the Romanov sisters

Dima sounds real pissed especially in the beginning of he song. He gave off a kind of old movie conman vibe with the attitude and accent in "A rumour"

Ken did some preening in "a rumour" when talking about hobnobbing with the Royals

Dmitry yells "WE'LL BE OUT.” in the attitude one would say, "BYE, WE OUT BITCHES”

My first crush ever was on the animated Dmitry solely because of that belt on "the biggest con in  history" gave me chills every damn time. I was so pleased that Derek exceeded my expectations and I was always worried no one else could compare, but damn was I wrong because Zach did as equally well on that.

Instead of raising a chair in defence, Dimitry hides behind the couch he was lounging on.

Zach's Dimitry doesn't have the biting sarcasm of Derek's version, which is great. Who would want to watch the same performance after all? It's softer and he drawls his witty remarks which still have the same amount of sting as Derek's Dmitry who's remarks are quick and blunt.

Ken's Vlad does this over the top bow when he introduces himself to Anya.

Molly's version of Anya and Zach's version of Dimitry reminded me more of the dynamic between the two in the movie.

MOLLY'S VOICE WHEN SHE SINGS "In My Dreams” 😍😍😍😍

When Vlad teaches Anya how to walk properly, she sticks her arms and out and sort of bounces along which Vlad then mocks doing the flappy arm thing from “Paris Holds the Key”

Ken's Vlad adds a lilting tone to the end of some sentences giving them a touch of humour.

Anya's breakdown in “Learn to Do It” is not teary. In fact, it's the complete opposite. She is absolutely pissed off.

Vlad does a tsking sound when Dimitry tries to argue with Anya while she's angry.

When Dmitry steps on Anya's foot while they're dancing, Vlad looks so exasperated and says, “Just... just...just...” cue loud sigh. 

When Anya kicks Dmitry's shin, a scolding voice.

The third time around he takes in a deep breath and counts in a higher pitched tone. 

Dmitry looks so offended when Vlad says Russian was for common folks like him. 

The Russian telephone that works line he chuckled for a long time before realizing oh fuck his boss didn't find that funny.

When Anya is brought in, MVE's Gleb doesn't use intimidation. He acts more like the good cop.

When he does realize who he's talking to. His demeanour changes and he stutters before dismissing the officers with a wave of his hand and a "eep" like noise (this is like the best I can describe it).

After he says it's the uniform and the office that make the bad impression, he proves it by plastering on a wide grin.

In the last refrain of “The Neva Flows”, Anya sings the refrain along with him playing the part of a loyal comrade who knows better now, except she stops when he sings, “The Tsar lies cold”.

The drunk guys aren't as excited when they tell that the Tsar is drinking his vodka in hell. Instead the sorta half mumble and sound tired.

Love the way James Peirce says, “Girrrrrrrrrlfriend” and how the group of them sway in a circle to look at Anya.

Molly chasing after those guys while screaming was adorable and hilarious.

In the beginning of “My Petersburg”, for the first few verses Zach sort of says-sings them, belts on the first “Petersburg” then goes in to full force singing into “I've bartered for a blanket/stolen for my bread”.

At the end of the first verse, he nods his head forward and tells Anya, “Come on.”

Zach growls the line “rough company” and holy shit i was shook.

Why did they cut Anya and Dimitry singing “You and I on the fly/just in time” I love it so much.

His response to Anya when she says that neither of them has a family is so earnest it hurts me. Derek's Dmitry says it hesitantly almost forgetting he's conned Anya into this, while Zach's Dimitry is softer and assures her that her family is waiting for her in Paris and I honestly don't which interpretation I like better because I love both of them.

The tone he uses when he tells Anya the object she's holding a music box is exactly the same when he tells her it's broken and that made the audience chuckle.

When Anya opens the music box, Dmitry throws his hands up, rolls his eyes in exasperation, and walks away when Anya opens up the music box on her first try. 'Of fucking course she got it open on her first try,’

When he asks her how she opened it, he sounds more curious than he does confused.

The seats we had this time were way closer to the projections on the wall and holy shit, they look even more magical up close that I wanted to touch them. 

My sister teared up by the end of “Once Upon a December” because the song made her so sad and nostalgic at the same time. 

Dmitry sounds so regretful when he tells Anya that they don't have enough to get out of Russia.

They drop a coin when Dmitry tries to give Anya back her money and for the rest of the scene and the next one, I kept worrying someone would slip on it. 

When she talks about how stubborn Dmitry is she says the part about him being almost as stubborn like her in a somewhat bragging tone.

Molly's singing when during the little reprise of “In My Dreams” about the diamond is just absolutely gorgeous.

Man, Constantine Germancos and the rest of the ensemble singing “Stay, I Pray You” gives me chills everytime. Hearing it live is just so much more gut wrenching than the album. For the first stay, I pray you, he holds the word “stay” a little.longer and DAMN.

