#like if they’d let it be a 3 part episode instead of one 40 minute one it would have actually allowed for everything they’d written

[danvillecheese]

the thing about a three way crossover is that the mml one was already so jam-packed with characters that plot points got cut and it was a hodgepodge of an episode and it was ending a story arc and also trying to squeeze in characters from pnf at the same time. imagine adding a third show full of characters to it could you even imagine the chaos

[logically-asexual]

okay i'm already procrastinating and i don't plan on sleeping any time soon so here we go.

☆ ✩ my personal ranking for every season 1 Sanders Sides episode. ✩ ☆

i think it's going to be pretty similar to @dukeofonions' but let's see if i find something new to contribute haha. i see you didn't include that one about Patton in the Big Game or whatever, so i'm not including it either xd. also i think i'm going to count Accepting Anxiety as one episode only.

edit: i finished and now i dare you to drink a shot of water every time i say the word spanish or a version of the word comfort and become very well hydrated.

#16 I'm in a Disney Show

(i agree with dukeofonions here) i always forget this episode exists. it was ok in terms of being happy for real life Thomas but as a Sanders Sides episode it didn't do anything. the sides were just giving their opinions but it wasn't very funny or interesting. also i'm bitter because it made me look up the episode he was in and i didn't like it at all. i don't know if i'm too old for those Disney shows now but Thomas was literally the only good part of it, everything else was really dull and boring imo. a waste of time.

however, Logan supporting clickbait is one of the funniest things ever, and i'll never forget it.

#15 Becoming A Cartoon

i didn't hate this episode but it was just .. meh.. you know? several factors contribute to this. one, i couldn't feel much nostalgia for Butch Hartman's shows because i watched them in Spanish, and everything feels really weird when they speak English, i don't like how my old cartoons sound in English. two, it was disappointing to me because we were all desperately waiting for Plot™ and instead they give us this short episode about nothing (oh how the tables have turned now it's the other way around haha). and three, i didn't like the style of the animation :/ their faces and expressions freaked me out, Roman's douchey face still haunts me.

#14 Way Too Adult

here i'm biased because i don't like Patton much, and i didn't back when i watched the series the first time either, so this video was a little disappointingwithout the rest. also it wasn't relatable to me because i am still too young and dependent on my parents haha. but Patton is funny and it's funny to laugh at Thomas' struggling.

#13 The Dark Side of Disney

i've never been a fan of Disney movies. i actually never watched Mulan or the Lion King or Aladdin as a kid, so meh. i liked the ending, though, it was cool to see Virgil have fun and be right for once. it does make me a bit uncomfortable because the way Thomas tries too hard with Virgil's mouth movements and his low voice reminds me of a guy that had made me v uncomfortable not long before watching that video. so an icky feel overall.

#12 A New Year of Lying to Myself

this video was actually kind of fogettable to me. i had a hard time connecting the voices in the song to the characters and idk. i don't love it nor hate it, just .. neutral.

#11 My True Identity

pretty much the same opinion as dukeofonions, again. it's a good introduction and it's good that it was the beginning of it all but on its own it's not very special. i think it's awesome on Thomas to have come up with such a clever idea, like choosing the dad, the teacher and the prince and putting them together and match them with thoughts?? that fit so perfectly?? it really is just very impressive when you think about it, that it was just a random idea he had for a short 5 minute video.

#10 Taking on Anxiety

i liked this video a lot because when i watched it i had recently been a lot on tumblr, and found out through relatable posts that i had anxiety. so watching this video was really fun and it made me happy to feel so seen, specially the intro when Thomas just talks about what it's like to have Anxiety and Virgil is so smug about it.

- ★ -

okay now that those are out of the way things are going to get hard... all the following i love with all my heart so i'm going to rank them based on the smallest things.

#9 Growing Up

once more, Patton isn't my favorite. so that's why i'm putting this here, plus the echo at the end askjhsahg, but i love love this video. i remember we were waiting and oh so ready for the angst of nobody taking Patton seriously. and we received!! i love that though Roman and Logan are antagonists here, they're both so happy about Thomas wanting to have a healthy life. and i just adore the way Logan admits his mistake at the end and asks Patton directly. my heart... also aw.. the nostalgia. i remember none of us knew how to spell Patton's name and were writing it in very funny ways until Thomas and Joan told us lol.

#8 The Mind vs The Heart

when i watched this video the first times i didn't like it much, because i only had eyes for Virgil, but later i came back to it and loved it. so taking that into account i'm putting it here. logicality was the first ship i ever shipped in the show because i saw a gifset on tumblr of Patton screaming "what do you know about love?!" and Logan "apparently more than YOU" and the caption said "MARRIED", and i thought hey yeah... anyway. i love them. they're both my dads since that day.

this video is so so so relatable and i love it. Logan and Patton are so much fun arguing and i love how they compromise at the end and work together. im reconsidering.. i might move it higher? no, fine i'll leave it here.

#7 Making Some Changes

this video was absolutely hilarious. i personally couldn't see it as the Sides still once they were acted by Thomas' friends, i enjoyed it more as that bunch being silly and trying to be the sides but failing in so many ways, while sometimes nailing stuff suddenly. i really don't take this one too seriously as an episode. except Joan!Logan and Valerie!Logan, my beloved... i love how Joan acted as Logan and their voice and that they kept their ace ring on.. there's a reason i had them as my icon for so long. and Valerie looks a bit (a lot) like me with the glasses and dressed in dark colors, plus she spoke Spanish and there's .. no words to describe the joy i felt when seeing/hearing that. wait i'm getting emotional...

#6 My Personality Q&A

when i watched this Virgil was my favorite side and i didn't care much about the rest lol. when i heard his answers i related to him SO much it was scary, and also his voice is so soft and it was all very comforting. it was also when i first starting looking at Logan with more attention, because when he brought up Big Hero 6 and Fall Out Boy and said he didn't sing and would recite it like a poem? it only took a couple seconds but my brain said "me" and never went back.

now this video is a little underwhelming to watch for me, most of the appeal for me was in finding out the answers, and also watching it when we didn't know a lot about the sides. now we know more and want to know more so it's not as fun to me as it was first.

i wish so bad they'd do another one, although i know it would be more difficult with a much bigger audience, i think they can manage and i just need it. the chaos.. the energy.. they all being so savage with each other, learning little random facts about them you didn't expect.. i need it.

- ★ -

oh boy top 5 here we go. the next three are practically a tie. i can't choose.

#5 Alone on Valentines Day

i love Valerie, and the idea of this video was perfect and so perfectly excecuted. every side just giving their crazy opinions on how to woo a random stranger, i laughed SO much. first with Logan speaking simlish out of nowhere? at that point i didn't know practically anything about the sims except that it was some video game and the whiplash of Logan going AYO and the rest killed me. then when Roman whipped out that dialogue in Spanish??? my life was completed. i've never felt more happy than i did in that moment gosh. just the hilarity of Roman's drama, the shock of them speaking Spanish suddenly like that, the absolute JOY of seeing a creator i like speak (may i say) perfect Spanish, the other characters' faces after that.. never been happier.

also the conclusion was so cute. Virgil solving the whole problem without wanting to. i loved it.

#4 Am I Original

i think this video speaks for itself. it was fun to watch them all do the ideas Roman had, plus Logan and Virgil nodding at each other, (i love them so much), plus the angst at the end of Roman's perfectionism, plus Roman's just perfect name. this video has it all.

i think Thomas posted it kind of late at night and i watched it at 7am in the classroom as i waited for my classmates to arrive and the class to start. (i usually was like 40 minutes early to school due to mom’s work). i had to contain my laughter and it wasn’t easy.

#3 Losing My Motivation

i started loving this video after a while, when Logan passed Virgil in the position for my favorite side. but once he did this episode was beautiful. it's so funny and i love Logan and Patton's dynamic so much. and the video also so damn relatable in general. i felt so seen with it because they named all the problems i have when procrastinating, down to Patton's vague explanation of his feelings, it's exactly how i feel every time i want to do stuff. and the plot twist! i can hear the dramatic sound effect and see how they all turn to Logan clearly in my head, and it always makes me smile. plus there's so much Logan angst that can be dug up and overanalized. i love to watch it over and over.

#2 Accepting Anxiety

this video was perfect. everything we wanted. we knew it was coming and it delivered perfectly, better than any fanfic done in the waiting time. the week between the parts was agonizing but in a fun way somehow. i remember precisely when i was watching part 2 in my living room. i screamed. and i cried, a lot. i was feeling terrible at that time in my life and Thomas was such a comforting presence and i can't begin to describe how this episode made me feel.

and later it is always fun to rewatch with all their different reactions to being in Virgil's room, the energy of that was on point. Thomas is such a great actor and the characters where just amazingly performed. plus it gave so much to talk adn think about, the idea of the rooms, lots lots of insight into the characters, foreshadowing, so much. it's just perfect i have nothing else to say.

#1 (for purely emotional reasons, ironically) My Negative Thinking

i think Accepting Anxiety is the best episode of the season objectively but my favorite is My Negative Thinking. because i love Virgil and Logan so much and seeing them argue together was and is great. the comfort.. i can't repeat that word enough throughout this post. it's such a soft video while not being overwhelming with Patton and Roman's outbursts. just quiet (mostly) and clear and with perfectly timed humour.

Logan my beloved.. learning spanish... helping me with my own anxiety.. and their debate was so good. and the fact that they were friends i- i can't. Virgil didn't think Logan liked him and Logan told him explicitly that he did and the casual softness of it i cant even. Logan is happy that he tried.. it's just marvelous. Virgil and Logan as best friends will always be my favorite pair, and their dynamic will always be what i strive for in any relationship i might form, with both sides silently comforting each other within their own limits and realistic perspectives. so nice.

- ★ -

so yeah. that's all. thank you if you read all the way up to here. ♡ ♡ ♡

[horansqueen]

You & Me : chapter 40

A Niall Horan fanfiction ; rated MA

Sequel to AM CONVERSATIONS

CHAPTER 1 || CHAPTER 2 || CHAPTER 3 || CHAPTER 4 || CHAPTER 5 || CHAPTER 6 || CHAPTER 7 || CHAPTER 8 || CHAPTER 9 || CHAPTER 10 || CHAPTER 11 || CHAPTER 12 || CHAPTER 13 || CHAPTER 14 || CHAPTER 15 || CHAPTER 16 || CHAPTER 17 || CHAPTER 18 || CHAPTER 19 || CHAPTER 20 || CHAPTER 21 || CHAPTER 22 || CHAPTER 23 || CHAPTER 24 || CHAPTER 25 || CHAPTER 26 || CHAPTER 27 || CHAPTER 28 || CHAPTER 29 || CHAPTER 30 || CHAPTER 31 || CHAPTER 32 || CHAPTER 33 || CHAPTER 34|| CHAPTER 35 || CHAPTER 36 || CHAPTER 37 || CHAPTER 38 || CHAPTER 39

NOTES:

-one chapter is her pov, the next is his -4.3k -im sorry, i never proofread, i hate it. -there WILL be smut. but not only smut. -this is a romance, comedy, smut story. -for the summary, check my MASTERLIST.

READ AM CONVERSATIONS AGAIN ON WATTPAD HERE

- notes: i hope this isnt too much and that youre still enjoying this story! its almost over tho, so if you have any request please send them asap! I have a few more chapters planned but I could always add a few filler chapters if you guys send me ideas. so yea, thank you!

if you want to be on the list of blogs i notify when this is updated, just message me :)

requests! : here are the requests i used. im sorry about the Julia one, they couldnt have a very big and deep talk because it was Liv’s chapter but I still wanted to add her in because i really like her :) hope its okay!

TAKE A LOOK AT THE CHARACTERS HERE

Chapter 40 : Her chapter

OLIVIA

May 7th, 2018

It was quite late but we were both packing our things in silence. I had waited last minute to do it while Niall had to wait until he was back from his concert, which resulted in us doing it together. I missed going to see him play and sing and the thought made something stir in my stomach. I couldn't believe I stopped myself from going to see him do what he loved the most to do in the entire universe just because I was scared of what some losers could write in an online article. The more I thought about it, the more I found that completely ridiculous. I was about to mention something about it when I heard Niall talk, breaking the silence.

"Oh, I totally forgot to give you that." He leaned closer to me and handed me a small box that was wrapped in pretty pink paper. I frowned but took it in my hand anyway as he shrugged. "A fan told me to give it to you. Apparently, she was really sad when we broke up."

I stared at the small box on y hand and licked my lips. I knew most of it were just rumors, but I also knew that some people believe everything they'd read online. Still, this time, I couldn't blame them since it was the truth. I quickly unwrapped it and grabbed the note first, reading it out loud.

