#julia's writing adventures

[rosemaryentombed]

im in these streets spoiling my entire mission impossible fic before i even publish it. but i just. i cant stop thinking about julia meade and ethan hunt. that's persephone and hades. that's the most mentally ill white man on god's green earth, and he's in love with a normal woman whose life he's repeatedly ruined just by being in love with her. he loves her. she is not even his wife anymore, and he loves her so goddamn much. their love gave birth to the antigod. he literally changed as a human being just so he could be a better man for her. he created the double life not to fuck around, but to be HAPPY. he loves her! he loves her!! is anyone listening to me!!!!

[luckylolabug]

Damn, rewriting old fics and posting TAZ stuff in 2024? More likely than you think. Anyways...if you want a dumb AU of everyone working in a museum and Taakitz figuring their shit out after an impromptu hook up session without realizing they work in the same building, along with side Blupjeans and Mags/Julia stuff, here you go. Reborn with better writing this time around and not years old.

[cabe0512]

While I know that most people don't like them...

Varney and the Adventurer Lady from Season 4 will make a return for The Curse of Darkness, albeit through numerous flashbacks that tries to make sense of their actions/appearances during Season 4. While Varney is already dead, he is quite connected (in this case, acquainted) with the main villain of CoD. Without spoiling anything, I would hint that Varney wasn't the only one orchestrating Dracula's resurrection.

As for the Adventurer Lady (whom I would give a name for later), her entire minute of screentime felt so wasted that I had to rewrite her here as a more villainous character (and if I have to be honest, it physically hurts just how much thought went in her design when she is basically a nameless nobody in the show). I will hint at her pivotal encounter with the Laforeze twins when they were younger, which will make you despise her a lot more other than being the sole reason for Saint Germain's unnecessary and embarassing heel turn in the last season.

[theadventurezoneoftruth]

7 years ago, I started a group chat fanfic. People seemed to like it! I sure liked writing it.

But then life happened, yada yada, and I never got around to finishing it. To be honest, I thought I never would.

But I reread it recently. While it definitely has the strong Stench of 2017 humor on it, I found that there was still a lot to like about it. And it kept receiving a lot of very nice comments.

So I finally decided to finish the damn thing. I hope y'all enjoy.

[popstart]

goddddd whenever i remember julias canon voice is Like That it has me cringe so bad. shes very very obviously supposed to be a valley girl vsco kinda girl but her accent drives me absolutely nuts because its such a poor imitation of the accent😭😭😭and her lingo is sooooo generic. i do not hear like any actual valley girl slang or even californian slang in general. and yeah ok its a show, and its a canadian show no less which has rules on who theyre allowed to hire for their voice actors, but it bugs me and i see zero other people point out how grating it is to listen to julia for 2 seconds. am i the only valley girl fan of total drama in the entire world. am i the only one upset by this

[chiropteracupola]

thinkin about the imaginary timeline where antonia sharpe and fanny and charlotte aubrey are friends again...

[the-joy-of-knowledge]

Summer Learning lists

Books

This summer I am devoting time to reading memoirs; coming of age, travel, self development, adventure themed memoirs. The goal is to read something light, inspirational with some emotional depth that connects me to actual people who have lead lives I can only dream of or have successfully pursued self actualization in a way I aspire to. So here is my list.

Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner

Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert

Barbarian Days by William Finnegan

Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain

Service Included by Phoebe Damrosch

My Life in Paris by Julia Child

Shoe Dog by Phil Knight

Garlic & Sapphires by Ruth Reichl

When Breath becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi

Substacks

I will be camping this summer in the following substacks. I read their articles religiously.

Personal Canon by Celine Nguyen for book reviews, design inspiration, cultural and social observation

Milk and Cookies by Ayushi Thakkar for essays on culture and the internet

Kitchen Project by Nichola Lamb writes about the ins and outs of the recipes to the most delicious food.

Films

I really want to live in a fantasy this summer. I want visual, cultural, artistic, and creative stimulation. These picks have incredible cinematography, dialogue, costume and bucolic backdrops that one can only yearn for

How to Steal a Million

Grand Budapest Hotel

Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon

Charade

Amélie

Lawrence of Arabia

Phantom Thread

Annie Hall

Enjoy!

[biokenneth]

Ok so I decided to write a "bird association" list for KAJ universe characters... I may have gotten slightly carried away

KAJ irl:

- Kevin: Cattle Egret. Calm, distinctive, and elegant

- Axel: Puffin. Iconic, stylish, and a skilled hunter

- Jakob: Kestrel. Cute, skilled, distinctive but unassuming (e.g. people who don't know him wouldn't think much of him if they saw him in the street, but people who know him know how cool he is)

Vörgays:

- Freppa: Rock dove. Bullied frequently, friendly, scrounger (if we believe Määnin and Tommy about him not being musically talented).

- Määnin: Mute swan. People are drawn to them, they're strong, and more intimidating that they first look

- Tommy: Black Swan. Homosexual, aggressive, sounds really cool.

Gambämark:

- Kurt: Robin. Deceptively cute, extremely territorial to the point of unecessary violence, likes blueberries

- Josua: Pied wagtail. Cute little guy, sociable, often victims of cuckoos (talkokraft reference)

- Berit: Gannet. Females are better hunters, intelligent, strong

- Kenneth: common kingfisher. Good hunter, patient but skittish, gives food as courtship

- Klas: Kookaburra (kind of kingfisher). Hunt in forests, like grilled food, good at communicating

Gunnar: Magpie. Some people are convinced they're evil, they love collecting shiny things, and they're more intelligent than people think at first glance

- Gita and Margita: Ringed Plovers. Protective of their young, strategy hunters, their young are adventurous (Josua!!)

Botnia:

- Benjamin and Julia are both Whooper swans (self explanatory. Both played svante, both are iconic and well-loved)

- Dan-Ole and Eva-Lisa are black grouse of course

- Bertel: Hoopoe. Swaggy, monogamous but only for a season, gets in very violent fights

- Tupla: White-tailed eagle. Absolutely huge, intimidating, incredibly strong

- Linda Q: Starling. Beautiful, incredible vocals, underappreciated

- Sinikka: Great Cormorant. Distinctive, strong, and nest in the same area for years and years

- Kossu: Kittiwake. Looks a bit pathetic on the surface, adorable, incredible seafarer

[ficsloverblog]

Helloooo which characters do you write for on here ? Thank you :))

Hiya!

Here's the list of characters I'm willing to write for, more will be added as time goes by. If you wish to request one that isn't here, shoot your shot and I'll let you know!

I write for all Gwendoline Christie characters on my main blog @milfsloverblog

I only write character x fem!reader.