Anya rolls her eyes and gets up to walk around the train when Vlad says he loved the diamond studded watch more than Lily.

Lyrica Woodruff and Kristen Smith-Davies made a really an exaggerated motion of scooting over when Zach had one foot on the bench that got a chuckle out of a few people.

Anya slides off the top of the bench she's sitting on when the train comes to a sudden stop.

When the jump off the train the scene turns black, but for some reason this time the lighting from the two offices (Gleb's and his superior officer's, which was on stage right) made it bright enough that you could see Molly, Zach, and Ken hurry offstage

MVE's “Still” 👌🔥✔👌✔👌👌🔥✔🔥🔥🔥👌

When Vlad says that Anya will break his heart, he laughs it off. But when Vlad tells her how he'll never see her if she's accepted as the real Anastasia, the realization of his friend's warning hits him like a ton of bricks.

TBH, a little disappointed Dmitry didn't bound offstage like a young goat, he just ran.

Molly's smile is absolutely radiant when she finishes “Journey to the Past”.

Act 2

Vlad's shaggy beard is gone when they change into their fancy Paris clothes.

Zach is a much better dancer than Derek. The boy's talent lies in his voice not his coordination while Zach seems to be a better balance between vocal power and dance. 

The look Anya and Dmitry shared as they circled each other was goddamn magnetic and when he offers a hand to dance and she gets twirled away by someone else the look on his face is so disappointed that it wrecked me. 

Molly's “Crossing a Bridge” is so full of hope it makes me emotional. Her voice singing that song is so pure???!! Like that's the only way I feel describes it correctly.

I don't remember if Christy did this, but when Vlad announces he's going to try find Lily, Anya reaches up to neaten Vlad's bowtie in a good luck gesture of sorts.

Vicki Lewis' Lily is not as comedic as Caroline O'Connor's. She has much more serious and drier humour, which perfectly compliments Ken's Vlad.

The best way I can describe it is Vicki's Lily is basically a Vodka Aunt ™

This Count Leopold is less slimy more pompous.

MBP's Dowager is full of grieving and sadness while Janet's Dickson's is tired and bitter. Also the way she drags the word “Cleaveland” with disgust was pretty funny. 

The way she sings “tell them/no more” she really puts emphasis on the “no more” which makes her sound so defeated. 

At the entrance of the Neva Club, Lily says this to the doorman after greeting her a good evening: “The only good thing it means there's one day less.” She then laughs and says she's being Russian and with a deadpan expression and tone she looks out to the audience and says, “I love life.”  which is such a big mood. 

When everyone is passed out at the Neva Club during “Land of Yesterday”, Vicki's Lily is dancing and drinking from an empty vodka bottle without hands before she wakes them all up by belting a high note.

When Lily and Vlad go outside to talk and she acts cold to him, she very purposefully drops her handkerchief and Vlad rushes to pick it up.

During “The Countess and the Common Man”  when Lily says she loved him, Vlad pauses for a few seconds looking for the right words to say before hesitantly replying, “You loved me,” which got a chuckle out of the audience.

The two really drew out the part where they're exhausted. Vlad was finding his pulse while Lily took a breath and stretched. 

Ken and Vicki really went at it. Like she straight up was feeling up his butt. 

The part where he belts “the Common Man”, Vicki wrapped herself around his leg which made them look like the cover of bodice-ripper harlequin novel. 

MVE's reprise of “Land of Yesterday” The man has a voice like velvet. 

When Dmitry rushes in to reassure Anya, he sounds so genuine and honest. It's clear he's head over heels in love with her and he's forgotten the whole thing is a con. 

After Dmitry sings his part in “In a Crowd of Thousands” Anya scoots a little closer to him when he sits back down at the bed. 

BOTH MOLLY AND ZACH'S VOICES IN THE SONG MY GOD, IT MADE THE AUDIENCE FELT LIKE THEY WERE INTRUDING ON A PRIVATE MOMENT.  

So when Anya sings that young Dmitry was “not too clean”, Derek used to act jokingly offended but Zach's Dmitry is just so enraptured by Anya telling her side of the story he's just smiling at her the whole time like wow pro tip get yourself a zach's version in Dmitry who looks so lovingly at Molly's Anya cause that's true love. 

That loving smile becomes a look of shock, confusion, and the slightest bit of hope when Anya goes, “And then he bowed.”

I LOVR THE WAY MOLLY SAYS, “You didn't have to. I remember.” It's not surprise or shock at the sudden memory. She says it like a fact. Water is wet, fire is hot, the sky is blue, and I remember the boy on the street who made me smile, it was you. It's been you all this time.

The rush towards each other, so utterly happy, but then Zach's Dimitry suddenly realizes what's he doing and freezes. He pulls away from Anya and that look on his voice is so similar to the look he had in PHTK when she gets spun away from him. 

So I timed this as soon as they walked offstage, Zach had about 55 seconds to change while Molly had about 70 seconds to change.