"We thought Niall was the biggest One Direction fan in the world, but we've seen you multiple times with random One Direction merch and we thought you may enjoy this."

I frowned more but when I saw the necklace, I let out a louder laughter. It made Niall frown too and I looked up at him with a smirk, bringing my hand closer to him. Around my fingers was hanging a necklace with his face on it. It seemed to be very old merch, probably from 2011, and I saw him grimace.

"No, Liv!" he whined as I put it around my neck and I chuckled again.

"Hey, it's a gift!" I argued. "Besides, I didn't have this one. I love it."

"You're such a pain." he joked, making me laugh this time.

I didn't see it coming but he literally jumped on me and I fell on the bed with a high scream. He pinned me down and started tickling me, holding both my wrists with one hands as the fingers of the other squeezed my waist, making my body jerk.

"Noooo! Niall stop!"

I squirmed, kicking him and hitting him without really knowing or controlling what I was doing. It took him a few seconds to stop and he stared down at me with a smirk as my lips were parted. I was panting low, not even able to enjoy his body on top of mine.

"Please, let me wear the necklace." I almost begged in a low voice.

His eyes roamed on me for about a minute and finally, the left corner of his lips raised up and he nodded once before moving closer to kiss me.

I had decided to follow him in Spain even if I had no idea when I'd have to fly back to California. We still had a few episodes to film but I was hoping Niall could come with me. He only had a few concerts left before he'd be off for a few weeks and even if he had to fly to the UK at the end of the month, I was thinking he could spend almost two weeks with me. I knew all we did was live in our luggage, going from airports to airports but at the same time, we were together and it's really all that mattered to me.

His lips moving slowly against mine made my heart twist in my chest. I loved him so much, I always would and I knew it. I was starting to trust him again, so much that the tiny ball of fear that seemed to live permanently in my stomach was now gone. I had decided that I wanted to live this plenty, to not hold grudges of fears that came from our past. I wanted to move forward and I knew that we had both changed for the better.

May 8th, 2018

We woke up early to catch our flight and I put my sunglasses on because I knew I looked exhausted. They were heart shaped but were black instead of my usual pink or purple ones for the simple reason I thought it would be less obvious to the people around that I had puffy and tired eyes. I didn't mean travelling if it meant being with Niall, but that didn't mean it was it wasn't sucking up all my juice.

I didn't expect the airport to be crowded but it was, and I moved my head down, trying not to catch anyone's attention. The fans started screaming, the paps started yelling at Niall to look their way, and when one of them moved too close to us, I felt my heart jump in my chest and without thinking, I grabbed Niall's hand. I realized my mistake and quickly let go of it only to feel his fingers tighten around mine. I could swear the flashes became even more intense right after and I glanced at Niall, licking my lips as I heard similar questions being yelled around us.

"Are you two back together?"

"Did you cheat on Dylan and Heidi together?"

"Are all the rumors true?"

We both held each other's hand tighter at the sound of all these questions being thrown at us and we kept walking as they followed us. I could feel my heart beat so hard in my chest that I felt like it was about to escape. I swallowed hard trying to relax a bit as I kept glancing at my boyfriend.

"Does that mean we're official?" Niall asked me, squeezing my fingers even more after he stopped walking, and moved closer to make sure I was the only one who heard.

I turned his way and licked my lips, trying to ignore the flashes and the sounds of the cameras. I was not used to that much attention, or at least, not as intense as it was being at that moment, but even if it was a bit intimidating, I was not scared.

"Do you want us to be?"

His gaze moved on my face as he studied me before sending me a fond smile. "Yes, I do."

I sent him a gentle smile that turned into a very big one. "We're official then."

"Fuck yes." he whispered, making me chuckle.

He pulled on my hand and we started walking again but as we were about to pass the gate, he quickly and roughly moved our hands up to show our intertwined fingers and it surprised me so much I felt my heart skip a few beats.

"FUCK YES!" he repeated in a yell, making me burst into laughter this time.

If I wasn't sure Niall loved me, I definitely was now. The fact that he literally told the world we were together proved much more than anyone could believe. I knew he was private, and so was I. I also knew he didn't like his private life to be in the spotlight, or talked about, or known, and him showing everyone, fans and paps included, that we were an item by throwing our hands up just showed me how committed he was. People would talk about us and the wrong things we did to Dylan and Heidi, people would definitely criticize us as individuals but also as a couple and I knew that for a while, people would stop talking about his music and my tv show only to blab shit about our love, but he thought it was still worth it and even if I was a bit surprised, it touched me more than I thought it would. And just like that, the blinded trust I had for Niall until he broke up with me was back, and I knew that this time, it would be different.

                                                          ---

We took a nap when we arrived at the hotel and when I woke up, it was the middle of the afternoon and Niall's arm was wrapped around me as he was laying on his stomach. I ran my fingertips on his arm and reached his back, making him groan slightly. He looked so good, his eyes closed, his bottom lip a bit over his upper one in a cute pout and his hair a bit messy. It made something come alive inside me and I realized that we went through so many things to get back pretty much where we used to be. The difference was us and the way we had grown, and I knew that what we lived when we were away from each other was needed to have the relationship we had at that very moment.

I tried not to wake him up and sat up slowly and gently in bed, rubbing my eyes and yawning before grabbing my phone. I knew he didn't want me to but I searched for his name and mine in google and a bunch of pictures from the airport appeared. My lips curled more at the picture of us walking away while Niall held our hands up together. I stared at it for a few minutes and pressed my lips together, feeling suddenly ecstatic and a bit dizzy. It was really happening. I was back with Niall and we were happy together. In all the months we were apart, I had wished for it, but I never thought it would really happen at some point.

"What are you looking at?" he mumbled low, taking me out of my thoughts. "You're smiling."

I turned to him and my excited smile turned into a fond one. His eyes were half-closed and his face was still pressed on the pillow. In fact, I was pretty sure he hadn't moved at all and looking at him made something stir in my stomach. There was nothing I loved more than waking up with him, except maybe falling asleep in his arms.

I tilted my head and let the left corner of my lips raise up before turning the screen his way. It took him a few seconds to let what he was seeing sink in and he smiled too.

"Oh look, that's us telling the world we're back together." he pointed out slowly and in a low tone, an amused smile curling his lips. "I'm sorry, I'm never that impulsive normally. But I've been waiting for that for a while." He paused and I felt his arm hold my waist tighter before he squirmed a bit and put his head on my lap. "It's okay though, because this is meant to last, so everyone may as well know now. What do ya say?"

I brought my hand to his head and ran my fingers in his hair gently, making his eyes flutter. "I agree." I whispered, making him smile more.

"We're gonna get married and have a few kids. And dogs, too. I love dogs."

This time, I chuckled and licked my lips. He had mentioned marriage a few times in the past weeks and I loved it. He used to be so scared of commitment and the future and now he was literally planning it for us.

"You know what we should do now?" he asked, making me shake my head. "Stay in bed all day. Order food, watch tv, and make out. Champagne and you. That sounds perfect."

I smiled widely. "Gotta celebrate the fact that we're official, now."

"Damn right."

After a few hours, we were done eating and the bottle of champagne was empty. We were still laying in bed but I had stopped following the movie and kept staring at the ceiling. What took me out of my thoughts, once again, was Niall's voice. I blinked a few times, trying to get back to my senses, and he raised his eyebrows at me.

"Mm?" I asked, making him laugh.

He stopped the movie quickly before grabbing the sheets of the bed, pulling them over our heads and once again locking us together in our safe place. I smiled at him and turned my body his way as he did the same. It was always a bit stifling to stay under the covers for a while but at the same time, it made me feel secure like nothing else did.

"How hard did that champagne hit?" he asked with a chuckle.

"Mm, i'm tipsy." I admitted, laughing too.

"Me too." he let out, his eyes roaming on my face. "You know I want to marry you for real, right? I want to promise to be yours forever. I want to literally show everyone that no one else will ever mean to me as much as you mean to me."

"I want it too. I want to be your wife. Niall I want it more than anything."

I felt my heart jump in my chest at my confession and we kept looking at each other for a few minutes in silence. He found my left hand and brought it up to his eyes level before running his thumb gently on my ring finger. I bit my bottom lip, trying to imagine what it would feel like to be his wife, and I swallowed hard, almost ashamed that I let my mind wonder so far.

"One day..." he just murmured before looking up in my eyes. "How many kids?"

"Five." I let out, making his eyebrows raise.

"Jesus Christ, do you want to kill me, woman?"

This time, I started laughing and he pulled me closer with a groan, letting his lips press against mine before pulling slightly away. I waited until he spoke again, my lips curling more and more with every passing seconds.

"You're not serious?" he just asked, making me laugh, this time.

"How many do you want?"

"Two, maybe three." he admitted before I kissed him again, sucking gently on his upper lip.

"Then two or three we'll have." I breathed out against his mouth as he held me closer.

"And we'll live in London, and keep a house in Cali, how's that?" he proposed in a murmur. "I'll bring you to Las Vegas to get married. We'll have the best honeymoon because I'll make you cum twenty times a day for a whole week."

I started laughing against his mouth and he smirked. "Where are we going for that?"

"Bali?" he suggested.

"Mm, don't tempt me." I joked as he laughed again, deepening the kiss and making me close my eyes. "What's on your mind, Horan?" I asked lower and more seriously.

"Well, how about we practice making those two-three kids now?" he offered, making me chuckle. "I really want to make love to my official girlfriend and future wife."

"Hey, I didn't say yes just yet." I joked as his lips traveled on my jaw and neck.

"But you will yea? You just accepted to be my official girlfriend so it's a good start. You'll be my wife and marry me?"

"If you want to spend your life with me, how can I say no to that?"

"That's what I thought." he just said, giving himself a swing and making me laugh even more as he got on top of me.

I spread my legs a bit as he nibbled on the skin of my neck and I groaned when I felt his hard dick press on my inner thighs. I was tired and still a bit tipsy but the way he whispered, the sound of his voice, the feeling of his body on top of mine... all of this was too good and I felt like I never had enough of him. Even after all this time, I wanted him as much as I used to, even more, probably, and the way he was all over me made me think he felt the same.

"I want to bury my cock so deep inside you right now." he whispered, bringing his mouth back on mine. "You're so fucking beautiful. I love you so much, Olivia. You made me so happy today."

I reached for his boxers and pulled them down as much as I could, his words making my heart twist and jump in my chest. I didn't think Niall could love me as much as he seemed to, I didn't know he could want to be with me to the point where he would literally hold my hand and show everyone that we were together in a crowded airport. I had no idea he was waiting for this, I didn't know that it would make him react like that to be my official boyfriend. All of this made sense, of course, but it was just hitting me that Niall really loved me as much as I loved him and that he didn't want to lose me again.

"Please Niall, just do it." I begged him in a murmur, reaching between my legs and pulling my panties aside before grabbing his cock and lining it up.

His hip movement was slow and as he pushed himself inside me, I felt my eyes roll back and a moan escaped my lips. I moved my knees up as he lied on top of me, holding himself on his elbows as he started thrusting in and out of me slowly. It felt like torture but at the same time it was so good I moved my chin up, feeling his lips leave kisses on it.

"I love you, can't believe you're my girlfriend again." he whispered, his lips brushing against my skin.

"I was always yours, Niall. I've always been yours. Since I was 6 years old. I knew I belonged to you." I replied just as low and without thinking. "I was just scared you didn't belong to me"

He pushed himself deeper inside me and it felt so good I let out an other whimper. He remained still, waiting for my eyes to open again and meet his, and I felt one of his hands slip in my hair while the other moved a lock out of my eyes.

"I belong to you." he confessed, making a shiver run across my back. "All this soulmate shit? I believe in it now. I have to."

I bit my bottom lip, making him glance at my mouth before looking back in my eyes.

"I love you. I fucking love you." I had barely finished my sentence that he was pressing his mouth against mine again, this time fucking me harder and faster.

My back arched after a few minutes and I moaned in his mouth this time, right before his thrusts became unsteady and a bit sloppy. The orgasm felt amazing and I gripped his arms as I felt his muscles tighten. I pressed my thighs on each sides of him, pushing myself against him in motion with him as he came. Nothing felt better than that post orgasm feeling with Niall on top of me. His lips found mine and he kissed me slowly but deeply for a while until we both got down of our highs and even a little bit after.

"I'm so happy you followed me here." he admitted with a smile as I tilted my head on the pillow.

"Me too." I licked my lips and raised my eyebrows. "Are you gonna follow me back to Cali in a few days?"