• Charles Dance: any character

• Pamela Rabe: any character

• Cate Blanchett: Carol Aird, Lydia Tár, Lady Tremaine

• Harry Potter: Severus Snape, Lucius Malfoy, Narcissa Malfoy, Rita Skeeter, Petunia Dursley

• The Devil Wears Prada: Miranda Priestly

• Chilling Adventures of Sabrina: Lilith, OG Mary Wardwell, Zelda Spellman

• Tim Burton universe: Delia Deetz, Red Queen, Alma Peregrine, Mrs Lovett, Julia Hoffman

• Saw: Mark Hoffman, Amanda Young

• Dr House: Gregory House, Lisa Cuddy

• Alien franchise: Ellen Ripley, Ripley 8, David 8, Walter 1

• Addams Family (movies): Morticia Addams, Gomez Addams, Debbie Jelinsky

……

[jesncin]

Comics I snagged in the US!

It was my mission to pack as light as possible to the US because I knew I'd be bringing home a bunch of books that are so much harder to find/ less accessible in my home country. I figured this would be fun and low-stakes to write about compared to my Stonewall win adventure haha. And I feel like nerding out with yall!

In Anaheim I was gifted so many Hellblazer comics from @hbosscreations but I decided to responsibly (your mileage my vary how responsible this decision was) snag the first 5 volumes, up until the Dangerous Habits arc- aka the iconic Lung Cancer arc but most importantly (for me) the inclusion of Adult Goldie right before that arc starts. They also gifted me stickers which I cherish so much.

Then in Midtown Comics (over at New York), we decided to sneak around and see what they had to offer! My personal goals was any Hellblazer floppy I was attached to, and Superman: the Kansas Sighting. The latter being my white whale (it's not in any of the "must read" Superman reprint collections so I knew it would be hard to find).

I found my favorite Metropolis superhero instead, Jimmy Olsen (lmao) and I adore the Matt Fraction and Steve Lieber run so I was glad to purchase this volume! ALSO I was tickled to find Hellblazer #51 in the long boxes, famous among Hellblazer freaks like myself as the issue where John Constantine is canonized as bisexual. And an all around great standalone story. DC Pride Special was advertised all over the place and there were copies on the shelves, but nope. I wanted Hellblazer #51 as my Pride purchase, haha.

Alas, no dice for Kansas Sighting. You could say the Kansas wasn't sighted.

In New York, we were able to visit the Harpercollins office! It's a beautiful office decorated with books, history, and just great whimsical vibes. There, my editor gifted us a copy of Strange Bedfellows by @arielries and Sunhead (by agent sibling Alex Assan)! I struggled finding Sunhead at home so this was a great find. Had I not forgotten that Brownstone (By Samuel Teer and Mar Julia) was also published under Harper, I would've asked for a copy too! The fomo is real on that one,,,

Up next we drove up to the city of brotherly love, Philadelphia! There's a ton of book stores in Philly, but we had our sights set on Atomic City Comics.

Y'all I was getting desperate. Midtown Comics offered to order Kansas Sighting and send it to me, but with me moving around so much for this trip, that'd be a gamble. So I decided to try calling a store I was going to visit in advance. Well, they didn't answer the phone, probably because of my foreign phone number. So I tried e-mailing them through their website. No response. This was getting dire.

We arrive in Philly and meet up with a friend to check out bookstores around town. First stop was Atomic City Comics where we saw a table signing for Gabriela Epstein in the store. It turned out she was the cool person checking out comics right next to us as we were talking about her haha. What an awesome way to meet up! I had to grab a copy of her Danny Phantom GN and get it signed.

So after doing my own searching, it was time to ask the shop people if they had my white whale. Superman: The Kansas Sighting wasn't in their database when they searched it up on their front desk's computer. So the store guy looks through the collections section to see if it's there. He tells me a comic from 2003 that didn't sell well doesn't exactly encourage DC to re-print it, and I'm starting to lose hope. He says he'll give it one more try and look into storage. So we wait.

"I've got good news for you" he says when he returns. And the sound I made when I saw what was in his hands. Apparently the guy in charge of storage said "I know exactly what you're talking about" when Store Guy asked him about Kansas Sighting. I cheered, I screeched, I said I could die happy now, and everyone had a good laugh. I'm now a proud owner of my second favorite Superman story!

Also all the Martian Manhunter comics were Absolute Martian Manhunter. I don't trust White John Jones, I refuse to acknowledge him. However there were some floppies of Others Among Us which, while delightful, I don't love that story enough to own lol.

We hung out in a bunch of other cool bookstores, but since this is a comics summary I'll skip through that to highlight the comics haul.

In ALA, after a delightful time at the Gaysss in Comicsssss panel, we visited the APALA meeting where we knew Gene Yang would be signing books. We were delighted to find our friend Zachary Sterling (author of APALA honor book Mabuhay!) also signing books there! I wasn't sure if he was coming but we were so glad to finally meet an online author friend.

I packed exactly one book with me to the US (very uncharacteristic of me) and that was my own beloved copy of my all time favorite Superman story: Superman Smashes the Klan. I wanted Gene Yang to sign the story that has been so influential to my art and writing.

We also prepared a printed booklet of Private Interview as a gift to him. We were so wracked with nerves but thankfully the incredibly welcoming atmosphere of the APALA meeting (including an author who assured us that Gene and Lueyen [who he was duel signing with] were chill and cool) encouraged us to be brave!

We gifted Gene and Leuyen some Lunar Boy bookmarks and keychains, plus handed the booklet of Private Interview over to Gene. He was so gracious! Leuyen was so sweet. I wish I got to talk to her more, she was radiating extremely fun energy. We ended up snagging a copy of Lunar New Year Love Story (I've only read the e-book version, so it's great to have a personalized copy! Fantastic book btw).

At some point near the end of the APALA meeting, Thien Pham and Raina Telgemeier (along with Briana Loewinsohn) showed up and were taking a group photo with Gene and Leuyen. We moved out of the way thinking "these are seasoned comic titans who are long time friends with each other, and we're little newbie debut fish who just met them, we'll get out of their way" only for Leuyen to insist we get in the picture too! Gosh it was so sweet.

Afterwards Raina said she was a fan of our work which is so surreal when I've been studying her comics since college! I don't have the photo unfortunately (maybe I'll be tagged in it on insta at some point) but just know somewhere out there is a photo of a very bewildered jesncin among powerhouse comic creatives.

Lastly, in my desperate attempt to find Brownstone in a bookstore I ended up finding these two in a Barnes & Noble near Niagara falls. I've read both these stories online a good bit and collected some physical copies but have been missing the first volume for both, so these finally round up my collection! Both gay manga with intensely different vibes, haha. So I call that a win.

And that's been my comic adventures in the US! All the books I got in ALA are free to snag, and along with the gifted Hellblazer books- the only books we truly paid for were the two mangas, Jimmy Olsen, Hellblazer #51, Danny Phantom, and Kansas Sighting. We've got some real treasures that I'm so excited to add to my book shelf.