Quartet of the Ballet, man. The lyrics are the same, but sung by different people who have different interpretations of the same characters is whole new damn experience. 

Zach and Max's voices went really well together and I want a duet between them immediately. 

In “Everything to Win”, Zach sings beautifully and then says "wHY PANIC NOW??” and resumes his lovely singing which got a chuckle out of the audience. Boi looked like he was gonna lose his goddamn mind. 

When Anya comes out, he asks her in a hopeful voice, “What happened?” and her stoic facial expression turns into one of complete and utter betrayal and anger.

The confrontation between Maria and Dmitry is a totally different tone, because neither them holds back and basically yells in the other's face.

“I was hungry and desperate when I met you, but I wasn't dishonest. I hate you for that.” She says the last sentence so quietly you can almost miss it, but damn if that doesnt hurt I don't know what would because we've seen an annoyed, violent, and angry Anya. This quiet anger and betrayal is so much worse.

When they're back in the hotel and Anya is packing her things, she throws the doll Dmitry bought her and it falls to the ground. And when she's ripping  Vlad a new one, she rips the medallion looking thingy from his suit and throws it on the ground.

Again, Janet's Maria is again tired and bitter and it really shows in the scene between her and Anya.

When Maria and Anya hug, Dmitry is in the background, the doll she threw away in his hand.

Just like in “Land of Yesterday”, Vicki's Lily belts a high note to silence the press in “The Press Conference”

The confrontation between Anya and Gleb is just so intense. He tries playing the good cop card again, when it's clear she won't fall for it, he becomes more clear with his threats. 

I remember seeing video of Christy adding this move in The Neva Flows Reprise where she falls back into the chair and Molly does it as well, she backs up into the chair as if this conversation physically hurts her and pushes her back, defeated into the chair, head slumped.

When he demands one last time, who she is, we see the Anya we know and love return in full force. Her head and spine that was slumped straightens as she stares him down and walks toward right into his gun, proudly declaring that she is The Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevena Romanov.

And it seems her confidence and courage in her identity weakens Gleb's. His hand shakes as he points the gun at her chest. He tries to point it at her head, but that just weakens his resolve and he crumples into the ground, dropping his gun. (If I haven't made it clear, I fucking love MVE's interpretation of Gleb)

The whole conversation between the two after this is softer and filled with quiet understanding and regret. And they part as comrades both knowing the truth.

The way Zach's Dmitry says, "I don't want to be in love with someone I can't have," is so bitter like he believes that now that Anya is proven to be Anastasia he will never be worthy of her love, which he is 110% wrong.

Molly's Anya says the line about her first kiss with a prince like a fact. 

When they kiss, Dmitry is shocked like his wildest dreams has come true before he realizes this is real and just gently kisses her back.

[christinealtomare]

Final Stuttgart thoughts:

Whoops, so I didn’t get a chance to post this before passing out last night!

Overall, I really enjoyed the Stuttgart cast. Milan and Judith were definitely the highlights, while Mathias was a pleasant surprise. All three have really deviated from what Christy, Derek, and Ramin originally did, but honestly? That’s not a bad thing. They all put their own spins on the characters and it works so well. 

Mathias especially really made Gleb his own and ran with it and it’s the best interpretation of Gleb that I’ve heard to date. From the tone and acting, it doesn’t seem like his Gleb is pursuing Anya romantically at all. He really plays up the infatuation more, clashes with Anya early on, and is very threatening from the very beginning. Instead of feeling like a creepy uncle or dudebro hitting on Anya, their scenes are so much more interesting than any other Gleb/Anya duo I’ve ever heard because right from the first meeting you can tell that these two are symbolizing very conflicting ideologies and that they have a sense of that. Hence, their “The Neva Flows” was the most interesting scene for me in the whole audio (and I never thought I’d say that about a gle*ya scene!) because it’s almost like a mini game of Cat and Mouse between them in that scene (and throughout tbh) but it’s hard to tell who’s who. Mathias’ Gleb is a very convincing Chekist. I can buy that he’s high up enough to warrant that new office and someone they would trust to execute Anya and not just because of who his father is. You actually get the implication throughout that this guy did some pretty horrible stuff to earn that view of the Nevsky Prospect. I went in not expecting much from Mathias’ Gleb and came out with him as the new favourite. So pleasantly surprised. To be honest, the most unrealistic part of his portrayal for me is that he didn’t shoot Anya in the end.

Judith, in turn, is such an interesting and complex Anya! The word that keeps coming to mind when I think of her Anya is rational? Christy, Jana, and Lila all play super passionate Anyas who are led by their hearts. Judith’s Anya is still very much a dreamer and the emotion is absolutely still there, but she’s also so incredibly realistic and self-assured. She has a goal and a plan about how to achieve it. Whereas with Christy, I always kind of got the impression that’s she’s had this dream of Paris for all these years, but until she meets Dmitry it’s almost like she doesn’t have the strongest plan? With Judith, it feels like there has always been a game plan in place and Dmitry and Vlad are two side-kicks she’s picked up along the way. Lynn Ahrens described her Anya as, “From Germany, [JUDITH] is like a gentle force of nature. That’s real strength.” This is honestly so true of her portrayal. Gosh, I don’t even know how to describe it any better? 