"Nothing will stop me from going with you. Nothing."

He rolled off of me and I pushed the covers to breathe fresh air, just realizing that I needed it. Niall grabbed my hand and I focused back on him as he stared at my fingers, making me try to suppress the smile stuck on my lips.

"Please come to my show tomorrow." he just let out, his fingers brushing gently against mine, exactly where a wedding ring would be. "We're officially together now, so we don't care who sees you or what they see."

My heart skipped a beat and I licked my lips nervously. It would be a good start but it stressed me to think that people would start judging us even more, now that we were official. I knew Niall was not going to start kissing me or anything in public but I still felt nervous.

"Okay." I let out low feeling myself tear up. I swallowed my tears but I could see my boyfriend getting emotional too and I sniffed. "I love you Niall. I don't ever want to be away from you anymore."

He brought one of his hands to my cheek and I felt the warmth of his skin against mine as he moved closer to lean his forehead against mine.

"I'm never leaving again. I promise on my life. I'm here to stay. What we have will never die, okay?"

I nodded quickly and bit my bottom lip as I felt a tear run down my cheek. I could swear he was tearing up too and I pressed my parted lips against his. "Okay."

May 9th, 2018

I hadn't realize how much I had missed watching Niall sing and play. He was always the kid who was singing, dancing, or playing guitar when we were younger, and it always brought a bunch of people around him. He seemed so untouchable, even for me, who was his best friend. Now, with the literal crowds and album selling, it was even more obvious, but a lot less scary. The fact that I knew he loved me definitely helped but watching him do what he's always loved but this time, as a living, was just breathtaking. He was breathtaking.

I chuckled when he winked at me subtly and I rolled my eyes with a smile until I felt a hand on my arm. I jumped slightly and turned again to look at Julia who was smiling widely at me. I thought I knew what she was going to say but instead, she pulled me close into a tight hug. It took me a few seconds to answer it but when I did, she jumped a few times, bringing me with her, and finally pulled away.

"I saw the video!" she said happily, her lips curled into a bit grin.

"The video?"

"Of you two at the airport!"

I felt my cheeks turn a soft shade of red as they burned a bit and cleared my throat, looking away. I knew there were pictures but I was not aware someone was filming. Come to think about it, it was not surprising, after all. I felt two strong arms wrap around my neck from behind and I smiled immediately, recognizing the touch and the perfume. It was crazy how he still affected my moods but I could also see that I influenced his, and that made our relationship so much better.

"Niall!" he let go of me to hug Julia and I smiled, taking a step away. "I'm so happy for you! I knew it would happen! I told you you had to keep hope!"

Niall's eyes found mine and his smile faltered as his embrace around his friend loosened.

"I sort of... confided in Julia." he admitted, licking his lips as mine parted. "I know you wanted me to keep the secret, but I didn't know what to do, and I felt like shit... I needed to talk to someone."

He looked at me with fear in his eyes, as if I was going to turn on my heels and leave, but I just tilted my head on the side while staring at him.

"Hey, I understand. She's one of your closest friends." I pointed out with a shrug before sending him a smile. "I talk to Louis about almost everything." I shrugged again. "Besides, I like her."

Julia smiled more and grabbed my arm, pulling me closer to them to hug both of us at the same time. I laughed and after a few seconds, she pulled away and smiled again.

"I'll wait for you guys backstage. We're going to celebrate right?" she asked as Niall and I glanced at each other, a bit unsure. "It's one of my last shows! We have to go grab a drink together!"

"Sure, we'll do that."

She left with a big grin and I turned to Niall who was smiling fondly at me. I frowned, my lips still curled, but I had to admit that the way he was looking at me made something twitch in my stomach.

"Thank you." he whispered, bending down to kiss the top of my head.

"For?"

"For wanting to get to know my friends. I know you get along great with all our childhood friends, and my cousins and all, but I've made great friends while doing this job, and you never really seemed to be interested in befriending them too, well, except for Harry, Louis and Liam.”

I shrugged a shoulder and looked away before looking back at him and raising my nose in a small grimace. "You used to hang out with many celebrities, especially when you were dating Heidi. I don't know, Niall, to me, it's a bit intimidating." I admitted. "I never felt like I fitted with them, or belonged with those famous faces. It's just weird to me."

"I'd love to present them to you. I promise they're great."

I stared at him and after a while, my lips curled again. "Sure, I'd love to meet them." I just gave in and by seeing the smile on his face, I knew it made him happy. "Let's start with Julia. I already know I love her."

Niall laughed and cupped my face, tilting my chin up before reaching for my mouth with his. "And I know I love you."

[abundanceofsoph]

SkyFire 3: Chapter 2

New York & Saturday Night Live: April 2017    

Word count: 4.8k

SkyFire 3 MASTERLIST

Sorry it's been so long since the last chapter but I'm finally back at work after 75 days in lockdown. Updates will probably be a bit more spaced out than they were in Parts 1 & 2 but please know that I am still working away at it and I already have so many future chapters planned out that I'm really excited for.

This chapter is a bit of a long one and I thought about splitting it in half but figured you deserved the treat after waiting patiently.

Don't forget to leave a comment if you're enjoying the series and let me know what you think.

>Instagram posts

By the time Aurora woke up Monday morning, Harry’s side of the bed was cold, and he had long since left for the day. Since he would be appearing in multiple sketches on the upcoming episode of Saturday Night Live, he was needed for rehearsals all week. Aurora was thankful that she and the rest of the band weren’t needed until Friday and instead she was able to sleep in. Their flight had arrived in New York well after midnight and by the time they made their way to the tower they had both decided to head straight to bed. Aurora was fairly certain her father would have still been awake, working in his lab but she was far too tired for a reunion after hours on a plane.

Once she managed to roll herself out of bed and get dressed for the day ahead, Aurora made her way down the hall to the open plan kitchen/living area of the penthouse with its wide, floor to ceiling wall of windows looking out over the sprawling expanse of Central Park. Both Tony and Steve were sitting on the stools at the kitchen’s island bench, waiting for their daughter to wake up. Steve had seen Harry earlier that morning as he was leaving, and Steve had been coming back from his early morning run. Both he and Tony were eager to have their daughter home for an entire week and while Steve was happy to sip on his tea and read the morning while they waited, Tony was practically vibrating in his seat with barely contained excitement. Steve’d had to stop him twice from having JARVIS ‘accidentally’ wake Aurora up, so Tony was unsurprisingly the first out of his seat when she finally appeared.

Aurora was grinning widely and broke into a fit of giggles as her father rushed over and lifted her off the ground in a crushing hug. Despite having seen each other only two weeks ago, the craziness of the wedding hadn’t really allowed them much time to just hang out together and prior to the wedding they had spent a solid 5 months apart given the last minute changes to their Christmas plans in the wake of Johannah’s death.

“Missed you Dad,” she said, returning the tight hug.

“Missed you too Kiddo,” Tony replied, finally setting her back on her feet and allowing her to cross the room and fall into Steve’s arms.

The small family spent the entire day together, watching a movie and then moving down to Tony’s workshop in the afternoon so that he could work on a prototype for Stark Industries while Steve and Rori sketched on the sofa. It was reminiscent of how they had spent many evenings shortly after Rori first came to live with her fathers, the memories of those long nights brought a soft smile to her face as she sketched Dumm-e and Butterfingers, where they were attempting to help Tony, but instead were causing more problems than they were able to solve. Harry found them all there when he arrived back to the tower later that evening, grinning excitedly as he launched into his recounting of his first day with the SNL cast.

xXx

Since first meeting her father’s childhood best friend, James ‘Bucky’ Barnes, three years ago, Aurora had slowly come to see him as a member of the family. For the first year that they had both lived in the tower together, they had coexisted amicably but had been far from friends, nothing close to the way Aurora was with the rest of the team. Even as her relationship with Sam had flourished quickly as he acclimatized to life as an Avenger she had struggled to be around Bucky. He hadn’t held her distant behaviour against her, knowing that while most of the team had been able to separate the actions of the Winter Soldier from Bucky himself, Aurora had struggled to accept into her home the man who had tried, on several occasions, to assassinate one of her fathers. Following the Columbia Shooting, she had surprised him by seeking him out during her recovery and their friendship had bloomed after her amputation surgery. Now, many years later Bucky easily filled the role of another uncle in Aurora’s life, a shift that had made Steve overwhelmingly happy.

It was late Tuesday afternoon and Steve went in search of his daughter, having not seen her since they’d shared lunch together. He expected to see her in the workshop with Tony, however his husband said he hadn’t seen her since breakfast. With the help of JARVIS he finally found her on one of the lower floors, the one shared by Sam, Bucky and Rhodey when he was in town. She was in the living room sitting across the table from Bucky, a game of Battleship between the pair. Steve suppressed a chuckle as he joined the pair, well aware by now of how much his best friend and his daughter enjoyed playing a variety of tabletop games together. Many arguments had been started over a game of backgammon or canasta.

“Who’s winning?” he asked, pulling up a chair beside Aurora and throwing an arm around her shoulders.

“I’m kicking his ass,” she smiled.

“She’s getting cocky,” Buck replied, “and it’s going to backfire on her in a minute.”

“Of course it is,” Aurora said, her tone dripping in sarcasm.

The game continued for a while, Aurora cheering and taunting when she sunk another of Bucky’s ships, mocking him mercilessly when he continued to miss her own turn after turn.

“I don’t understand why you always beat me,” he moaned when she won. “I mean surely your luck has to run out eventually.”

“It’s not luck, Bucky,” Rori laughed. “It’s about strategy and reading your opponent and I hate to tell you, but you are entirely predictable.”

“I’ll have you know I’m an excellent battle strategist,” Bucky retorted.

“Apparently you’re not,” Aurora bit back, a wide smile gracing her face. Steve let out a loud peel of laughter at their bickering.

“Excuse me,” JARVIS interrupted. “Miss Stark, you requested that I alert you when young Mr Styles returned to the tower.”

“Thanks J,” Rori replied, kissing her fathers’ cheek and jumping to her feet, ready to head towards the elevator.

“Miss Stark?” Steve asked.

“He said that Dad programmed him to call me that and no marriage certificate is gonna change it,” Rori explained with a roll of her eyes. “Dad could probably get him to stop but honestly I like it. I didn’t get to be a Stark for very long so it’s nice to be one when I come home.”

“You’ll always be a Stark, bug,” Steve promised, returning the kiss on her cheek and watching as she left the room in search of Harry on the upper floors of the Tower.

“Enjoying having her home?” Bucky asked.

“Absolutely,” Steve answered. “I miss her when she’s not here. Tony does too, even if he won’t admit it. She grew up too fast on us.”

“Can’t have been easy not meeting her until she was practically all grown up,” Bucky pointed out.

“No, you’re right,” Steve agreed. “Sometimes I wish we’d got to raise her, but I’d also never want to have taken away any of the time she got with her mom.”

“You and Tony ever think of having another kid?”

“We’ve talked about,” Steve said. “It’s not very easy process. The worlds come a long way since the 40’s Buck, but it’s still hard for two men to adopt. It certainly doesn’t help that we’ve got such dangerous jobs.”

“Guess that makes sense,” Bucky replied. “Never known you to back down from something just because it’s hard or because someone tells you no, though.”

“You might have a point there. Seems we’ve managed to accidently adopt Peter over the years so maybe we’re just meant to keep collecting teenagers.”

xXx

Something Aurora loved about the city was the way that New Yorkers didn’t care about anyone around them. Everyone was busy getting from one place to another and had very little time or care to look at those surrounding them on the crowded sidewalks. Aurora could easily wander the streets without being hassled as she went about her day. Occasionally a tourist would recognize her, but more often than not, a large pair of sunglasses and a hat pulled low would hide her enough to avoid all but the most astute fan. She wore a loose oversized cardigan which hung over the tips of her fingers completely concealing her prosthetic hand as she headed through the streets of midtown Manhattan, her hands full of shopping bags as she walked back towards Avengers Tower. She could have halved the time to get home by taking the subway, but the weather was nice, so she enjoyed the walk, reaching the towers lobby a little after 2 in the afternoon.

By the time she stepped out of the elevator and into the penthouse, she noted Steve, Clint and Bucky sprawled out on the sofas in front of the tv. She dropped her shopping bags onto the floor and launched herself onto the sofa cushion next to Steve, curling herself into his side as his arm fell around her shoulders, hugging her tightly against him.

“Where’ve you been all day?” he asked.

“Went shopping,” Rori explained.

“Do I want to know?” he asked with a soft chuckle.

“I bought wigs.”

“Why on earth are you buying wigs?” Clint butted in.