[bigheartsmallworld]

i’ve been looking for a post like this, but i can’t seem to find one..so fine i’ll just do it myself..

here’s my fav squid game men headcannons but make it freaky ☺️. also songs that make me think of them/i listened to while writing these

(Gi-hun, In-ho, Thanos and a little nam-gyu, and just a bit of the recruiter..hehe)

(Warning: includes a little cnc…not alot but still just in case! also smut..obviously?)

kinda obvious but just so you know..this post is 18+.. and very freaky

Seong Gi-hun~

Spork postition, or doggy style

shoulder holder..hell yeah

doggy- one hand on the small of your back, the other by your head

praise kink, receiving and giving

hair pulling+getting his hair pulled

6.5 inches

lowkey a whimper kinda guy..

aftercare king!!

whispering NASTY stuff in your ear

but also stuttering ^

“y-you like that? yeah?”

i said it once and i’ll say it again.. SEONG GI-HUN IS A SOFT DOM DADDY

slow and tender

laying overtop you while fingering you, eye contact entire time

Your laying on your stomach, supporting your weight on your elbows. Gi-hun, bent over you, has one hand under your chest, groping you. His other hand, stimulating your clit as he thrusts, grunting and muttering filth into your ear, as your fingers helplessly grip at the sheets beneath you.

Issues by Julia Michaels..

(his is kinda lame cause i already posted one of these that was just for him..)

~In-ho

Tabletop, shower, and missionary…yeah

Degrading

spanking

light bdsm, restraing your wrists above your head kinda guy

dacryphilliac..might be controversial..who knows

wants to make you whimper, sob, and beg

STICKY..that’s all.

let’s just say, the room is very humid with him 🥰

kinda aggressive

he would definitely put his hand over your mouth during missionary

would overstim you severely

dominant king..what about it?

7 inches

he needs you to be verbal

He loved to use your body, while you're sleeping, while you're awake, while you were calling someone, whenever he felt like it. He ESPECIALLY LOVED the last one. Whenever your phone would ring during sex he would answer it, ESPECIALLY if it was a guy... What was another guy doing calling you for anyways?! 

He would make you call out his name in your desperate and needy voice so whoever heard on the other line knew how much you liked his cock. He'd chase his own pleasure first. Then MAYBE if you were good will he get you off. 

He does in fact want to watch you go crazy, like he wants to ruin your life and be the one to put it back together

male manipulator

Karma by Chappell Roan

~Thanos

Doggy style king

also shoulder holder 😚

adventurer position, eagle, and watering can

he’s a big valedictorian position kinda guy

you might need a mop after a night with him..i’m ngl

he’s rough..

whiney boy with an attitude

the rings stay on while he fingers you no questions asked

says things like “you fucking like that?” when eating you out 🥰

2man with him and nam-gyu hehe

forces your legs open

oral king (giving but mostly receiving)

Like your gonna need to SLOB on that KNOB

fast pace, won’t slow down so don’t ask

pulls your hair, slaps you

he could go for about 3 rounds

“showering? without me?”

He don’t make love, he FUCKS

sober sex isn’t even a thing to him…sorry

6 inches

idk why but he reminds me of douche from sausage party…ifkyk i guess

^in all the ways

you’d fuck like atleast once a week

yeah he hates condoms/pulling out

sometimes he’ll bring nam-gyu along, watching as he fucks your brains out, humiliating you in front of thanos, making you feel ashamed for enjoying another man’s cock..before he eventually takes over

nam-gyu holding your arms above your head, kissing you while thanos fucks you~

Thanos chokes you. He wraps his big hand around your throat while fucking, looking you in your eyes as he grunts.

Your laying on your back, tugging on Thanos’ hair, as his face is nested deep between your legs. Your legs tense, all your strength flowing to your feet, and you writhe beneath him, his chin dripping from your previous climax . “you like that, don’t you? you like when i suck on you, over and over.” he mutters, sloppily, his breathy words bringing you closer to the edge.

Why’d you only ever call me when your high? by Arctic Monkeys

HE IS SO PTPOM 2.0

The recruiter~ (CNC WARNING)

bent over the table, no other way

grunts in your ear

Gun kink.

like..he’d hold a gun to your head while you suck it..idk

Or he’d put it in your mouth or smth

also a dacryphilliac

gets off to seeing you scared and sobbing

a hitachi wand is his best friend.

would gag you and tie you up

like he loves BDSM

don’t even ask him to stop once you’ve started, because he won’t , so there’s no point hehe

massive cnc guy..hehe

massive sadist..like even more than in-ho

he would spit in your mouth and make you swallow it

he’s a ‘nut on your face’ kinda guy

bruises you and draws blood occasionally

he’s a very loud guy..

wants to watch you touch yourself

wrestling position, counter blow, cobra ❤️

Do i wanna know by Arctic Monkeys

[tynithia]

Ellandra with Gaius Dekarios and his son Griffin - circa 1390 DR (art by the fabulous @fedemexyart) I adore Gale Dekarios and thought it would be fun to write his family's origins and lore. Below is my growing collection of Dekarios Family stories. Here is my Dekarios Family Collection: The Promise - Gale only knew the Dekarios family’s history through old journals and family lore. But as a kid, his favorite journals were those written by his great-grandfather Gaius, a powerful war mage and member of the mysterious Arcane Brotherhood. Gale would stay up late, lost in his great-grandfather’s poetic words about the Weave, his epic battles, and adventures. But his favorite part of the journals were stories about the love of Gaius’s life, a beautiful sun elf named Ellandra. When he discovered that his former traveling companion was the same elf from his great-grandfather’s journal, he told her wanted to know everything. (Ongoing original fic! 18 chapters! - Starting Circa 1380 DR)

Krakens - Ellandra and Gaius Dekarios attempt to cure his five year old son’s fear of deep water. (One Shot - Circa 1381 DR)

Julia - Ellandra arrives at the Dekarios family’s summer estate for the annual vacation, but can barely get settled before getting interrogated by her granddaughter Morena. (One Shot - Post-Game - Circa 1497 DR) Sunday Brunch - It was Sunday summer afternoon in Waterdeep and Ellandra’s turn to host the Dekarios family brunch, but as usual Gale takes over the cooking duties. (One Shot - Post-Game - Circa 1497 DR) Until Today Ellandra notices Gale is lost in his own thoughts. She had seen this long stare before and knew it well. She decides instead of leaving him alone, she would help him through the dark, by listening and making him laugh. (One Shot - Act 1 - Circa 1492 DR)

[sammy-deserves-better]

Hey people who definitely didn’t follow me for my AUs here’s another AU I thought up on the spot!!!