When she meets Dmitry for the first time, she’s annoyed by his sarcasm but it’s almost kind of as if she also understands to an extent that the reason Dmitry is considered a reliable illegal supplier is because he doesn’t go around forging papers for just anybody and when describing her trek, she’s almost kind of justifying to him why she would be a reliable client and is deserving of the exit papers? That’s what makes her “In My Dreams” so interesting because for her Anya, getting that peek into her literal dreams feels rare? So you can really tell that this is something she cares about because until that point, she approaches Dmitry very rationally. Her Anya also shows a lot of self-restraint. It takes a lot to get her to snap and when it does happen, you don’t expect it. It’s a surprise because it takes a lot to push her to that point (the drunk guys + finding out about the con). She never really shouts back at Dmitry. In the encounters with Gleb, you can tell how much her skin is crawling and how much she disagrees with what he’s preaching, but she honestly plays Gleb like a fiddle haha. 

Her remarks are biting and bitter and even in that final confrontation, the more Mathias shouts, the more Judith taunts him. She’s finally letting her disdain be known, yet she almost never shouts back. She’s certainly goading him in that scene, almost like a, “Do it. I dare you to shoot.” So it’s beyond satisfying how after that breakdown and everything he’s preached throughout the show, Gleb can’t shoot her. Additionally, Journey to the Past is such a satisfying moment because Judith lets it all out during that number. Every other Anya has made me cry by the end of that song, but with Judith’s its so extra special because there’s that sense of she’s really earned this, you know?

Both Milan and Judith play a much more subdued Dimya. Those two can belt but they save it for the more intense moments and it works amazingly. Additionally, their Dimya clearly aren’t as snappy with one another? They both have an incredible sarcasm and wit but even during the diamond scene, they’re never really shouting at each other, just arguing. So when Judith does finally snap after “Everything to Win.” it’s really a defining moment because until that point, her Anya is very determined and doesn’t wear her heart on her sleeve as much. 

Finally, Milan is such a treat as Dmitry! He’s sarcastic and witty without ever being a total dick to Anya. He laughs at her initially when she asks for exit papers, but by the end of “In My Dreams”, he comes to respect her as an equal. The scenes where he and Vlad are My Fair Lady-ing Anya are interesting because Judith’s Anya is difficult to manipulate and Milan’s Dmitry can tell. He takes a very careful approach in trying to turn Anya into Anastasia. I really expected him to be a more happier Dmitry because of his personality but Milan really surprised me? Like Judith’s Anya, his Dmitry has a goal in mind. He and Judith start out as reluctant partners in crime, turn into friends, and by the end of the Travelling Sequence it’s surprising and cute because it really feels like Milan’s Dmitry absolutely, 100% did not mean to fall in love with Anya and it surprises him so much. His “Everything to Win” is honestly the best climax I could ever hope for, for Dmitry. And of course, as we all knew, the chemistry with Judith is just perfect.

The one complaint I have is that it felt like the Madrid cast brought more to the table in terms of... everything? However, the audio I heard from Madrid was from their very first preview, while this one was a few days after opening night so I’m also not super surprised that there is a difference in energy between the two casts.

Overall, if you get the chance to watch either international production, please do it. In my personal opinion, I think these two productions are taking fresher approaches than the Tour and it’s almost like seeing an entirely different show, even if you’ve seen/heard the Broadway production. Neither Stuttgart nor Madrid will disappoint you.

[happy-little-musician]

21. You Might Like This

Pairing: Mush (2017 Newsies) x Gender Neutral Reader

Genre: Fluff, Modern Era

Length: 604 words, takes 2-3 minutes to read

TW: None.

A/N: Okay again I used this post as a prompt list. The song is ‘You Shine’ from Carrie the musical sung by Christy Altomare and Derek Klena on the cast album. Hope you enjoy I’m exhausted ok gn. Also thanks to @ben-cook-can-cook for making me sleep.

Hard days are the worst days.

They take too long.

Your bed seemed like heaven right about now. But unfortunately for you, you had an assignment to do. Your hair must have been greasy by now, with the number of times you've ran your fingers through it. You decided to take a break, standing from your desk and pacing the room. You took some deep breaths. Inhale, exhale.

Then Mush walked in.

"Hey, babe, I heard you pacing. What's up?" he asked, concern lacing his tone. You smiled; he always knew when something was wrong.

"I'm fine, this assignment is just stressing me out." You wandered over to your chair and sighed, staring at the floor. Mush standing in front of you stopped you from fully zoning out. He crouched in front of you.

"Hey, hey. Don't space out on me. Here." He gave you his phone. It was open on Spotify, on a song called 'You Shine'.

"What?"