“Because with the tour coming up,” Rori said, “I want to try out some different hair colours, but I’ve never bleached my hair before and I’m honestly terrified of ruining my hair. So, wigs.”

“Do we get a fashion show?” Steve asked.

“Maybe later,” she mumbled, yawning widely before resting her head back against Steve’s shoulder and staring, glazed eyes at the tv.

xXx

The following day, Sam found Rori sitting alone against one of the large windows, hugging her knees tightly against her chest as she stared out over the city.

“Hey, you,” he said as he took a seat next to her on the floor. “You ok?”

“Yeah I’m good,” she replied, her voice soft and a little distant, her gaze remaining on the view spread out beneath them.

“Remember when you promised me you wouldn’t lie about how you were feeling,” Sam reminded her.

She sighed, her shoulders sagging and her head leaning forward to rest against the cold glass. “I had a panic attack last week,” she mumbled.

“When you got home to London?” he asked.

She shook her head. “On the last day of our honeymoon. This thunderstorm came rolling in out of nowhere the day before we flew home, and I just freaked out and ruined everything. I thought I was getting better.”

“You are getting better,” Sam argued. “This is the first panic attack you’ve had in months. That’s a huge improvement.”

“But I thought they were gone,” Rori sobbed. “I was just starting to feel normal again but I’m never going to be like I was.”

“No, you’re not,” he agreed. “I know this isn’t what you want to hear, but PTSD isn’t something you just get over. It’s going to be with you for the rest of your life, but that doesn’t have to mean there’s anything wrong with you and I’m sure Harry didn’t think you ruined the trip.”

“Of course he didn’t, he’s Harry,” she said. “He’s always so supportive and just wants to help me through it. It’s not even really about last week,” she admitted. “It’s more about what it says about the rest of the year. The rest of my life. When Harry asked me to join his band, I was terrified that somehow, I would do something to ruin it all, like that somehow my prosthetic would malfunction, and I’d ruin a show. Now I’m wondering what will happen if I have a panic attack at a show? There are so many things that can go wrong, and he’s worked so hard for all of this. I’ll never forgive myself if I do anything to damage that.”

“What happens if Mitch slips over in the rain and breaks his hand and can’t play the guitar? What if Sarah gets the flu and has to sit out a few shows? What if something happens with Adams kids and he has to leave the tour?” Sam asked. “There are so many what ifs and things that can go wrong but did you notice how none of those things had anything to do with anyone’s disabilities? There are things in your life that are going to be more challenging for you than they would have been if you hadn’t been shot. You can’t let that stop you from living. I’m sure Harry and Jeff have all kinds of plans in place for what happens if one of you gets sick and can’t perform, so maybe you should talk to them about your concerns and you can have some plans in place and that will help with the anxiety of it all.”

“You know I really hate when you’re right Sam,” Aurora mumbled, the corners of her lips twitching.

“I know,” he smirked. “But one of these days you’ll learn to accept that I’m never wrong.”

Aurora stuck her tongue out at him before letting out a tired sigh. “I’m just so exhausted. Like, my brain just never stops stressing over these tiny little things and it’s so exhausting to constantly be worrying about everything. I mean Christ, I chipped my nail polish at lunch and it’s all I’ve been able to think about for the last few hours which is ridiculous because who cares if my nail polish is chipped, but I’m going to be on live tv in two days and what if they want a shot of my hands while I’m playing and it’s not like I have time to go get them redone now.”

“Why not just tell the camera operators not to set up that shot?” Sam asked, always the rational voice.

“Yeah,” Rori nodded. “Yeah, that makes sense.”

Having said his piece, Sam stood up after giving her shoulder a quick squeeze and then walked away, leaving her to think about what he’d said. She was still sitting on the floor beside the window deciding how to bring her anxieties to Harry without adding to his already full plate when Nat appeared beside her. “Heard you could do with a manicure,” she said.

She extended her hand, helping Aurora up off the floor and then led her to the elevator and down to her personal floor. Nat didn’t press Aurora to talk as they settled down in her living room and set about removing the chipped polish from the nails of her right hand. Rori was grateful for the silence, not sure that she had the energy to carry a conversation but also glad that she wasn’t alone. Where others in the tower felt that they needed to distract her from her anxiety, it was always Nat that provided what she needed without her ever having to ask. Her thoughts whirled in her head as Nat applied the new pale yellow polish to her nails in slow, methodical strokes, Sam’s advice echoing in Aurora’s ears.  

“You seem stressed,” Nat finally said as she finished the topcoat on the last nail.

“Just nervous about the show on Saturday,” Rori replied softly. “Live TV doesn’t leave any room for error.”

“I’m sure you’ll all do great,” Nat promised with a warm smile. “Now lay back and I’ll do a face mask and help you relax. You’re way too tense for a 22 year old.”

Aurora did as she was told without argument, laying back and closing her eyes as Nat spread the cool clay over her face and then she started massaging her long fingers into Rori’s scalp. Once the mask was finished and Nat had cleaned it away with a warm cloth, she set about rubbing moisturizer onto Rori’s face, soothing the pinched muscles between the younger woman’s brow until she fell asleep under Nat’s hands.  

When Harry arrived back at the tower a little over an hour later he found most of the team in the penthouse, however his wife was conspicuously absent from the group. He asked JARVIS if she was downstairs in either of the studios, his brow furrowing when the AI informed him that she was in Agent Romanoff’s private quarters and he headed for the elevator.

Nat was sitting on the other sofa across from where Rori was sleeping peacefully, a book in hand when JARVIS’ voice filled the room and she was thankful that she had asked the AI to lower its volume when Aurora had fallen asleep.

“Mr. Styles is requesting access to your floor Agent Romanoff,” JARVIS announced in a hushed whisper.

“Tell him to come in,” Nat replied in an equally soft tone.

A few moments later, the elevator doors opened at the end of the hall and Harry strolled into the room, his eyes immediately falling to his sleeping wife. “Hey,” he whispered to Nat. “Everything ok here?”

“She was getting a bit anxious about Saturday, so we had a bit of a spa day to help her calm down,” Nat explained.

Harry nodded and then headed over to the sofa, sitting on its edge next to Aurora’s hip and reached out to trace his hand along her cheekbone. “Rors?” he soothed. “Time to wake up love.” As she began to stir, Nat left the room allowing the couple to have some privacy.

“You’re home,” Rori mumbled, her voice thick with sleep and a soft smile lifting the corners of her lips. “Missed you today.”

“Heard you had a bad day,” Harry said, pulling her up and into a tight hug. “Sorry I wasn’t here.”

“S’ok,” she replied as she pressed her face into the crook of his neck. “Just got in my head a bit and spiralled.”

“Feeling better now?”

“Much,” she promised. “Always feel better when you’re here.”

“Mitch text me about 20 minutes ago that their flight landed so they’ll be here soon. Wanna come upstairs with me? Think Steve’s cooking a massive dinner.”

Aurora nodded her head and laced her fingers through Harry’s as the headed for the elevator doors.

xXx

Aurora tried to hold back her anxiety as she walked through the door with Harry, Jeff and the rest of the band Friday morning. She knew she was doing a poor job of it when Harry squeezed her hand tightly in an attempt to comfort her. She was angry at herself for her nervousness, knowing that she had performed on bigger stages in front of live audiences in the past, but she couldn’t seem to overcome the fear that she would make a mistake that would make Harry look bad. She could always deal with embarrassing herself, but the idea of screwing up everything that Harry had worked for was what truly made her terrified.

The set was a blur of activity and Harry led them down the halls towards the set where their equipment had been set up. Sarah headed straight to her drum kit and the boys picked up their guitars while Rori and Harry walked over to where the keyboards where a grand piano was waiting for her.  

“You look like you’re going to be sick babe,” Harry said. He kept his voice low, whispering in his wife’s ear as she sat down on her bench seat, not wanting draw anyone’s attention to their conversation. “I know you’re going to nail this. Just gotta trust me.”

“I know,” she replied. “God anxiety is such a bitch.” Harry chuckled at her little outburst and then he kissed the top of her head before walking over towards the microphone stand.

They spent the rest of the day running through the two songs they would perform the following evening. They discussed the lighting and camera set ups, making sure that everyone in the band and the crew knew exactly where they would stand and which way the equipment would move during the live broadcast. Occasionally they would take breaks for Harry to go work on the sketches he would be appearing in or they would stop so that Aurora could remove her prosthetic for a while. In the year since she had started wearing the prosthetic hand, Tony and Peter had redesigned the original many times, constantly upgrading and improving it’s coding to make it easier for her to wear for longer periods of time. Despite these upgrades, she still found it hard to wear for too long and after about 4 hours of prolonged use she would start to get horrible tension headaches from the transmitting device she wore behind her left ear. It was for this reason that the majority of their soundchecks were happening on Friday so that Aurora wouldn’t be required to play before the show was ready to go to air. She was always uncomfortable whenever plans had to change in order to accommodate her disability, but Harry had  assured her repeatedly over the course of the week that it was not a big deal and that they wouldn’t have been needed much on Saturday afternoon anyway, so it wasn’t even that much of a change to the schedule.

By the end of the day, Aurora was exhausted. They had taken plenty of breaks throughout the day, but she knew that she had definitely pushed herself, never wanting to be the one to call for a break and know she was paying for it. She had her prosthetic off and stuffed into her bag before they even reached the car that would take them all the few short blocks back to the tower.  She sat in the back seat beside Harry and let her head fall against his shoulder, closing her eyes for the quick 10 minute drive.

“You alright love?” Harry asked quietly as they pulled up in the underground carpark of the tower.

She hummed in response, letting him lead her out of the car and into the waiting elevator. “Just tired,” she promised. “It was a long day.”

“It was,” Harry agreed, his arm wrapped tightly around her waist. “Went great though. Think tomorrow’s going to be amazing.”

Aurora wasn’t the only one who was tired and after such a long day of rehearsals, everyone in the band was happy to return to the tower, the inviting smells of dinner greeting them as they stepped out of the elevator to see the entire team crowded around the dining table, waiting for them. Aurora’s eyes lit up as she saw Peter at the table and immediately rushed over to him, pulling him out of his seat and into a hug, her exhaustion evaporated in the wake of seeing him again for the first time since they’d arrived back in town.

“God, where have you been all week?” she asked.

“Sorry been busy with school and patrols,” Peter replied. “I usually only have time to come over Friday nights and on the weekends.”

“Lucky we’re not leaving till Monday then,” Rori smiled. “Otherwise I wouldn’t get to spend any time with you at all. Now talk to me, how’s it feel to almost be finished with High School?”

Harry watched them with an amused smile as they sat next to each other, talking excitedly about Peter’s upcoming graduation and which colleges he had been accepted to. They barely stopped talking throughout the entire meal, completely oblivious to anyone else at the table. Harry hadn’t spent a great deal of time around Peter, given how much time he had spent on the road with One Direction or off filming Dunkirk while Aurora had still been living in the tower full time, but it didn’t really take a lot of time to understand why Tony, Steve and Rori had all rushed to absorb Peter into their little family. He was such a nice kid, always energetic and excited about anything going on everyone’s lives and he was joy to be around. He had so seamlessly fit into the family dynamic that everyone considered him a Stark in all bar name. Harry had once asked Rori about his place in the team, and she had smiled brightly, explaining how happy she was that while she and Steve had always had their art to bond over, she was relieved that Tony now had someone that could keep up with him in the lab and that he could teach Peter and watch him improve. She’d always wanted a little brother and now she had one in Peter. Tony and Steve had already experienced the emotional minefield of establishing parental roles without stepping on the memory of Rori’s mother, to it had been so easy for them to find a way to fill those same roles with Peter over the last few years without diminishing May’s place in his life or erasing the importance of Peter’s parents. The Avenger’s had always been a messy, happy, found family, and with the addition of Peter and May, and then with Mitch, Adam and Sarah, the family just seemed to keep expanding and Harry could see how much Aurora loved having each and everyone of them crowded into the penthouses dining room.

xXx

Saturday was a blur of activity and rushing around, and before Aurora realised someone was yelling that they were going live in 10 minutes. She was sitting out of the way with Sarah on one side of her and Adam on the other, waiting for their time to perform. Harry was off getting ready for the first sketch and they had a small tv hanging on the wall nearby so that they could watch the show while they waited. The first half of the show went off without a hitch and all four of them simply tried to keep out of everyone’s way until a technician came over to heard them towards the set. They were all situated behind their instruments by the time Harry joined them and he quickly ducked over to Rori for a good luck kiss before taking his place at the mic stand and waiting for the signal to start. One of Aurora’s knees was bouncing beneath the piano and there was a slight tremor in her right hand as she closed her eyes and took a few deep breathes on the darkened set. She tuned out the camera’s and the studio audience, her attention narrowing down to her instrument and Harry a few steps in front of her as she began the opening chords of the song. For a few brief seconds her piano was the only sound as the lights began to lift, and Harry’s voice rang out through the studio. As they hit the pre-chorus Rori and Sarah added their voices to the mix and then all of the other instruments joined as they entered the chorus. All of Aurora’s nerves disappeared as Harry belted out the lyrics of the chorus, and in the brief moment right before the second verse he turned, catching her eye and winking before returning to the microphone. In the final lines of the song, right in the middle of the most difficult notes, Aurora heard Harry’s voice falter and he missed a line. She tried to hide a grimace, knowing that he would be kicking himself for slipping at the end of the song. The moment the camera’s cut away she was at his side, arms wrapped tightly around his waist and he pecked her lips quickly. She attempted to comfort him before he was quickly whisked away to change into the costume for the next sketch.