Fantasy/Royalty AU bam lets get into it

Julia and Bowie are the princess and prince of the kingdom, as you do, it’s gay and lesbian hostility in that castle every day

Axel, Wayne, Raj and Emma are knights with Axel being the head of the knights, Emma is also secretly a florist because why not

Priya is the head of the guards while Caleb is the personal guard/advisor to the king

Chase is a travelling bard who loves to talk about his ‘amazing’ adventures of ‘helping’ people

Nichelle is still a famous actress but instead of movies she’s like, famous from plays and all that jazz

Ripper’s a barbarian that’s pretty good at his job, unfortunately he is not taken very seriously

Millie is a famous writer but she’s so damn difficult to find at times and only a few people know where she actually lives

Damien is a wizard’s apprentice, he’s still learning but he’s got some real talent within him

Zee is the court jester, he didn’t even like try out for the role he just started talking one time and the king thought he was hilarious

Scary Girl is a famous necromancer because she is, funnily enough, scarily good at her job

And MK, silly ol’ MK, is a master thief who is wanted all over the world, but can never be located, always managing to escape at the last moment

Alright here’s some more details yippee

Raj and Bowie are like, in love, obviously, knight x prince romance! Forbidden love that isn’t really forbidden but like it’s super cute and Raj is so smitten and Bowie just loves this handsome knight that would do anything for him

Wayne and Emma are friends here because I also think they’re silly, Wayne’s the only one who knows Emma’s secret florist job because she trusts him enough and also he accidentally found out but it’s fine!! But he also nearly gives away Emma’s secret so many damn times because he’s just a little bit stupid

‘Man I wish I could get Bowie a nice bouquet…’

‘Oh well Emma is actually a fl-‘

And then Wayne gets elbowed so hard he can’t breath for 2 minutes

Emma also definitely has a thing for the cute court jester but she has no idea on how to actually approach Zee so she just sends him flowers anonymously and sighs while looking at him lovingly

Julia and MK meet because MK climbs up the damn castle walls at 2am and sneaks into Julia’s room just to rob her, gets absolutely slammed by the princess, wakes up and is tied to a damn chair with Julia right up in her face about to rip her to shreds and all MK can say is ‘you are REALLY attractive oh my gods’

This throws Julia off, they start talking, Julia realises that despite the fact she is holding one of the most wanted criminals hostage in her room, she wants to keep seeing MK because she’s entertaining and mean and just slightly pathetic, so she lets MK go on the promise that the thief will come back every night and so she does and yadda yadda lesbians toxic yuri wins

Millie’s stories actually come to life because shocker she’s actually a wizard in disguise and she needs to be really careful about what she writes so that’s why she hides herself away and is so hard to track down because if the wrong people knew about her magic capabilities oh no that’s a lot of blood and injury and angst and 10k words every chapter

Millie’s parents also had this ability to create anything from mere writing, they shared this ability with the kingdom, and so if an important figure asked them to say…make a protector of the kingdom, they would do so, and they did, and that’s where our villain/antagonist comes in but that’s a story for another day

The older gens are also involved in this one way or another as well, most are just backgrounders but some hold important to the story

Damien is the wizard apprentice to Leonard and Tammy, two great and powerful sages who spend their time helping the world

DJ is the one who taught Emma how to be a florist, he’s kind and understanding and always helps Emma choose the right flowers to give to Zee

Eva trains Ripper under her watchful eye, she’s proud of how far he’s come, but feels he can do just a bit more

Aleheather are the king and queen of the kingdom, Bowie and Julia are their adopted children

And that’s all I got for now uhhhh add whatever you want to this it’s just a silly time

[ashley-slashley]

Long tangent about Indiana Jones and how him fighting demons would've been more in line with the established canon rather than trying to turn the franchise into another generic sci-fi property

Ok if Dial of Destiny covers the concept of grief and loss, y'know what would've been more fascinating for Indy to fight (alongside Nazis) and actually fitting for the franchise? Demons. Indiana Jones should've been allowed to have an adventure where he has to save, idk something like the Necronomicon Ex-Mortis or the idol of Pazuzu or the puzzle cube from getting into the hands of neo Nazis. Indy witnesses demonic possession and it's absolutely horrifying like the end of Raiders of the Lost Ark, but mixed in with The Exorcist and Evil Dead. Iirc demonic forces prey on those who are weak and in a negative mindset, I may not know everything about spiritual warfare but I know enough to get an idea of how it works, so that would make the perfect storm of Indy already being in a compromised state with the loss of his son, his divorce from Marion, and being forced to retire. In The Exorcist, though he doesn't get possessed until the end, Damien Karras deals with a demon after the loss of his mother who he feels grief and shame for not being there in her last years as well as not giving her the life she deserved. In Hellraiser, iirc, Kirsty deals with demonic entities after the loss of her mother and introduction to her evil step mother, Julia, and whatever the fuck Frank is. I can't really make a point about Evil Dead, but I think The Exorcist and Hellraiser are the best examples I can provide. And it would make sense that the Nazis would want something powerful, like demonic forces and the powers of Hell, to take over the world. How could we write this to be set in a post WWII society? No idea. Does it make more sense than aliens and time travel? Yes

[helenas-journey]

You’re Mine: Chapter 14 - Christopher Reed x Reader

Summary: You’re Chairman Go’s omega granddaughter who knew and dated alpha Christopher Reed as a teenager when you lived in the US, well aware of his yandere tendencies and accepted it. You lost contact but reunited due to various chairmen of different countries agreeing to an experiment to pair high-ranking alphas with high-ranking omegas in hopes to produce more Hunter based families. Reed came back for you and utilized his rank to make sure you’re his chosen omega for the project. Adventures of alpha yandere!Reed and his omega.

Warning: Unrepentant yandere!Reed. Obsessiveness. Possessiveness. Overprotectiveness. Manipulation. Acceptance of yandere behavior by reader. 

Words: 5.2k

A/N: I have up to chapter 16 written, then it's really going to slow down. I'm slowly writing past it, but it's been going hard for me. I've started chapter 19 without finishing chapter 17 and haven't attempted at chapter 18 yet, so it's a bit all over the place right now, but I'm not giving up! Thank you all for the continued support. I love this fanfic, and I'm glad that I was able to be inspired by MullerMilkshake's Close to You!

1B is for first baseman, not first beta. It's a double meaning that Jordan likes to make. DH is for designated hitter. These are baseball positions. Christopher was the acknowledged captain of their high school baseball team even if captain wasn't an official position. He played both hitter and pitcher. Think a Shohei Ohtani type player.