"Listen to it. You might like this, it made me think of you."

You pressed play, and the sounds of a gentle acoustic melody came from his phone.

'If you could see

The way that you look to me

I bet that you'd be amazed at the sight.

You'd see a heart that's

Fearless and true.

From my point of view

Oh, you shine'

Your face went from serious and concentrated to beaming.

"Awwe, Mush!!" He took the phone from your hand and placed it on the desk but didn't pause it, instead taking your hand and pulling you out of your chair. He put his other hand on your waist and started rocking you to the rhythm of the music.

'I think you hide

So much you feel inside

But I know, deep down,

There's a fire burning bright.

From where you stand

It might not be clear,

But you shine from here'

The smiles on your faces were priceless as you danced, giggles bouncing from the walls when Mush held out his arm for you to spin. He gently pulled you in to hold you closer for the chorus.

'No doubts, no more fears.

I see you shine and the dark disappears.

Then I know everything is gonna be fine.

Because you shine, oh how you shine.

You shine.'

He pressed a gentle kiss to the top of your head, making you look up at him. He really did shine - and you did to him too.

'What a surprise,

Gazing into your eyes.

I swear that I still get lost in the light.

No photograph could possibly show

The you I know.'

The lyrics rang true, the two of you totally lost, hardly thinking about the music in the background. He pulled you in for a kiss as the chorus struck up again.

'No doubts, no more fears.

I see you shine and the dark disappears.

I'll be your mirror and you can be mine.

Look to me and you'll see just how you shine.'

When you pulled apart, one of your hands was in his hair, the other across his shoulders, and his on your waist. You were still barely apart, your lips practically still touching. The dialogue in the song was mostly white noise to you now, but three words stood out to you.

'I love you.'

"I love you."

Mush's voice was louder than the music, but barely above a whisper. You smiled, poking your tongue between your teeth, and kissed him again.

'No doubts, no more fears.

I see you shine and the dark disappears.

Then I know everything is gonna be fine

Because you're mine.

You shine.'

"I love you, too.”

[ao3feed-anastasia]

in some other life (we are standing side by side)

read it on the AO3 at http://bit.ly/2RhOYJe

by Cones_McMurphy

Dimitri knew posting a listing on craigslist was just asking for trouble, but desperate times call for desperate measures. And as far as Dimitri was concerned, his roommate moving out with barely more than a day’s notice in the middle of the month was definitely a desperate situation.

Words: 2577, Chapters: 1/?, Language: English

Fandoms: Anastasia (1997), Anastasia - Flaherty/Ahrens/McNally

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Categories: F/M

Characters: Dimitri | Dmitry (Anastasia), Anastasia Nikolaevna Romanov Grand Duchess of Russia, Vlad Popov, Lily Malevsky-Malevitch, Sophie Stanislovskievna Somorkov-Smirnoff, Alexei Nikolaevich Romanov, Maria Nikolaevna Romanov (1899-1918), Olga Nikolaevna Romanov, Pooka (Anastasia 1997)

Additional Tags: the bickering roommates AU noone asked for, this is trash and I am trash, get ready for sixish chapters of nonsense folks, You're Welcome, this is how I'm spending my winter break, dimitri is a damn fool, rated teen and up for some swearing, and some drinking, possibly, and some talks about Sad Childhoods lmao, dimitri "i'm sorry you must be a level 4 friend to unlock my tragic backstory' sudayev, a blending of things from the movie and the stage musical, because I love them both, although I am absolutely imagining dimitri and anya as derek klena and christy altomare, nothing but respect for MY dimya, wow I have been talking way too much in these tags, and they were ROOMMATES, oh my god they were roommates, Mostly Fluff, Some angst, Modern AU

read it on the AO3 at http://bit.ly/2RhOYJe

[twentyonepilotsficlibrary]

Miscellaneous Fandoms Fic Rec Masterlist

This is something new we’re trying out. In our admin group chat we all started talking about our other fandoms/pairings we read and thought it might be fun to share some of our favorite fics. 

I know not everyone will be into this idea but i think it’s easily ignored if it’s not your cup of tea. Otherwise we hope you enjoy this mess of fics, maybe you’ll find yourself a new pairing, or maybe you’ll get inspired to write Joshler. 

we hope you enjoy! 

**this will be a long post**

Madi’s recs

Teen Wolf - Sterek (Stiles Stilinski & Derek Hale)

Cornerstone by Vendelin (6/6 | 83738 | Explicit)

Suffering from PTSD, ex-Marine Derek Hale moves back to Beacon Hills to open a bookshop and find a calmer life. That’s where he meets Stiles, completely by accident. Stiles is talkative, charming and curious. Somehow, despite the fact that he’s blind, he’s able to read Derek like no one else.

//PTSD //anxiety attacks 

No Homo by orphan_account (12/12 | 84092 | Explicit)

Stiles' sophomore year starts something like this: 3 FourLokos + 1 peer-pressuring cat - 1 best bro to end all best bros = 1 Craigslist ad headline that reads "str8 dude - m4m - strictly platonic". Derek is the fool who replies.