By the time they returned to their little set for their second song Harry appeared to have shaken off the slip up and everyone, including Aurora, was buzzing with adrenaline and ready to go with their second performance. This time the grand piano was gone, and Aurora’s keyboard was positioned behind Harry’s spot at the centre of the stage. With all the sketches out of the way, Aurora watched happily as Harry allowed himself to enjoy the performance. As they finished the song and the audience cheered, Harry quickly pulled his guitar strap over his head and walked over to where Rori was seated behind the keys. He cupped her cheeks in his hands and kissed her softly. “That one was for you my love,” he whispered as their lips separated.

“So proud of you,” she whispered in reply. “You absolutely killed it tonight.”

NEXT CHAPTER

OR CONTINUE READING ON AO3

[darkpoisonouslove]

“The Destiny of Bloom” Thoughts

I decided to watch the Winx specials because I have never done that before and I got curious as to how different they are from the episodes (because they are kinda recaps of the first two seasons from what I gathered.)

- This one is over forty minutes? I thought they would be 20-minute long. Okay, let’s do this!

- Why is everything so pink in that shot of Gardenia? It has never looked pinker, ever.

- Oh, no! They replaced Bloom’s crop top and bell bottoms with her season 3 outfit. Why would you do that? It completely changes the feel of the whole thing.

- I don’t like the fact that Vanessa is not supportive about Bloom’s interest in fairies. I think she said something similar in the original season 1 but it didn’t come off this way. And that whole interaction with Mike and Vanessa also feels different. There is more edge to it and it comes off as if they are a dysfunctional family instead of a loving one that just has some issues to fix. The changes are subtle but they amount to a very different end result and I am not a fan of it.

- And that continues with the bike thing. In the original Bloom expected a scooter but got a bike. In this one it is bike instead of a car which just ups the disappointment and makes for a bigger divide between her and her parents. It has been about two minutes and I already don’t like where this is going. Also, the whole aesthetic is off when Bloom is riding the bike in that outfit.

- What is wrong with Stella’s scepter? It is so much uglier than the original one. They didn’t have to go and change everything! Especially the things that were working.

- Is it me or does Knut look more vicious? Also, I can’t remember if he originally had a hold of Stella’s scepter before Bloom appeared. I sure as hell know that the Dragon Fire never showed up like that before the season finale, though. But that change I can understand. If they’re trying to recap half of season 1 in 40 minutes, they will have to speed it up.

- Stella passing out was kind of out of nowhere here. She looked just fine and then the next second, boom! She just fainted. It would’ve been better to just stick to the original and have her use all her power to chase Knut and the remaining goblins (were they?) away.

- Wow, the Trix really remind of the Ancestral Witches in that scene where you can only see their eyes. I like that!

- What have they done with Stella’s hairdo? Why does she have those extra strands of hair at both sides of her face. It looks weird.

- Mike (and Vanessa)’s disbelief here was stretched out past what was in season 1 and it just doesn’t make sense since Mike saw the magical shield around baby Bloom when he first found her. Unless there’s no time for that and they’ll just leave it out but still. This keeps making Mike and Vanessa less supportive of Bloom than they actually are.

- How is the troll tracking them without a piece of Bloom’s bell bottoms? They should have kept the original outfits!

- Stella being impressed with Bloom’s drawings is the perfect place for me to mention that thought I had the other day. We know Bloom can draw and Stella certainly can as well since she wants to be a fashion designer so I was thinking of how cool it would be if they’d shown them drawing together. It would’ve helped further showcase their friendship and I think it is such a missed opportunity.

- Stella just mixed differently colored crayons to make a shade of pink and I love that. I bet she just messes around with shades and colors all the time.

- I guess Mike will have to believe in magic now that a troll attacked his home.

- Ouch! Stella just got thrown out the window? Why aren’t there any rips in her dress and scratches on her skin? Because she should certainly have those after crashing through a glass and having that rough landing.

- The troll also looks more menacing than it did originally. (I just now realized that the scene with Mitzi was cut from this special. Not that I am complaining. I am doing just fine without Mitzi.)

- XD Riven with his overconfidence in himself. At least they are nailing his character.

- They dropped Sky and Brandon’s identity swap? Wow! I am shocked. Or rather what could be described as pleasantly shocked and hopeful that that means the whole drama with Diaspro will not be in any of these either.

- I don’t understand why Mike refused to have all that damage to their home magically fixed. Forget time and effort, fixing it “the traditional way” looks like it will cost a bit. And I doubt they had “attacks of goblins, a troll and an ogre” on their budget.

- Why is there a barrier that keeps non-magical creatures out of Alfea when magical creatures are surely more dangerous? I know that was in the original as well but it was stupid back then and it is stupid now. It does confirm my headcanon that Kiko is magical, though, since he has no problem going through the barrier.

- Okay, Mike and Vanessa are being supportive now. That’s better.

- What happened? Did Stella call Faragonda or something? How does she know Bloom otherwise? Don’t get me wrong, I am glad there won’t be the whole “pretending Bloom is another girl” thing but this is kinda suspicious and it will keep being so until they explain how Faragonda knows about Bloom.

- Magix world? That means just Magix, right? For a moment there I thought they were trying to say there were only three schools in the whole magical dimension but that doesn’t make sense. Also, “scary old miss Griffin”? Both Saladin and Faragonda look older than Griffin. Why would you say it like that? But at least there wasn’t the whole implication of “the witches might maim you but we ain’t gonna do shit about it” that angered me so much in the original. And, “some of those witches are really mean.” I like that. It means that not all witches are like that.

- Bloom apologized for stepping on Flora’s plant and Flora was like “No, don’t be sorry”? What have you done to Flora?! She would never imply “be less careful with the plants”. And I was just starting to like this despite the aesthetic being off.

- And we keep following into the bad changes. I always loved the fact that Magix had pizza and pizza was a universal thing but here the girls don’t seem to know what pizza is. That is so sad. There should always be pizza everywhere.

- Darcy’s powers look so cool! I think there is a slight difference to how they’re animated but they always look cool! Her voice is kinda grating on my nerves, however.

- Why did the Trix all just refer to themselves in the third person? I know why - to introduce who they are. But it just sounded so cringy. Wasn’t there a better way to do that? Like, maybe them calling out each other’s names instead of their own? It would’ve been pretty easy to figure out who is who considering their powers even if you haven’t watched the show.

- Magic Charmix? Say what now? And I really don’t like the change in the transformation sequences. The original ones looked so much better. These look like they’re borrowing from the Believix sequences, I think (and I never really liked those). Please, bring back Musa’s original transformation sequence with the disco elements! It was so much cooler than this one! At least, Tecna’s isn’t so bad.

- I liked the original way of them deciding the name. You know, when Bloom had a logo made before she suggested it. That was a cool detail. Also, Musa’s short hair is totally giving me whiplash combined with her s3 outfit. These are not supposed to go together, please!

- I hate how they tried to segue right into episode 7 without any of the things in between. It looks like Griselda is targeting them for no reason and I don’t like it. There were some wrong things with how she proceeded in season 1 as well but this is much, much worse. Although, it’s good to see Winx have fun together.

- I prefer Whisperian Crystals to Vacuums, thanks.

- Darcy said Riven has the same level of negative energy as them? Wow. It would’ve been interesting if he’d had magic. He might have been just as powerful as the Trix.

- Well, they took the monster down... and destroyed half the school in the process.

- There is not much to comment on this whole arc, except that it doesn’t make sense when we haven’t seen why their powers were taken. And the vague explanation they tried to give was not working. This time at least they mentioned that it was forbidden to go in Faragonda’s office when she’s not there (because they somehow missed that in 1x07).

- Oh, at least the dreams look different. And they are finally introducing Daphne. I like the aesthetic of this dream. But damn, we already reached the Magical Reality Chamber part? Wait, Bloom’s powers haven’t come in yet? So they’re gonna use the MRC to have them awakening then and that’s how the Trix will learn about the Dragon Fire.

- And Palladium looks like his s2-onwards self. Not to mention that Domino wasn’t supposed to be the simulation, was it? I think in the original it was a place that they didn’t want any of the students to end up during a simulation. But I guess they had to introduce it somehow and this was the most logical way. Plus, it could have something to do with her powers awakening while she is in her own planet. Edit: At first I couldn't tell why the fact that they were calling the Magical Reality Chamber a simulator was bugging me but now I got it. Simulator implies that what is happening is not real but in s1 Palladium warned them to be careful in the MRC because if they get hurt, it will hurt. Aka that's why it's a Magical Reality Chamber. It's real.

- Yeah, the Trix somehow magically deduced that it was Bloom they were looking for and they also knew at what precise moment she would be in the simulation. That... just doesn’t make any sense. (And I hate the voice over that just informs us about the time and place which we can very clearly see.)

- Didn’t she say her magic hadn’t come in yet? Because she is using it now and she doesn’t look like it is happening for the first time.

- Thank god, everyone can see that the Trix are inside! In the original they were there but no one seemed to notice which always bugged me because it was obvious that Bloom wasn’t alone and yet, somehow, that fact seemed to escape everyone who was watching. They have fixed it here!

- “Junior fairy”? That is supposed to be “freshman”. Unless they changed it to junior because the special that deals with season 2 will be the “senior” stuff and then there are no more specials.

- Darcy’s magic looked a lot like Musa’s sound waves there.

- Bloom dived in the lava for Kiko? Wow! I actually feel... bad for her but I also like that she was ready to do that for Kiko. Weren’t the Trix just pushing her to make her use her powers, though?

- Well, she transformed. I think that out of all the transformations they have fucked hers up the most. Her Winx transformation was so amazing and this one isn’t even anywhere close to that. Why was any of that necessary?

- Why did the Trix end up in an auditorium in CT when they started out in their room? They should have gone back there!

- It is really cute that all the other fairies were so happy for Bloom and her newly found winx, though! I liked that!

This had an overall plot that continued throughout the whole episode and it generally managed most of the important elements of the story. There were a couple of things that didn’t make sense thanks to the way more than 10 episodes were compressed in 40 minutes but there weren’t any major mishaps. The ongoing plot made enough sense and carried well enough throughout the whole thing. And it would probably stand even better on its own if not being compared to the original way of doing things in season 1. Considering the time constraints, I’d say this works surprisingly well. I am only uncertain as to what was the idea of these specials but that does not weigh down on the quality of this one. It was pretty good, all in all.

[ddaeng-181338]

Cold | 11

Wolf! AU

☾ Min Yoongi x Reader

☾Enemies to Lovers

☾Word Count: 8.2k

Yoongi hated you the moment you joined the pack and that was that

Cold Masterlist —> check my blog

Warnings: this chapter talks about dark themes that could be triggering to some readers. This includes — abuse, mental abuse, being pressured into sex , abandonment and violence

Warnings: oral sex (male receiving) unprotected sex (use condoms you fools)

A/n: dis one is a long chapter, so I hope you enjoy :3

You and yoongi sat side by side in the living room, it was a few hours later, the sun was beginning its slow descent down. You still had four hours of daylight at least, so after you endured dinner, you and yoongi were going to set off for the cabin — you packed once you arrived home from the river. “So tell us about… this.” You raised an eyebrow at Hoseok, Taehyung sprawled across his lap, curious eyes turning in your direction at Hoseok’s question.

“About what?” You snuggled into yoongi’s side, giggling as Hoseok rolled his eyes. “About how this occurred, you and yoongi brat.” You shrugged at him, noting that Jin, Jungkook and Jimin had stopped moving in the kitchen to listen. “We took Tae’s advice from a few days ago.” Taehyung perked up completely at that, shooting you a cheeky grin “this is proof that you should all listen to me, I’m never wrong as crazy as i may see.”