—---

It was in the mid-afternoon. You were back to having nightmares, and Christopher was trying to help you through them. It’s been two days of nonstop nightmares even during naps. His anger at Sung was soaring to wrathful levels. The utter rage at knowing Sung hurt you so badly that you were still suffering from it even with him there, had him absolutely seething. His alpha was constantly howling and pacing, wanting blood. Christopher should have been there for you all these years then you wouldn’t be dealing with this because he would’ve been with you the whole time. But he was there now, and he would make things right. He would make up for not being there for you for years. 

You were napping again, but he knew it was going to be a short one with another nightmare, so he needed to be quick. He opened the group chat between him, Jordan, and Sean.

---

Captain (Christopher): Do something about Sung. (Y/N) is having nightmares that do. not. stop.

DH (Sean): Already on it, captain. We’ll make him pay. 

Captain: We can’t kill him, so ruin his life.

1B (Jordan): Giving permission to spread more rumors?

Captain: Do whatever you need to do. She had a meltdown at the park with people looking two days ago. Use that if you need. Sean, ask Julia about getting a therapist for (Y/N).

DH: I’ll ask her. Also, I like ruining this guy’s life. His guildmate keeps trying to sue me lol. Wish me luck! That trash shouldn’t have messed with my pup. [Logged off]

1B: Is she ok with us doing this?

Captain: Does it matter?

1B: Nah. How many rumors do you want?

Captain: As many as it takes to hurt him.

1B: She’s gonna be ok, cap. Our little omega is tough.

Captain: Your mate still having issues about protecting (Y/N)?

1B: I told her it’s not up for discussion anymore. I promised you years ago before I even met Katie, and I told her before we mated that it was something that was going to happen. It’s irritating that she keeps saying she didn’t think I was serious. 

Captain: It’s fine if you want to be with your mate.

1B: You’re my unofficial pack alpha and (Y/N)’s our pack omega. Katie knows that. I’m not letting Sean take my position as first beta when I know you’re going to make it official even if you hadn’t said it yet. Wtf. I’m your best friend, not him. He’s (Y/N)’s main beta. 

Captain: We can talk about this when we get back in a week. You picking us up? Will be coming home with another alpha as chaperone for the experiment for two weeks. He’s like Sean and Julia in one person.

1B: Ye, I am. How the fk did you find someone like those two???

Captain: That’s what I thought lmao. He’s (Y/N)’s best friend. He’s alright.

1B: She still be making friends with crazies. LOL. But damn, thats high praise coming from you since he’s an alpha. 

Christopher’s attention suddenly snapped to you as you began squirming. 

Captain: Ye, ye. gtg. later [Logged off]

1B: Later [Logged off]

---

He stood up from the computer chair and went to your nest. Christopher shook you awake before backing away, softly calling out your name, moving to stand near the edge of your nest so as to not be seen as a danger. Your eyes snapped open, and you almost threw yourself away from him before your omega in you screamed that it was your alpha. Don’t run from alpha! You froze like a deer in the headlights, staring up wide eyed at Christopher who watched you concerned, but unmoving so you didn’t freak out harder, his hands already raised in surrender. 

You had been acting out being scared every time you woke up, scent turning acrid as soon as you did. The only thing that seemed to be helping was him giving you some space and humming or singing to you. Although, humming and singing to you in general even had you letting him run over your boundaries as he was your alpha. He knew your omega recognized him as your mate, so it was easier to calm you down.

“(Y/N), it’s me, Alpha. You’re okay, baby. You’re okay,” he crooned to you. You let out a whimper, but then he started humming, and you slowly relaxed. Your scent was slowly turning back to its pleasant smell. You crawled to him and lifted your hands and clenched your fists a couple of times, looking tired. Christopher’s eyes softened, he held out his arms, and you came closer to him then he picked you up. You wrapped your arms and legs around him, clinging onto him, burrowing your face into his neck and immediately suckling at his scent gland, so you could smell and taste more of his sandalwood scent as it mixed with your lavender one. You loved his scent. It was comforting for you to smell it when not too lost in a panic attack, which was why he nearly always initially started trying to scent you whenever you’re freaking out as the first resort. He made sure to place an arm beneath your bottom to give extra support on being held by him, and he placed his other hand over your head, stroking your hair. He rocked the two of you back and forth still humming. 

You finally stopped and just rested your head against his shoulder. “Thank you, Chris,” you told him, closing your eyes and trying to relax more. “Love you.”

“Love you too, baby. Are you feeling better?” Christopher held you tighter to him. 

“Mhmm. I am, thanks to you. Sorry I’ve been having so many nightmares lately.”

“Don’t be sorry. You’re having a hard time, and that’s alright. I’m here and we can work on this together. You’re not alone anymore,” he continued crooning to you.

You were exhausted by the constant nightmares. You couldn’t get any good sleep because even when you were napping, once you got into REM sleep, you eventually started having nightmares again. You knew it was worrying Christopher, and you didn’t know what to do. It didn’t used to be this bad. You could typically nap without nightmares and right now you couldn’t. 

“I asked Sean about getting you a therapist when you move in with me,” Christopher said. “If you have to get on medication as well, that’s fine. We need to find a way to help you. This isn’t healthy.” You nodded because he was right. This wasn’t healthy. “Maybe go talk to your friends about this right now until you move. The goodbye party is in three days, right?”

“Yeah, but I don’t know if I should say anything. We’re leaving in a week anyway. I don’t want them to worry.” You shrugged as best as you could while being held by him. You moved back a bit, balancing on his arm to look him in the eyes. “Maybe just wait until Julia can help me get a therapist. The bureau should’ve already finished my paperwork, right, so I don’t need to worry and just move in and live our lives?”

“Yeah, Sean and Woo dealt with the bureau and took care of that for us,” he answered. You made a sound of acknowledgement before leaning forward and kissing him. The two of you stayed like that for a while before he broke the kiss to place you back in your nest. You laid back down with a sigh, and Christopher crawled in and curled around you, cuddling. 

“Do you think everything will be okay?”

“Of course. I’m here now, and the mating bond seems to be helping you calm down faster. While you’re still having nightmares, you’re starting to react better than the third time it happened when you lashed out. Hopefully that means your constant nightmares will ease up soon.”

You winced at the reminder. “I’m sorry about that.” The third time you had a nightmare, it was about Min dying, and when you awoke, you tried to fight Christopher thinking he was Beru, still caught in your flashbacks in fear like a cornered animal. That was why he now stayed at a distance and showed you he wasn’t a threat. Then you both learned that if he hummed or sang, it helped you recover faster. But the nightmares wouldn’t stop, and it had been hell for you. The constant flashbacks were driving you crazy, and by extension, driving Christopher crazier because he knew he couldn’t really do much besides trying to support you as much as he could after the fact. At least you were responding to something that he did.

Christopher wrapped his arms tighter around you at your words. “I told you to stop apologizing. It’s fine. You didn’t hurt me at all. It’s like a kitten attacking a bear. You’re okay.” You nipped at his arm at the comparison, and he only laughed at you. “See, you’re like a kitten. Such a spoiled baby kitten,” he teased you. 