//internalized homophobia 

We Got Claws by Onlymystory (15/15 | 34914 | Mature)

Peter, Isaac, and Scott get de-aged. Stiles and Derek take care of them.

Harry Potter - Drarry (Harry Potter & Draco Malfoy)

Open For Repairs by FeelsForBreakfast (1/1 | 34901 | Mature)

After the war, Draco works at a tv repair shop and Harry breaks things.

feat. sad boys in jumpers and more ABBA than is probably necessary

There's a Pure-Blood Custom For That byLomonaaeren (36/36 | 105549 | Mature) 

The day that Harry stops Draco Malfoy and his son from being bothered in the middle of Diagon Alley starts a strange series of interactions between him and Malfoy. Who knew there was a pure-blood custom for every situation?

Transfigurations by Resonant (1/1 | 71284 | Explicit)

Five years after Voldemort's defeat, Harry returns to England to help re-open Hogwarts.

//major character death 

IT - Reddie (Richie Tozier & Eddie Kaspbrak)

Yours Truly by Buttercup12 (14/14 | 51414 | Mature)

Eddie Kaspbrak has it bad. He’s bullied for being a tiny, delicate, hypochondriac boy. He’s also bullied for being very, very, very gay. Long story short, his life isn’t the easiest.

However, that’s all a piece of cake when compared to his gigantic, pathetic crush on Derry High’s most popular and oh so very straight Trashmouth, Richie Tozier.

Richie has no idea he even exists.

Right?

Wrong.

ugly moon by weepies (27/27 | 79482 | Teen and Up)

Richie Tozier hasn’t spoken a word to anybody since he came to Derry in the middle of the school year. Until he talks to Eddie Kaspbrak.

//abuse mention

----------------------

Christie’s recs

Harry Potter - Drarry (Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter)

Turn by Saras_Girl (14/14 | 306,708 | Explicit)

One good turn always deserves another. Apparently.

All Our Secrets Laid Bare by firethesound (16/16 | 149,549 | Explicit)

Over the six years Draco Malfoy has been an Auror, four of his partners have turned up dead. Harry Potter is assigned as his newest partner to investigate just what is going on.

South Park - Creek (Craig Tucker/Tweek Tweak)

Do Not Try This At Home by Marasa (6/? | 32,100 | Mature)

A post is made that night detailing the rules of their arrangement:

• Video must be taken of the event.

• Video must be uploaded.

• Turns will be taken; after one group uploads, the other must upload as answer to the original post. This ensures equal stunts and higher expectations with each stunt.

• Don’t half-ass it; this is a fucking competition!

//depression //anxiety //past abuse //drug use

The Roommate by DoAsYouWill (27/? | 277,882 | Mature)

Craig is off to college, where he is introduced to the weirdest person he's ever met. Unfortunately, or maybe fortunately, (Craig can't decide), that weirdest person is his roommate.

Just your typical cliche 'meet as roommates' story, but with a lot of nostalgic undertones.

Deadpool - Cablepool (Wade Wilson/Nathan Summers)

Incognito by CQHD (Comet_Kohoutek) (2/2 | 5,810 | Explicit)

Deadpool introduces Cable to porn.

The video, Deadpool realises belatedly, is way too quiet. There's no cheesy bass line that gets stuck in his head and makes him feel each pulse in his dick. There's just the soft rustling of clothes against skin as the man strips. It's got an aesthetic to it, but it doesn't stop Deadpool from hearing the catch in Cable's breath once the man steps out of his underwear and crawls on to the desk. 

Toaster by edy (1/1 | 3,339 | Mature)

If someone were to strap you in and measure your heart rate, it wouldn't be a surprise to anyone to find it'd be beating in time with his own heart. The notion is meant to be romantic, as is customary in romances, and you think it might be romantic if an uneven heart rate wasn't a sign of a serious health condition.

//suicidal thoughts 

----------------------

Sydney’s Recs

South Park 

Do Not Try This At Home by Marasa (6/? || 32,100 || Mature)

A post is made that night detailing the rules of their arrangement:

• Video must be taken of the event.

• Video must be uploaded.

• Turns will be taken; after one group uploads, the other must upload as answer to the original post. This ensures equal stunts and higher expectations with each stunt.

• Don’t half-ass it; this is a fucking competition!

// depression, anxiety, past abuse, drug use

A Perfect Love Like Craig and Tweek by ugandadistrict9 (1/1 || 3,783 || Teen and Up Audiences)

Tweek and Craig have been close for a few years, and everyone says that they’re dating, but Craig has neither confirmed or denied it. Tweek has developed strong feelings for Craig over the time, but is worried that Craig doesn’t feel the same way he does.

Homicidal Maniac by Maroonedpunk (3/3 || 17,654 || Teen and Up Audiences)

They called him a homicidal maniac for years.