A comfortable silence fell over you a as you turned your eyes to the television screen once again. It was some unfamiliar drama that Taehyung and Hoseok were invested in, talking animatedly whenever a certain character appeared. You glanced over at Yoongi , his eyes were drooping shut. “Lean on me.” He only half registered what you said before you leaned over and laid down on the couch, opening your arms for him to snuggle up to you.

You smiled softly as the half asleep man crawled over and covered your body with his, head resting on your chest as you wrapped an arm around him, the other coming up to stroke his hair. “Hoseokie?” He glanced over at the sound of his name and you motioned towards the blanket on the back of the couch behind him. “Can you?” He grabbed the fluffy blanket and poked Taehyung’s cheek to move to he could get up, the younger boy barely seemed to register sitting up — to invested in the scene playing before him on the television screen.

Hoseok put the large fuzzy blanket over both of you, covering Yoongi up to his shoulders. “Thanks.” Your voice came out softer, noticing that yoongi was already snoring slightly. For the next hour you drifted in and out of sleep as Well, Taehyung’s voice waking you from time to time as he talked animatedly to Hoseok about what he would think would happen on the next episode. By the time you woke up fully the sun was noticeably lower in the sky, the ruckus in the kitchen has died down a bit as Seokjin set the table, Jimin and Jungkook putting the food on to plates.

“I was about to wake you princess.” You glanced up at Namjoon, only a few feet away. “Were you watching us?” You felt a sleepy grin appear on your features as you looked down to see yoongi was still fast asleep , head cutely nuzzled into your chest. “Maybe… you two looked cute what can i say.” You enjoyed the compliment, you didn’t want to wake Yoongi at all, his sleeping face beyond adorable in your eyes — now add that sleeping face squished and resting on your chest. You’d spend an eternity watching him and holding him if you could.

“Dinner is ready thought, do you want to wake him to eat or?” The scraping of chairs behind you meant the others were sitting down for dinner . “Give minute to get him up, it shouldn’t take long.” Namjoon nodded and left towards the dining room. “Yoongi…” you poked at his cheek softly, waiting too see if anything came from it. After a moment he didn’t even budge, “you really do sleep like the dead Yoongi, dinner is ready we need to go eat.” Again no response, so you tried a different approach. You began to wiggle about under him, hoping your moving would jar him awake.

Instead his arms tightened around your waist and he pulled you closer, practically smothering himself between your breasts. You sighed, seeing he was not willing to wake up just yet. “Joonie?” You called over to the boys sitting around the table, all heads shooting up at the sound of your voice. “He won’t move. Could you bring me our dinner?” A few chuckles rose above the table as Namjoon easily grabbed both plates and brought them do you, placing them in your reach on the coffee table. “Eat up, you have a long walk in a few hours.” You thanked him softly and grabbed the plate, trying your best to not rest it on Yoongi’s head as you ate.

“I wonder if he can hear me eat…” you chewed softly on your food, watching him for any reactions as you swallowed. “I can hear you eat, just like i can hear your heartbeat.” You hasn’t expected to hear his voice and jumped a little, nearly hitting your plate on the top of his head. “You gotta eat Yoongi, we have a long walk later.” He got up slowly and you immediately missed his warmth. “We can eat then Take another nap if you want.” He settled up in a sitting position, grabbing his plate of food and draping the blanket over the both of you again.

“Another nap sounds nice, but We can save that for the cabin.” You nodded, shoveling another mouthful of food. “You know you can join us right.” Jimin had had a cheeky grin on his face when you both looked over. “Don’t wanna.” Was all Yoongi said, watching Jimin’s cheeky grin turn into a pout before turning back to his food. “You know you can join us…” you glanced over and watched him perk up, always one for extra affection.

Moments later the whole table was abandoned and all of you were sitting in the living room, watching a movie, eating dinner, and laughing. “You know I think Namjoon hyung’s scent is the most calming.” Jungkook had his eyes glued to the action movie on the screen but still managed to stay in tune with the conversation. “And what makes you think that Kook?” You chuckled as Namjoon’s cheeks seemed bright red as he asked. “We the Cotton scent is relaxing, it makes me think of my childhood and really it could lull me to sleep.”

“You Tae, And Jimin makes a fruit smoothie Gguk.” Laughter bubbles through the room and you watched Jimin And Jungkook make shy eye contact before looking over and Taehyung and laughing. “We really do, my scent is raspberry, Junkookie’s is banana and Tae’s is strawberry.” You we’re laying down again, yoongi’s head snuggled to your chest already as the conversation went on. “Throw y/n into the mix and it will smell like a tropical vacation.”

Your head shot up slightly at Jin’s words, it was true — your scent was coconut. “Oh my god what are we doing living in the forest then. Let’s move to an island.” Your voice was dramatic but it still got the reaction you hoped for, the others laughed the idea. “We could buy a vacation home…” all heads turned to hoseok at that. “I mean we could, we have enough money...more than enough really.” The conversation about scent steered towards actually getting a vacation house for a few moments before a soft snore left Yoongi’s lips.

“I think hyung finds y/n’s scent the most relaxing…” You felt a blush coat your cheeks at Jimin’s words, I mean he wasn’t necessarily wrong, Yoongi managed to pass out on you twice in the span of 3 hours. A disgruntled hmm of agreement left Yoongi and you all froze for a moment before bursting out into laughter. You felt the immense urge to kiss him senseless and Shook your head slightly. Now definitely wasn’t the time to get overly horny, they’d smell it easily.

Instead you busied yourself with Yoongi’s hair, combing your fingers through it with ease and smiling softly as soft purr like growls left his lips. Cat-eyes indeed, you just might be part cat instead of part wolf my love. You felt a bigger smile grace your features as you realized what nickname you wanted to uses other than cat-eyes. “Love, my love.” Your voice was barely audible but you know for a fact they all heard you say it. You didn’t care at all.

You always became more maternal right before your heats, which made sense. Your heats were meant for you to breed, create a little pup for you to carry and raise and love. So it was only natural your hormones ran wild and you felt rather protective. Your mind trailed a bit, eyes closing shut as you relaxed against the couch, the voices around you fading in and out as you thought about different things.

The next thing you know Yoongi was poking your cheek to wake you up. “We gotta go baby, the sun sets in an hour and a half.” You groaned, not wanting to get up just get, bit wanted to leave the comfort of the couch and warmth of the blankets. “Don’t wanna…” your eyes closed again, not willing to let reality come to you. “Baby we gotta go, Like now…” you shook your head and refused to move.

After a moment you heard a small huff before yoongi’s arms wrapped around you, moments later you were lifted off the couch and being carried toward yoongi’s room upstairs. “Yoongi!” Your eyes opened slowly now , looking at the man. “We gotta do whether you want to or not baby, so let’s go get out stuff.” You felt a giggle rise in your throat, finding it rather comical that he was the one having to drag you along when he was the one to fall asleep in the first place.

“How long does it take to get there again?” His feet padded across the hall, making soft thumps as he reached his room door. “About 40 minutes by foot, however if we run it, probably 25 to 30.” You let out a groan, head falling back dramatically as he dropped you onto his bed. “Remind me not to take a nap before we have to run somewhere, I’m going to pass out.” He laughed at that, grabbing both backpacks and slinging his over his shoulders.

“Noted, now come on get ready and grab your backpack, we’re working against time here y/n.” You got up, pushing your sleepiness asiden to get your shit together. “You need anything Yoongi? Got any kinks.” You wiggled your eyebrows at him, “you’re a mess.” His comment made you laugh, shoulders shaking as you went over to his dresser and searched for a hoodie. “Now a question for you is, do you need any toys.” The sarcasm in his voice was overpowering any seriousness he had in the question.

“They are already there, Jimin, Jin And I have a little dresser, we each get a drawer labeled with out names so we don’t get confused. If you wanna use any of them we can look when we get there.” Your voice feigned innocents as you finally found one of yoongi’s hoodies and slipped it over your head, smiling as it fell to your mid thigh. You turned around to look at him, his eyes were glued to yours, lust sparking in them and you tensed.

“Love save your little fantasy for when we get to the cabin.” Your cheeks heated at the word, had you from four days ago ever heard you call Yoongi love she probably would have killed over. “You’re going to be the death of me y/n.” You smiled at that, walking over and kissing his nose, pulling away before he could go for your lips. “Time to go…” bent down, slinging your back over your shoulder and dashing out of the room before he could protest with you.

“Leaving?” Jin’s voice greeted you by the time you reached the front door to put on your shoes. “Yup, only a little bit of daylight left and we wanna get there before the sun is fully set.” You slipped on one of your running shoes as you spoke, Jin’s head nodding, eyes watching you as you moved. “Don’t forget your key, and if you manage to lose it the spare is under the plant by the front door. And don’t break the bed while you’re there, I don’t want to track up there with a new one.”

You snorted as you slipped on your other shoe “no promises Jinnie.” He rolled his eyes, noticing Yoongi making his way over to the two of you. “Alright Yoongi, as your hyung I’m only going to say one thing.” A loud groan left yoongi’s lips and you began to laugh, “don’t break her for the love of god you know you won’t carry her all the way back if she’s too sore to move.” Both you and Yoongi froze at that, eyes widening and cheeks turning a bright red and you both begin scrambling to get out of the house.

All the while Jin was laughing, the familiar windshield wiper sound filling the entrance hall as Yoongi And Yoongi bolted out the front door. “Tell the others we said bye! We’ll be back in six days!” And with that the front door closed and you And Yoongi bolted for the tree line. Once you were on the familiar path you slowed. “Six days?” You nodded, eyes trialing about the trees as you walked. “Well my heats typically last five full days, so once that passes, we have a day to relax and make sure it is fully Gone, then we can head home that night.”

You loved the look of the trees around you, golden sunlight turning orange as it broke through the branches and leaves above you. “So do you really have a drawer of…” you nodded, glancing over at him to see he was looking right at you. “Yes I do, I mean when omegas go there without a mate, we typically use toys to fulfill our needs. Hands don’t do half of what those toys can And are more satisfying.” You felt normal talking about it, no sense of shame or embarrassment as you spoke.

“What kind of toys...are they?” You laughed now, “why you getting ideas?” He gave you an honest nod, “I want this to be enjoyable for the both of us so if you have toys you like I wanna use the on you.” You hasn’t expected his Honest reply to arouse You the way it did, but the waves of heat went straight to your core. “Fuck Yoongi don’t talk like that , we’re still a good 35 minutes away…” he shrugged at that, “y/n I’ve been hard since you told me you kept toys there.” You glanced down at his Pants, Noting the slight bulge. “Did you fuckin tuck it away so it wouldn’t be seen.” Heat flooded his cheeks as he nodded, stopping you in your tracks as you doubled over on laughter.

“You’re cruel…” you caught up to him, wiping the tears from your eyes as you apologized. “Now tell me about the toys damnit.” You sighed, stepping over one of the branches on the path before stalking. “Well there are a few vibrators, two of them are for outside use only and two are for inside use. Then there are a couple of well...ya know.” You couldn’t bring yourself to say the word but he seemed to know what you were saying. “Different sizes for when I get really desperate you know, stretch me nicely.” You Shit him a wink and he groaned as mental images seemed to flood his mind.

“And then some other shit that is for partner use only, handcuffs, blindfolds, rope. Kinky I know.” You chucked at that — Watching his face contort as the mental images seemed to become overwhelming. “You wanna move faster love? Or can you not make it to the cabin?” Your voice became low and sultry. “I…” you knew his answer before he could even get it out. “Please…” you smirked, mouth watering just at the thought.

“Drop your backpack, lean against the tree Yeah? Let me take care of you love…” you didn’t have to tell him twice, his backpack hit the dirt by the tree in seconds, his fingers hooking into the band of his sweatpants and pulling them down to his thighs. Hard length falling out as he sighed in relief. “Your tip looks irritated.” You didn’t care if you were blunt, instead you let saliva pool on your tongue before wrapping your lips around the sensitive and aching tip. Your tongue moved slowly, circling the whole tip before sucking. A guttural moan left the man above you, encouraging you to move more.

You relaxed your jaw a bit, taking more of his length in your mouth and sucking again, hollowing your cheeks before bobbing your head slowly. You’re hands came up to his length, one had pumping him while you focused on his tip while the other massaged his balls. You hadn’t Don’t that before, but read online once that it actually felt pretty good for the guy you were curious to see his reaction.