“Hmph.” You pouted. “Don’t be mean.” How rude. You were an adult cat at least! Not a kitten. It wasn’t your fault that he was like a huge grizzly bear compared to you. Although, you couldn’t really argue about the spoiled part. Christopher loved to spoil you rotten and take care of you. If he had it his way, you wouldn’t need to do much of anything that wasn’t directly making you happy.

He was glad that you were getting back to your normal self instead of focusing on your nightmares. It was frustrating watching you suffer, and he hoped Sean and Jordan were on their way to making Sung’s life hell. “Do you want to do something?”

“Like what?”

“How about we go somewhere?” He couldn’t believe he was even saying that, but if it helped you somehow, he was willing. He was so worried about you that he’d risk going outside where you could be triggered again, but he knew you wanted to go outside. 

You perked up. “Really?!” Your chirp was a welcome sound to Christopher’s ears. “You're the best!” You were excited. Christopher wanted to take you out. Normally, it was the opposite.

Christopher was relieved as he hadn’t heard you chirp since before you two ran into the Sungs, and it had already been two days. He got used to you chirping at him multiple times a day, and it was vexing how much you managed to change in the past few days because of how freaked out you were when you saw Sung again. Christopher knew he couldn't back out now, not when you sounded so happy that it was him who was suggesting the two of you go out somewhere. “Any place you want to go to?” He started scenting you. While you had some of his scent with you always due to mating him, you wouldn’t be caught dead without more of his scent on you when going outside, he would make sure of it.

“How about we go get some sweets!” You cheered. 

“Sweets?” He asked, “What kind?” You would be asking for sweets. He lost count of getting sweets with you when you two were teenagers, especially at how many dates included the two of you getting ice cream, candy, or baked goods near the end of the dates. 

“Hotteok!”

“That’s the sweet pancakes, right?” 

“Yup! It’s so good. There’s a place about a ten minute drive from here. Let’s go! Let’s go!” You were excitedly tugging at his arms around you. 

“Alright.” Christopher nuzzled you before he let you get up from his arms.

The both of you got ready to go. It took no time before you got to the place selling hotteok. As always, people were staring at the two of you, but you ignored it. Christopher hovered over you, and you ignored that too. You bought some and took it home much to Christopher’s relief. He had a feeling that the rumors Sean and Jordan should’ve set off from what happened a few days ago were already circulating from some of the concerned looks you were receiving from random people while getting the hotteok. 

You were just happy that Christopher had been the one to suggest going out, so you decided to just pick up. You also didn’t want to risk seeing Sung or Cha. The moment you stepped out of the house freaked you out. But you wanted to go out somewhere especially since Christopher was the one to recommend going outside! You weren’t about to waste the opportunity. You also didn’t dare mention how anxious you were about leaving the house to Christopher. You knew he’d just take advantage of that to keep insisting on you remaining at home. 

The two of you ate your snacks while watching Kingdom for like the third time for you in the living room where you had your big screen tv. You wished they continued it since they left off at a cliffhanger. It was one of your favorite series that Netflix came out with. 

“I like the tiger hunter. He’s really cute,” you mentioned off-handedly watching as he was taking out most of the zombies. 

“Seriously?” Christopher side-eyed you. 

You shrugged. “Strong and handsome just like my alpha,” you chirped. Both were true statements in your opinion. 

“Nice save,” he said sarcastically. You giggled before scenting him with your wrist scent gland. You watched him relax at that. You two kept watching for a few more hours even throughout dinner that Jaejoong brought over before retiring for the night. 

You two were finishing off packing the rest of the things that you were going to bring to the US tomorrow. You weren’t going to bring much since Christopher insisted that he had most of what you needed at his mansion, so it was mostly sentimental items, your computer, and your clothing that you would be bringing over, which meant you were sending over only a couple large boxes. You’d just buy a new monitor when you were settled in at your mansion. Your grandfather was going to take care of mailing your things when you leave for America. He mentioned this morning to you that Jinchul was going to chaperone you and Choi while in America until the conference was over in two weeks, so that’s why Jinchul wasn’t the one doing it. 

You only needed to attend the first three days since you were already mated to Christopher, but you wanted to keep going to spend more time with Jinchul before he left back to Korea with Choi and whoever his omega was going to be. 

Christopher wasn’t too happy about that knowing that Andre and Liu would take the opportunity to harass him and you, and he nearly gagged at the thought of being forced to spend time with those two. Andre legitimately pissed him off as he was like Jordan on steroids, and regular Jordan had the tendency to annoy the hell out of him if they hung out long enough. Liu also annoyed him because of how brash he could be, but Christopher didn’t have to see him as often as Andre. He wasn’t looking forward to seeing them at all. He wished he could skip the whole thing altogether.

“Goodnight, my pretty mate. I love you.”

“Goodnight, my handsome mate! I love you too.”

—-

You woke up the next morning due to a nightmare and another rumor mill going crazy again. Dispatch put out another article that had people blowing up your phone again. You and Christopher were cuddled in your nest and were playing around on your phones.

It was reported three days ago that while at the park, Sung Jinwoo came up to Go (Y/N) and Reed Christopher who had been chatting with Sung Jinah, whom Go-ssi helped raise. Go-ssi was clearly distressed because of Sung-ssi, allegedly having cried at being bothered by him. Sung-ssi didn’t seem to care as he called out to her while she was panicking until his own sister kept pushing for him to leave Go-ssi alone. 

Reed-ssi rushed Go-ssi home while doing his best to preserve some privacy using an umbrella to cover most of our view of Korea’s only surviving S-Rank healer breaking down. It was known that Min Byung-Gyu and Go (Y/N) both suffered from PTSD, and it appears that Sung-ssi is a trigger for Go-ssi. Rumors are alleging that Sung-ssi has it out for Go-ssi. Is it true that Sung-ssi has it out for Korea’s S-Ranked healers? He did wait until the last minute to attend the Jeju raid when Min-ssi had already died. 

On the other hand, Reed-ssi has been showing what an excellent alpha he is to Go-ssi by getting her out of the stressful situation and trying to preserve some privacy for her. Go-ssi and Reed-ssi both leave for America at the end of the week along with Choi Jongin. Maybe it is a blessing in disguise all along that our beloved omega will live in America from now on so she can focus on healing herself after she has spent nearly a decade healing hundreds of hunters and civilians alike. Best of wishes to Go-ssi and Reed-ssi.

“Christopher Isaac Reed, what the fuck did you do again!?” You stared in disbelief at the article on your phone while Christopher at least looked a little chastised. “Korean media has always been rather invasive, especially regarding grandpa and I, but I know this one was you and Sean again for sure!” You turned around and swatted at his chest before trying to stab him with your pointer finger. That made you unhappy. “And they brought Byung-Gyu-sunbae into it? What the hell?!”