Then came the allegations against the coffee shop.

Tweek can’t do this by himself.

// depression, anxiety, drug use, mental illness

Spirit Animals by hollycomb (1/1 || 22,191 || Not Rated)

Cartman wants to film his amateur ghost hunting show at the site of the grisly McCormick massacre. Stan hates the idea but he can’t stay away, because Kyle will be there.

✓✓ Read by Boyue (16/16 || 65,196 || Teem and Up Audiences)

WENDY Nice picture but you have the wrong number.

AKA how Stan Marsh met Kyle Broflovski through a dick pic mishap.

// depression, alcoholism, derogatory language

Detriot: Become Human (Gavid Reed/RK900)

Chrysopoeian Heart by feistymuffin (6/? || 22,826 || Explicit)

Chrysopoeia - the act of transmuting a substance into gold

Gavin doesn’t like androids… but then again, nothing’s written in stone.

// graphic depictions of violence

Still by Terminallydepraved (1/1 || 4,277 || Explicit)

Sometimes it takes someone else nearly dying to make you realize the important things.

Life sucks, but in a beautiful kind of way by ConsultingStag (5/6 || 7701 || Mature)

Gavin stares at RK900 and regrets it immediately as its gray gaze bores into him. LED spinning yellow. Dissecting what happened. Analyzing the clues in front of it. And then a perfectly fake eyebrow lifts and equally fake lips twitch into a tiny smirk and Gavin knows that he is fucked. 

----------------------

Cade’s Recs 

Its Always Sunny In Philadelphia - Macdennis (Mac/Dennis Reynolds)

a beachfront of bad blood by castielanderson (1/1 | 28,366 | Mature)

or alternatively “Dennis Tries to Kill Himself: MacDennis Remix” Originally for the 2017 MacDennis Big Bang, but alas

.

They don’t have a falling out so much as a slowly drifting apart.  Being a dad makes Dennis tired, so tired sometimes he feels like he might never have energy again, and that means that he stops checking in with Mac as often.  Eventually, they stop talking.  Mac gets a boyfriend.  Dennis stops taking his medication.

After Dennis attempts suicide, Mandy insists he return to Philadelphia with the gang, and she will follow with Brian Jr. when she can.  Faced with an unwanted recovery, a failed family, and feelings he would rather ignore, Dennis is forced to navigate uncharted waters within himself and within his relationship with Mac.

//rape/non-con //suicide attempt //self-harm //eating disorders //depression

Fullmetal Alchemist - Royed (Edward Elric/Roy Mustang)

Reverti Ad Praeteritum by Batsutousai (30/30 | 288,908 | Mature)

Unwillingly forced to serve as a human trial for a crazy alchemist experimenting with time travel, Edward Elric finds himself standing across from Truth in the moment it takes his leg from him. Armed with the knowledge of what's to come and burdened with guilt for the choices he'd made as an adult, Ed sets out to fix every mistake he ever made and save every life they ever lost, no matter what it takes.

//underage //implied/referenced dubious consent //violence 

Know the Difference by ShanaStoryteller (1/1 | 9,083 | Teen)

“You’ve heard the rumors,” Mustang says, looking at Ed over the top of his latest report, “about the angels.”

Ed scoffs and rolls his eyes, “Angels don’t exist, don’t be ridiculous.”

“Of course, of course,” he murmurs, gaze sliding back down, “There have been multiple eye witness accounts, however.”

Ed slouches into the chair and doesn’t bother to keep the contempt to from his voice when he says, “Don’t depend on anything with wings to save you. Things that were made to leave always end up doing so, in the end.”

“Yes, well,” he says, “sometimes they come back.”

a terrifying clamour of trumpets by ShanaStoryteller (1/1 | 12,194 | Teen)

Edward grabs Marcoh’s arm and says, “That stone – what can it heal, exactly?”

The old man’s eyebrows rise to his forehead, and he looks like he already knows the answer when he goes, “Why do you ask, Edward?”

There's no metallic footsteps so there’s no way Al’s close enough to hear them. “I’m sick,” he admits after another moment of deliberation.

The Codeine Scene by Xyriath (31/31 | 111,257 | Explicit)

After finding himself entangled with King Bradley's gang of criminals and no way out, Roy Mustang must struggle between balancing his morals and the need to keep himself alive. He walks a thin rope, and a chance meeting of a young man, addicted to drugs and forced into prostitution, complicates matters further. By all rights, he should consider Edward to be collateral damage, an unfortunate bystander in his already difficult situation, but this is one person Roy soon finds he can't leave behind.

//rape/non-con //forced prostitution //drug addiction //mentions of suicide //mentions of depression 

Fullmetal Alchemist - Edling (Edward Elric/Ling Yao)

Nothing Gold by Rydia (ungarmax) (1/1 | 22,219 | Teen)

Ling has gained immortality. Ed has not.