Much to your delight his hand came up to bury itself in your hair, a low growl leaving his lips as you continued to suck him off. “Fuck y/n… shit…” his chest was heaving, eyes glued to your face as his length disappeared and reappeared between your lips. He growled in satisfaction, the possessive side of him enjoying his cock stuffing your mouth full. The thoughts running through his mind only added to his pleasure.

“You close Love? You’re tense.” You watched his eyes squeeze shut as you sucked harshly on the tip. You would love to take your time but you were still far from the cabin, and racing against the setting sun. He nodded hands burying in your hair and you let your jaw fall slack, letting him thrust into your mouth with ease. His hips snapped into your mouth at a fast pace, your eyes watered as he hit the back of your throat, moments later his hips came to a stuttering stop, his release spilling down your throat.

You pulled back; swallowing his release and wiping the saliva from your chin. “Thank you baby.” You smiled, standing up and capturing his lips in a chaste kiss, “anytime love, now let’s getting moving.” You began walking again, leaving him to scramble to pull up his sweatpants and grab his bag. You looked back to see him struggling and laughed. However your laughter died quickly, the All too familiar scent of lemons reaching your nose as your head whipped around you. Looking for the source.

“Y/n something wrong?” You nodded, too shocked to get any words out. “Y/n?” You looked at Yoongi with wild eyes. “Jinyoung.” He froze , loud growl leaving his lips. “What?” Your hands began to shake a little, eyes still searching the trees for the man. “His scent Yoongi, its… lemon, it’s everywhere…” Yoongi’s nose seemed to twitch as he smelled, brows furrowing as he caught whiff of it.

“Let’s just start moving again, I’m here so like hell is he getting close to you.” You nodded, turning around to sprint up the path, feet moving skillfully as your eyes trailed through the trees as you moved, you knew Yoongi was behind you by the sound of his feet hitting the dirt, his pine scent begun to envelop you once more and the further you moved, the further Jinyoung’s scent faded.

Despite the ache in your legs you kept running, not slowing until the cabin finally came in sight. You had run for thirty minutes straight. “Holy…” Yoongi came to a skidding halt beside you, bending over in attempt to catch his breath. “Remind me, to work on my stamina when this is over.” You would have laughed had you not been struggling to catch your breath as well. After a few moments you both caught your breath, walking slowly towards the cabin.

“We really gotta train more.” You began laughing, despite everything you felt more at ease with the cabin right in front of you. “Let’s get settled in Yeah?” The wooden steps , the sun was finally reaching its destination , sinking below the horizon. You watched yoongi but the metal key into the slot, turning it with a bit of difficulty before the family click sounded, and just like that, you were in. “Lock the door.” Your hands shook as you dropped your bag on the floor and flopped onto the small couch.

The cabin consisted of three rooms. One main room which you were in now, it consisted of a living area and kitchen. A small couch and chair and a television on the right side once you entered the house, the kitchen fully stocked along with a dining area to the left . On the far end of the cabin was two doors, the one on the left lead to the master bedroom, a queen size bed inside with warm blankets and a dresser full of the toys you had mentioned earlier. And the door on the left lead to the master bathroom, to which you could also access from the bedroom. It was small, but livable and did the job it was intended for all while feeling homey.

“Are you Alright?” Concern laced Yoongi’s voice as he made sure the door was dead bolted, dropping his bag next to yours he sat down in front of you, the small coffee table creaking beneath him. He took your shaking hands in his own and squeezed them gently. “Look at me y/n.” His voice was soft, worry lacing them as you refused to meet his gaze, eyes seemingly glazed over as you stared off into the distance. “Baby, I’m right here, he won’t touch you. Please, talk to me, let me help you.” Still he received no response.

His scent enveloped you suddenly, pulling you from your daze as your body seemed to stop shaking all together. “Please, talk to me…” you finally met his gaze, concern for you evident in them. “I hate him.” Your expression was stoic as your repressed memories seemed to surfaces whenever you smelt his scent, despite the stoic expression, your words were laced with a dull venom. “I know you do, I hate the bastard to and I haven’t even seen him. So please talk to me.” You seemed to snap out of your daze fully, the hurt and concern in his tone grounding you to reality.

“His scent is lemon, suiting for the two faced bastard. He comes of as this clean cut, gentle man. But behind closed doors he’s cruel. I know I’ve told you some of this when i was still recovering but I didn’t go into as much detail as i should have.” His grip on your hands tightened and you let your head fall, you couldn't tell him everything — not to his face at least. “I’m going to tell you Yoongi, but I can’t say it to your face. It's too difficult to say to someone.” He nodded, standing up and pulling you up with him. “Tell me where you want me to be so you can tell me easily — that is if you want to tell me.” You closed your eyes, the sting of tears catching you off guard.

“I do want to tell you, so how about this, just sit on the couch, and I’ll tell you.” He kissed your forehead, hands brushing your cheek as he did as you asked. You walked to the other side of the coffee table, sitting down and facing the television, yoongi was to your back and with him out of sight, it felt easier to bring up your dark past. “I’ve told you a bit of my past yoongi, about Jinyoung and such. But I didn’t tell you everything, I left out the parts that my own mind decided to cut out.” You took a deep breath, thankful that Yoongi was listening.

“He was abusive, mentally and physically. He took me in when i was on the streets, abandoned by my mother for being a hybrid. My dad died when I was young, my mother was going to divorce him anyway because she didn’t know he was a hybrid when she married him. So once I was eighteen, the wolf side of me came to the surface. My mother was livid, disowned me and kicked me out. For a few weeks I wandered the streets of Busan, sleeping wherever i was able to find the shelter.” Your voice shook, taking a deep breath you continued on.

“It was night time, and I was close to a convenient store, I was searching the for enough money to at least buy myself a small meal. And that's when i met him, he could tell by my scent that I was a wolf, and an omega at that. And as uneducated as I was on hybrid culture at the time, I could sense his superiority, i could tell he was an alpha. He talked to me for a bit, sweet talking me, before inviting me to join the pack. Of course I accepted, I was starving and sick of living on the streets. And i was dumb enough to believe he cared.”

You paused, a humorless laugh leaving your lips before you spoke again. “It only took about a month for him to make the first move. Telling me I was gorgeous, the prettiest omega he had ever seen. A few weeks later he kissed me, asked me to be his, and since his cruel side hadn’t showed yet, I agreed. A few weeks passed again, and we kissed and talked and laughed often , I was practically attached to his hip. So it would only make sense that sex would follow soon after. And it did, every fucking night. At first i didn't mind it, he wasn’t bad in bed and hell it felt good. But then the mental abuse started.”

Your hands began to shake, you squeezed them shut, along with your eyes and willed yourself to keep going. “I would tell him I wasn’t in the mood, that I didn’t feel like sex right now because I was tired. And that's when he’d pressure me into it “oh come on Y/n don’t be a priss.” Or “you’re an omega, you’re made for sex, so don’t tell me no.” And the words would get to me, and then I’d just submit to him, let him use me. And fucking hell i didn't know any better yet, I still enjoyed it.” You hadn’t realized you were crying, but warm tears slid down your cheeks as you spoke.

“But that only lasted a few months, and then I began to stand my ground against him. That's when the physical abuse started. I’d deny him, he’d try to pressure me into it and again I’d deny him. That's when he’s slap me, or push me, grab me so tightly it left bruises on my skin, scratching me till it drew blood. Yet i never left him, still do fucking blind to realize how toxic it all was. Too afraid to lose the food and shelter I had been given, to fucking oblivious to how fake they all were. Every member of his pack, man and woman, just pretended to like me. None of them cared, i was just their leader’s new play thing.”

Rage bubbled in you as you spoke, you weren’t done yet, the horrors he inflicted upon you, there were still many you hadn’t said yet. “It was almost a full year of living with him before the events happened that caused me to wake the fuck up and leave. Or well run away. It began a few weeks before his rut — to which he had a few since i was with him. But he refused to have me as a partner when the were near, instead opting for one of the alpha girls in this pack. But I had heard him talking to one of his men that night, while he thought I was asleep. I remember this so clearly. He said: “i think I’ll use my pretty little bitch during my upcoming heat. Get her knocked up so I have an heir to my pack and she can’t leave. Then once i get what i want I’ll just kill her, or kick her back out to the streets.”

Silence fell over you for a few moments before you got the courage to speak again. “That’s when I begun to steal some of his money, every night for the next two weeks, I’d take money from his vault. He very rarely counted it, so It was easy for me to steal a hefty amount each night. Now let's fast forward to the week before his rut was to begin, I had enough money on me to last me at least a month, and that's when I overheard his little plan. He was set on wreaking havoc in Busan Yoongi. I had the intentions of turning his pack into a gang. Killing humans, killing the men and raping the woman, breed more hybrids and take over the city. Move on to the next and the next till hybrids were the superior race. That's when i booked it, I went back, grabbed clothes and the money i had taken and left.”

You wiped the tears from your eyes and leaned forewords, letting your head fall as you spoke again. “I bought a ticket with cash from Busan to Seoul, it was cash so it was untraceable. The only way he’d be able to find me was by scent, but I prayed that by the time he noticed I was gone, I’d be halfway to Seoul. And in fact, i think that is what happened. By the time i reached Seoul it was early morning , I think about five thirty in the morning by then. I bought myself food and a rented a hotel room for two nights and then moved from cheapest hotel to cheapest hotel. I thought I’d be free then Yoongi. I thought I’d be able to make a life for myself. But he found me a week later. That's when i booked it out of Seoul. I caught a cab to the furthest point he could take me. Which happened to be the village just outside the mountains where we are now.”

“That's where I actually met Namjoon. Not in the woods like I told you our Jin. I met him at the town’s inn, when the was coming back from a “business trip” we talked for a few hours, I spilled everything I just told you — to him. And he assured me with you guys I’d be safe. That was almost ten months ago now.” You sighed, a weight lifted off your shoulders as Yoongi knew your full story. You didn’t turn to face him yet, to scared to see his reaction. But a sniffle in the quiet room made you freeze. Eyes going wide as you whipped around to look at him. His face was buried in his hands and his shoulders were shaking slightly. “Y..yoongi?” You felt like you had been doused in ice water.

You watched him for a Moment, as he seemed to collect himself before looking up at you, tears still stained his cheeks, glassy eyes looking at you as if he was afraid you would break if he spoke. You stared at each other, speechless. “I’m sorry…” it was a natural response, regret almost flooding you for telling him so much. “Why are you sorry?” You shook your head, not willing to meet his eyes. “I’m sorry for lying down at the river, I’m sorry for lying to you this whole time.” This time Yoongi shook his head, standing up to make you look at him. “I’m the one that should be saying sorry y/n.”

You met his eyes now. Confused to why he was saying sorry. “And why is that?” He looked at you with sadness evident in his features. “I’m sorry cause I’ve been such a fucking dick to you for the last Almost ten months. You’ve gone through so much shit and here I am adding onto it…” you shook your head again, reaching up to brush away his stray tears. “Don’t be sorry, I was just as much of a dick to you as you were to me.” He laughed, but there was no humor behind it “that was your defense because i was the one that was a dick first.”

He wasn’t wrong, it was your defense, after being trampled on so many times, your defense was to be just as rude back, just as loud and opinionated as he could be. He was right. “Being a dick back was my natural defense, after being trampled on, abused, deemed pathetic, I wasn’t willing to let you walk all over me.” He couldn't meet your eyes and it broke your heart. “But listen to me Min Yoongi and listen well” the fierceness i your tone made his eyes shoot up. “I fucking love you with my whole heart, and if i didn't, if i thought you were anything like Jinyoung I would have never stayed in this pack. Don’t feel guilty love, because I love you more than anything. And i forgave you for the harsh words before you even finished saying them.”

You took his face in your hands and brought your lips to his, kissing him sweetly, his tears mixed with yours and turned the kiss a bit salty. His nose scrunched against yours at the taste and you laughed. “I love you.” His voice was timid, “I love you too.” You kissed him again before pulling away, “let’s get comfortable Yoongi, we shall be here awhile.” He nodded, grabbing both yours and his bag off the floor and following you into the bedroom.

“How about a bath?” You slipped your shoes off and threw them in the corner, moving to take off your shirt as well. “I’ll run it for us then, you get undressed.” He was being sweet, as if he wasn’t already, but there was something about how he was acting, as if he was suddenly scared you would shatter if he did so much as talk above a whisper. You stripped down to nothing, leaving all your clothes in a pile on the ground before heading into the bathroom.

It smelt like roses and lavender and you felt instantly relaxed, the warm steam of the hot water seemingly hugging your frame as Yoongi was taking off his clothes as well. “I guess you could tell it was ready.” You smiled, walking over to kiss his cheek softly before climbing into the tub. The hot water making you gasp softly as you fully submerged yourself into it. The bath salts and bubbles dancing around you , making your muscles relax.