“Okay, yes, this one was also us,” he admitted, “I just wanted to make him pay a little and get the general public more on our side. We didn't drag in Min though. That was Korea.” Christopher knew he fucked up a bit at how angry you looked, but he knew it would work out in his favor in the end. He would manifest it if he needed to as you liked to say. He knew the article actually went out yesterday since Sean and Jordan updated him about spreading more rumors, and he knew by the way people started looking at you when you went to buy sweets. 

The general public loved you as you had healed many of their loved ones, spending overtime hours just to help people just like your grandfather did. The Go family was extremely popular in Korea. Christopher also knew he had to keep you away from the internet so that you wouldn’t find out as long as possible. He didn’t want to trigger you so close to you being triggered about other things. You also never paid much attention to how people stared at you when you were with him because you assumed that if something was up, he’d take care of it for you. Their spoiled princess, he and his alpha thought fondly. 

“Did you think about how humiliating this was going to feel for me?” you said sarcastically. “I also don’t appreciate them mentioning Byung-Gyu-sunbae like that.” You were seething. You could tell Christopher was actually telling the truth about his involvement regarding Byung-Gyu, but you were still upset with everything that's been happening recently. Christopher pulled you into his arms at that, nuzzling you, and you let him. Even though you were angry with him, you wanted the comfort only he could give you. You kind of wanted to spite him though because this new situation was his fault like the last time. This was so annoying, you groaned. Everyone was having a field day again because of Christopher and Sean. 

“I’m sorry, baby. But there’s nothing to be ashamed of. You did nothing wrong. Like the article states, it’s known that you have PTSD, which is also nothing to be ashamed of.” Christopher started scenting you knowing that it would calm you down some while humming. He inwardly smiled knowing that he got you. He really could do anything to you, and you’d find it in yourself to forgive him eventually.

You stared at him with a frown, still irritated. “I know it’s nothing to be ashamed of. I just don’t like Korea knowing that I’m still going through shit when they don’t need to know.” You then pouted. “And stop humming. You’re terrible for using that against me.” You knew that he knew it’d work on you too. He sounded too good musically, and you found it too attractive. Ughhhh. And with him scenting you, it was a double whammy. “Don’t put me into a scent high,” you grumbled as he continued scenting you.

“You’re so cute when you’re in a scent high though. So affectionate,” he teased but stopped his humming. He then shoved his face into your neck, licking your mating mark, and nudging you a bit to give him more room to suck on your neck. He laved at you with his tongue to get your scent all over him while he simultaneously used his wrists and tongue to keep covering you in his scent. He loved tasting your lavender with ocean mist scent. While he enjoyed when you would release your scent, it was nothing compared to drawing it out himself whenever he marked up your neck, which was why he did it so often. You could already feel the beginning of the scent high as you melted into him. 

“I’m going to get you back for this,” you continued grumbling but obediently tilted your head back to give him more room to work on your neck at his insistence. You had to admit you would be more pissed if he stopped now so might as well give him access. You were still mad, but you'd let it slide for now. You didn't need to fight with him before having breakfast with your grandfather.

“Sure, you will, my pretty omega.” Christopher was amused. Your way of getting back at him when the two of you were younger was always going on a shopping spree along with buying more desserts. You got to have things and got to drag him out of the house. When the two of you were younger, he had to save a decent amount of money from when he was working part-time when you were at school while he was attending college, and his parents were nice enough to give him an allowance that he just spent on you. Probably why they gave him money in the first place, if he really thought about it. 

Back when his parents were alive, they liked you way more than they liked him, which wasn’t saying much. He knew, and they knew he was fucked up, and you were one of the only good thing in all three’s lives. You were the only thing keeping him grounded the older the two of you got, and his family knew it too, so keeping you happy meant keeping him happy. Being his parents' only child, it scared them at how apathetic and cruel he could be growing up. So with you there, it gave everyone a break from the general insaneness of him unless it had to do with you, then his craziness went from a 10/10 to 100/10. 

“I have to get ready for breakfast soon, and you’re over here giving me a scent high,” you whined. He chuckled, still finding you adorably funny. “I still have to put makeup on to hide my eye bags.”

“Alright, alright.” Christopher pulled back from slathering you in his scent and making sure he was covered in your scent. He, himself, was starting to feel the beginnings of a scent high from when he kept licking and sucking at your neck and having your scent on him. He admired the possessive marks decorating your neck again. You got shy about it, but he did think you looked very pretty with all his marks on you. 

You began to answer everyone since you still had a little time before you needed to get ready for breakfast, and you wanted to wait a little while for the scent high to go away. Miseon and Jiyeon were frantic as was Baek. They kept asking about you having nightmares because they knew you too well, so you fessed up about it. It was frustrating since you were doing so well, but now you weren’t. If you didn’t tell them, Jiyeon would know in a heartbeat as soon as she saw you, so might as well confess. 

They were all upset that they dragged Min into their article, especially Jiyeon, but she was trying to focus on you as he would’ve wanted. Min had been even more protective over you before he died as he was well aware that you suffered as he did, but you forced yourself to continue as a healer while he had retired. You didn’t blame him for retiring, but as Gunhee’s granddaughter, you felt like you had to keep going no matter what. Only recently had you been unable to continue as a healer in a raid, and that was how your PTSD was first reported on. You didn’t like that it was brought up in public again.

Your unnies and Baek then made sure that you were going to be there in two days at the goodbye party so they could check up on you when you told them you just wanted to hide out at home for the day, which they understood. You just knew Miseon and Jiyeon would come by your home just to drag you to the party if you didn’t show up within an hour of it starting because they didn’t know when exactly they’d see you again. 

Jinchul was grumbling about how people knew about what happened, and it wasn’t any of their business how you were. Your best friend tried his best to help you maintain your privacy, so you knew he was actually pretty pissed that you being vulnerable got out. Thanks, Christopher and Sean. You were also sure your grandfather was about to blow a gasket for the situation getting out as well. Guess that’s more people that you had to hide the fact that it was Christopher and Sean who kept giving information to the tabloids just to fuck with Sung and make sure everyone knew you were Christopher’s mate. Sometimes, in their desire for revenge, you could get hurt emotionally. They always tried to make it up to you later, but you wished they wouldn't do it and if they were going to, at least keep you in the loop. No matter how much times you argued about it with them, they kept doing what they wanted. Your mate and your old best friend had serious issues. 