//major character death

----------------------

Bard’s Recs

Bastille - Dyle (Dan Smith/Kyle Simmons)

and in the morning you'll be stranded in love (it goes around and around)by brujay (1/1 | 15,717 | Teen)

“Have you seen Groundhog Day?”

Kyle took a moment before replying. “I have… what exactly are you trying to say, here?”

Dan sighed again. “I think I’m living it.” Dan gets trapped in a time loop, and he is not having a good time.

//panic attacks

argonautica orpheus by trailsofpaper (Sanwall) (note: it is private, you can only read if you have an account but it’s too good to not share) (6/6 | 17,478 | M)

Kyle, like Jason on the Argos, sets out on a journey to retrieve something important but, more importantly, he finds love along the way. Dan, unlike Orpheus, doesn’t look back.

(Dan and Kyle are flatmates in Leeds, but when Kyle wrecks his keyboard a week before he and Dan are about to enter a competition, they need to go to London to get another keyboard. Complications and even shenanigans ensue.)

Harry Potter - Drarry (Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter)

He Who Must Not Be Normal by lettered (1/1 | 40,913 | Explicit)

Potter has fame and fortune and posh clothes and all he wants is a simple life. Draco has a flat and a cat and a steady job and all he wants is a complicated life. Which makes you think this story has something exciting like body-swapping, but it doesn’t. Instead it has Indian takeaway and a blue jumper and people wanting a whole lot of what they can’t have, discovering themselves as they discover each other.

All Life is Yours to Miss by Saras_Girl (4/4 | 114,741 | M)

Professor Malfoy's world is contained, controlled, and as solitary as he can make it, but when an act of petty revenge goes horribly awry, he and his trusty six-legged friend are thrown into Hogwarts life at the deep end and must learn to live, love and let go.

Buzzfeed Unsolved - Shyan (Shane Madej/Ryan Bergara)

i think i'm still turning out by the_tenerife_sea (1/1 | 6,325 | General)

Shane is starting to think Ryan is using him for his baby, considering how much he’s already talked her up to all of their coworkers and friends. ____

Or the one where Shane is a new parent, and Ryan is always there for him (and his daughter, of course).

[truthofherdreams]

endless list of things I love about In A Crowd of Thousands

how Dmitry thinks that the answer to nightmares is “here, let me tell you all about how I fell in love with you in 5 seconds when we were children” A+ 10/10 would recommend in the middle of the night

How To Flirt 101: The Song

(“I bowed to someone once” dude my dude my guy ur whipped)

how often does he think about that day “now and then” is that every day, every week, every month WHY ARE YOU LIKE THIS DIMA

only has compliments for bby!Nastya like, wanna rethink the fact that he never compliments you, Anya? the boy thinks you’re the sun

YEARNING! SO MUCH YEARNING!!!!

WITH THE SUN IN HIS EYES BECAUSE SHE’S ALWAYS BLINDED HIM THAT SHIT IS ROMANTIC AS FUCK

the image of a tiny, skinny, dirty Dmitry dodging between the guards just to reach the crown duchess is too adorable for words okay

“make it part of your story” even if legit nobody else would remember that moment or use it as a valid argument that she’s Anastasia nah homeboy just wants to be part of her life no matter what NOT KIDDING ANYONE DIMA JFC

his little “go on” hand motion to make her do what he wants

the obvious smile in Anya’s voice when she decides to play along

“...a parade?” “A PARADE!!!”

Dmitry’s hand gestures when he confirms basically everything she says tbh

HIS SMUG HEAD TILT WHEN SHE MENTIONS THE BOY FOR THE FIRST TIME, I CAN’T EVEN

his little fake offended “hey” when she says he was a dirty boy, too good for this world, too pure

she wasn’t meant to smile because she’s the duchess and needs to look regal but she smiled anyway

despite being the emperor’s daughter she had no problem sharing A Moment TM with a little commoner, aka she was never all high and mighty and she’ll never really be the grand duchess

the way the song goes faster and faster when Anya starts actually remembering instead of copying his story

Christie having tears in her eyes every time she sings her part

THE REALISATION THAT THEY ACTUALLY SHARE A CHILDHOOD MEMORY

also the idea that The Grand Duchess Anastasia Romanova would remember that one orphan boy she saw in passing when she was eight, I can’t hear you over the sound of SOULMATES

the way they grab each other’s arms and refuse to let go

Dmitry fiNALLY LETTING GO WHEN HE REALISES SHE’S REALLY ANASTASIA AND UNDERSTANDS WHAT IT MEANS AND HOW FUCKED HE IS BECAUSE HE’LL NEVER GET THE GIRL

(she’ll break your heart, Dmitry)

the pause before “your highness”

how tense his voice is, you can hear the heartbreak

the fact that she’s still the only person he’s ever bowed to in his life

the very official bow with the two closed fists and everything

the obvious shift in 1) their relationship and 2) Anya’s relationship to her own identity, only one day before she finds her Nana again, I can’t

(honorary mention for the tank top and Derek’s arms because jesus fuck)