Jinah and Kyung-hye kept apologizing for Jinwoo, and you told them it wasn’t their fault. It had been good to see Jinah, and that you were even happy to see her, because that’s probably the last time you’d be able to see her before you left Korea for America. Jinah sent crying emojis back while saying how much she still loved you like a sister, which you told her you loved her back because you did. You could tell that Jinah had a hard time seeing how you reacted after her brother came onto the scene. You helped raise her, and she was like a younger sister so she could tell how seriously broken you had been at that moment. She was innocent in what happened. You couldn’t let what happened between you and Jinwoo keep affecting your relationship with people. Jinah even tried to protect you from her own older brother, and you appreciated that more than she knew. She sent more crying emojis with some heart ones added in. You sent her your discord name tag, and she instantly added you back, so at least you two could keep in touch that way. You could tell she was really happy that you were willing to keep talking to her with the way she started spamming you with meme videos, which some of them were really good you had to admit. You sent some back, which she liked.

Sean spammed your discord private message with clown and laughing emojis because he already knew that you knew what was going on by the time you got to his messages while Julia apologized for him and, by extension, everyone else. You told her that it was alright because it wasn’t just Sean. If you weren’t in a scent high, you would’ve started spamming Sean back. You’d get to it when you weren’t high. That bitch was going to get it.

But you all knew it stemmed from Christopher anyway, so since he got you to cool down about it, there wasn’t much of a problem. You really needed to set up better boundaries because god knew Christopher would continue to do what he wanted. You were just unsure as to how to go about that. 

Jordan sent a gif of Michael Scott laughing, and you sent back a gif of Michael Scott deadpanning.  

"Those are pretty good memes from all of them," said Christopher as he had been seeing them with you.

“I know right? It fits surprisingly enough,” you replied before putting your phone down. “I have to get ready for breakfast. You coming with me, my mate?”

“Sure. I’m hungry.” Christopher shrugged, and then he finally released you so the two of you got ready. It took a good amount of effort because you were still feeling sluggish and wanted to stay in bed because of the scent high, but he helped you get ready, so it went faster than if he didn’t help. It was the least he could do since he was the one that put you in that position in the first place. He kept teasing you about staying home rather than going to breakfast only for you to keep pouting at him until he stopped. You were going to breakfast whether he came with you or not. You only had so many days left with your grandfather, and you were going to take every chance you had to see him. 

“Okay! Let’s get going! Jaejoong said he might make rice cake and vegetable stir-fry,” you chirped as you began to push Christopher lightly to hurry up. He just sent you a side-eye since he needed to help you first but moved quicker in getting ready. He ruffled your hair causing you to squawk in protest. You smoothed down your hair while looking at him with narrowed eyes.

“I’m ready. Let’s go.” Christopher held your hand and the two of you were off to the main house where you were sure that your grandfather was losing his cool because of the constant articles coming out about you. He and Jinchul never liked when Korean media started reporting about you more than necessary. That was what probably added onto Jinchul’s anger as the scandal thrusted you into the spotlight more than you already were as Gunhee’s granddaughter. Jinchul was beyond seething when the initial reports came out about your scandal. You weren’t looking forward to your grandfather’s anger all that much. Hopefully, he’d let it slide. 

[daydreamer-in-reverie]

I think one of my biggest gripes about S3 of Bridgerton is that I am utterly unconvinced that Colin and Penelope started as friends.

Now hear me out. I believe that Eloise and Penelope are friends. I believe that they grew up together, having lived across each other. I believe that Eloise loved Pen so much, Penelope was always welcomed to the Bridgerton home. I believe that by virtue of Eloise loving Pen and having her as a best friend, the Bridgerton family loved Pen as an extension.

But I’m unconvinced that Colin ever saw Pen or loved her as more than his sister’s best friend.

They tried so hard to convince us that it was Colin and Penelope who met first and that theirs is a stronger bond than what Eloise and Pen have by virtue of this but I just remain skeptical. In S1 and S2, we never really see them interact without the intervention of a ball or a social gathering. Eloise and Penelope actively seek the other person out while it was only Pen who looked for Colin and never the other way around. Colin only ever stumbled upon Penelope. He never scanned the room the find her, never tried to pull her away from Eloise so they could have their own conversation. I always felt like Penelope was such an afterthought to Colin while Penelope always made space for Colin in his life. Even while Colin was writing letters to Pen, and it was only Pen who consistently read and replied to his missives, it felt so one-sided. Penelope was eager to know of Colin’s adventures but Colin never asks Penelope about her own life and hobbies.

In all honesty, I think this could have easily been remedied by a good flashback. In Bridgerton S1, S2 and even in Queen Charlotte, flashbacks were the mediums used to fill in the gaps of the story. To inform the readers of a character’s history, and why the choose to do the things they do.

In a single episode, we saw how horribly Simon was mistreated by his father. In a single episode, we saw how deeply Edmund’s death wrecked Anthony’s boyhood and broke his mother’s heart. These flashbacks told us why Simon refused to procreate or why Anthony didn’t want to marry for love. We saw how deeply these core memories hooked themselves into these characters psyches, forcing them to become the people we know today. Without these integral flashbacks, we’re left with words said in passing to convince us of the story they’re trying to sell.

And don’t tell me flashbacks in the Bridgerton-verse are unimportant. Flashbacks have always been Julia Quinn’s method of choice when trying to inform readers of a character’s decisions. In Book 1 and 2, we got the same flashbacks as S1 and S2. In Benedict’s book, we got Sophie’s flashbacks. How her father treated her and how much her life changed after he died. In Book 4, which is Polin’s book, we still got flashbacks on Pen and Colin’s relationship and how much their friendship actually meant to the other. Book 5 showed us Philip’s backstory while 6 showed Michael’s and Francesca’s and John’s friendship, and 7 showed Garett’s and 8 showed Lucy.. While these flashbacks maybe used to showcase the love-interest’s past, they were still utilized by Julia Quinn to give us insights on the characterizations that make up their respective relationships.

I feel like this season, while having its moments, wasn’t what I was hoping it would be. There were so many changes that I feel the original plot of the story got lost. Polin didn’t feel like the main couple, just a couple with a story to be told. There were so many plots told in such extended ways that the main event was sidelined. The Mondriches, Benedict (who by the way is my favorite character), Francesca were all put on spotlight more than Polin was. In the books Francesca barely gets a passing mention of her marriage until her actual book (an act I believe to be intentional on Quinn’s part. It fits that the black sheep of the family who prefers the quiet didn’t have all of the fanfare that came with marrying an earl) yet her time at the marriage mart was put as a spotlight. In fact, when Francesca and John marry, it doesn’t happen with the series and happens much in the same way as Prudence’s marriage is (by this I mean it happens off screen). Don’t even get me started on her character assassination and deviation from the books (I can write a whole essay on this without even mentioning Michael/Michaela). All of these plot points, were put as main focuses when they shouldn’t have been. A waste of Polin’s amazing love story, if you ask me.