“Does it feel good? You nodded, motioning for him to join you. “Sit behind me.” You scooted up in the tub, allowing Yoongi enough room to get in and get comfortable behind you. “C’mere.” You slid back, until you felt his skin come in contact with your own, any nerves you had from earlier fading like a bad dream as you focused on one thing and one thing only. “Yoongi?” A small hum sounded from behind you and you moved around in the water until you were sitting on your knees.

“You think it’s safe to fuck in here?” You motioned to the water around you, Not wanting to clean up the mess of it happened to overflow. “As long as we are careful we should be good…” you smirked, crashing your lips to his, enjoying the feeling of wet skin sliding against wet skin. You felt beyond safe in his arms, as if no one could ever touch you. And honestly you didn’t know if it was a good thing or bad thing .

Your night continued on in peace, hours later you and Yoongi were resting on the couch, dressed in warm clothes and blankets as a cheesy comedy played on on the screen. “Do you think it’s going to happen soon?” You nodded, head falling to the side as sleep tried to claim you for the night. “With my luck I’ll wake up to it.” You decided to give up and let your eyes shut. “Lets go to bed then y/n” you shook your head, already half asleep as he attempted to bargain with you. “Come on we gotta go to bed…” you shook your head again, pulling your blanket closer around you. For the second time that day, yoongi scooped you up in his arms, carrying you off to bed. “I’ll be in soon, I just want to finish that movie.” You nodded as he placed you on the soft plush of the mattress, cool sheets and warm blankets submerging you further into sleep, until everything went black and sleep hugged you like a long lost friend.

His back rested against the couch where you had once been, a content sigh taking over him knowing you were safe and warm in the room behind him. The movie on the television screen continued on but he wasn’t listening. Instead he was taking the time to finally take in everything you had told him earlier. For fuck sake he had been moved to tears listening to you. He felt selfish and guilty.

He had a pretty okay childhood, two hybrid parents that loved him. He grew up in Daegu, a relatively normal city with a tight knit community of hybrids. He grew up to accept himself for he was, sure he struggled from time to time, had his dark moments, but compared to you he felt privileged. “I’m so sorry y/n” his head hit the back of the couch and he dragged his hands over his face.

He shut the television off, flicked off the lights and made sure the door was still dead bolted before heading towards the bedroom, eyelids becoming heavy as his body ached for the soft bed.

He relaxed when he caught your scent, your body curled under the blankets as sleep made your face look peaceful. Maybe her scent really does lull me to sleep...he crawled into bed next to you, sling his arm around your waist as he took a deep inhale, your coconut scent greeting him like an old friend, as darkness came to embrace him.

You woke up feeling as if you were on fire, your insides burning and your muscles ached. “Oh for fuck sake…” you had been joking when you said you your heat would come while you were asleep, yet here you were. You shifted uncomfortably, the ache between your thighs becoming more prominent as slick gushed between your thighs. “Gross…” you found your phone, turning it over to see that it was 3:41 am. You groaned inwardly before chucking the thing to the other side of the room, it landed softly however due to it hitting your pile of clothes from earlier.

“Yoongi…” your voice came out gruff, your body felt like it was about to burst into flames. The heat felt the most intense where you would expect — between your thighs as well as lower abdomen and a bit round your breasts. You needed relief. Now. This time you hit him, not hard but enough that his eyes fluttered open in confusion. “It started didn't it?’ You nodded, the uncomfortable feeling making you kick off the sheets and inwardly flinching as again, you gushed. “Jesus I always forget how gross these feel at first.” Yes it was gross in the beginning, and you guess since your uncomfortableness right now meant it had just started no less than an hour ago.

Usually now would be when you would angrily grab a toy and pleasure yourself, usually that would ease the burning and calm it enough that you could at least fall asleep again. The beginning of your heat we’re just as anyone could guess — aggressive. You were pulled from your thoughts by Yoongi’s teeth grazing the shell of your year. “Let me help you baby.” You felt a shiver run through your body, despite the uncomfortable heat licking at your insides. “Please…”

He had you on your back in seconds, raising no time to peel off your now slick ruined shorts and underwear, Next came your shirt. “Beautiful…” his sleepy eyes took in your form, hips aching out of want. “Don’t tease me right now Yoongi…” he chuckled, lazily reaching up to pull his shirt over his head, followed by an awkward struggle to get his sweatpants and boxers off. He silenced your whiny complaints with a rough kiss, tongue poking its way into your mouth with ease as his hands massaged your aching breasts.

You gasped loudly, eyes squeezing shut as his fingers tweaked your left nipple. “Shit Yoongi...sensitive..” he smirked against your neck, lips having moved down to kiss along the Column of your neck. “Yoongi...I love you… but less foreplay, more…” he laughed into your skin, grabbing your hips and adjusting them. The moonlight poured in from the window next to your bed and he noted how wet you were. “Jesus they aren’t lying when they say it’s a lot.” You would have been embarrassed had you not been so desperate for him to just get in.

“Min fucking Yoongi, if you don’t get inside of me right now I swear...oh…” he entered you in a swift movement, a squelching noise the only thing to be heard after your gasp. “You seem to forget, I’m entering my rut soon baby, I can feel it, so be careful what you wish for.” Your mind became clouded with a mix of lust, pleasure and want. You barely registered what he said before moving your hips, rolling them up against his and moaning loudly.

You clenched around him, over and over again until finally he ceased his teasing and pulled back until only his tip was left inside. Grabbing both your thighs, He parted them even wider and gripped them tightly, using them as leverage for when he slammed himself back into you. Repeating the motion over and over again, eyes glued to your face as you had your mouth hung open, eyes lidded and fucked out from him barely doing anything. He found the right pace after a few moments, his cock slipping in and out of your glistening entrance with ease.

The only sounds filling the room being your moans, the slapping of skin, and squelching of your heat. “Fucking...ah shit…” you felt your first orgasm sneaking up on you, and despite Yoongi saying his Rut hadn’t begun yet, you thought otherwise. No way in hell was he going to finish anytime soon, and with your heat coming on full force, you were more sensitive than usual. This heighted the pleasure immensely, causing every little motion to send jolts of pleasure through your body.

“Shit, Yoongi, close...more…” greedy as ever, of course you wanted even more, your back arched as his hand came down to pinch your clit. The jolt of pain and pleasure making you see white for a moment. “A...again…” you gasped as he repeated the action, every few thrusts was met with a pinch to your clit, and before you could fully warn him, you came. “I..clo..shit….” Your back arched, eyes squeezing shut as your walls spasmed around his cock.

“Shit baby, I wanna feel that again...you’re so warm…” his thrusts never slowed, still going hard and slow, the tip of his cock brushing your sweet spot as he buried himself in you to the hilt. You squirmed beneath him, unable to move your hips to create friction. His large hands keeping your thighs spread apart and gripping them tightly so you were basically imobile. “Tell me what you want baby, I made you come once… you’ll have to beg me to come again.”

An annoyed growl left your lips as you struggled to love your hips, laughing slightly as you didn’t get anywhere. “Love please… I need you….” you didn’t even try to deny it this time, begging him would get you what you wanted. “How badly?” You couldn’t muster any words, slick gushing between your legs as you groaned. However the wide eyed look on yoongi’s face understood, hips moving again as your slick covered your thighs, his cock, and his hips.

You groaned, his slow pace making your toes curl as you were able to feel every bit of his length brush and stretch your walls. Your velvety soft walls gripping his hard length like a vice as you chased an orgasm you were nowhere near having yet. “Rougher, faster, please just satisfy me… I need more. No more teasing, it hurts…” tears welled in your eyes as your frustrations came to surface.

His face dropped to yours the second he saw tears swimming in your eyes, lips placing soft kisses all over your face as his hips picked up speed. “I’ll make you feel better baby, no more teasing I promise. His hand came down to rub circles on your clit, hips never ceasing their speed as he moved. “How many does it take till it caps down for a bit?” You choked in between moans, “t.three...usually…” you moaned loudly as he pinched your clit again, lips sucking the pressure points on your neck.

“S..sometimes...two…” your head fall back as a silent yell left your lips, your second release crashing down on you like a ton of bricks. “One more baby, or do you feel satisfied for now?” You shook your head, you still felt the aching burning feeling. “One more...should do it for now.” He nodded, hips picking up their pace again — this time you could tell he was close to his own release, his face contorted in Concentration has his hips snapped ruthlessly into your aching and needy cunt.

The bed creaked with each thrust, the mattress shaking slightly as his hips hammered into yours. “Your cunt is so greedy baby, sucking me in like it can’t get enough, so wet and hot, fuck…” you whimpered at his words, thighs quivering with the sheer force of each thrust. “God your gushing again baby, and you haven’t even cummed yet.” You squeezed your eyes shut , his words tumbling from his lips without thought. You groaned, as your felt your third orgasm coming, yoongi’s fingers glistening with your release as he rubbed your clit. Fingers gliding over the sensitive nub over and over until you came undone for a final time.

His name left your lips as if it was the only word you ever knew, you felt his hips stutter into yours before stilling all together. He groaned loudly, face burning itself in your neck as he filled you to the brim with his seed. “Fuck baby, you feel better now?” You nodded, hair plastered to your head due to sweat. As he pulled away you laughed, his hair was a mess as well. “Satisfied...for now.” He gave a tried chuckle, rolling over to lay beside you. As your breathing evened you noted how cold it was, the heat subsiding for now as the thin layer of sweat on your skin was exposed to the cool air of the room around you.

“Can you get me a towel? To lay underneath me? I might as well try and save the sheets till morning.” He nodded and wordlessly got up, disappearing into the bathroom only to reappear a few moments later. You lifted your hips wordlessly, allowing him to place the towel underneath you before crawling over you back to his side. “You’re dramatic.” You laughed as he flopped beside you. “Go to bed you brat.” You laughed again, rolling onto your side so you could poke his nose.

“Wait I have a question.” You nodded, eyes already beginning to feel heavy again. “I don’t have to clean up my release because of your heat right? That’s why it isn’t leaving you?” You nodded against the pillows, eyes fluttering shut as you spoke. “Heats And ruts Are meant to produce offspring. So my body becomes more accepting of the “foreign liquid” entering it.” You used air quotations and laughed to yourself.

“Okay, just wondering.” You nodded, sleep coming to embrace you like an old friend. “Good night love.” Your voice was lazy, and tired , but you felt a smile grace your lips as he spoke “good night baby.”

[dontshootmespence]

Supernatural AU: Episode 2- Phantom Traveler

Part 3

Bobbie came out of the dressing room of the small store, closed her eyes and took a deep, cleansing breath. “I feel so weird right now.”

Jeans, a t-shirt, crapp knock-off converse or vans and a leather jacket. That’s what she was used to. That was the Bobbie Deanna Winchester uniform. Standing here in a pencil skirt, white blouse (tucked into the skirt of course) and fitted blazer with the most plain, black shoes? Hell, absolute hell. One of the many reasons she never would’ve made it outside of the hunter’s life.

Sam snickered under his breath. “You look like a businesswoman who’s wearing her mother’s clothes because she can’t afford any of her own. Like you’re playing dress up.”

“I hate you.”

The three of them had come to this particular store because it was cheap. The hunter’s life was not lucrative. When her brothers emerged from their dressing rooms clad in black suits with long, skinny ties, she threw her head back and laughed. She always got the last laugh. “You look like the Blues Brothers.”

“Shut up. We look cool.”

“That’s highly debatable.”

Even with shoddy “uniforms” and even worse IDs, all it ever took was a bit of confidence to get where they needed to go. Inside the warehouse, pieces of the plane were scattered about like fallen crumbs. “This is all they were able to find?” Bobbie couldn’t believe it. Every inch of what they’d found was burnt to a crisp. If the plane looked this bad, she hesitated to think what the crash had done to the passengers.

Behind her, Sam and Dean walked in the opposite direction, gliding back and forth between the pieces of the wrecked plane with the EMF meter that Dean had made out of an old Walkman. It looked like hell, but it worked. “What did you expect me to do?” She heard Dean ask their little brother.

“I don’t know…buy one? Anything except walking around with that glorified Walkman.”

“This is a Walkman! We’re hunters, man! What about no money do you not understand?” He shook it proudly in front of Sam’s face. “I made it myself.”

“We made it!” Bobbie screamed.

Bobbie shook her head and smiled. Still bickering like little children after all this time. Meeting up in the middle of the room, all three of them descended upon the emergency exit door. Like everything else it was covered in black ash. The handle though was tinged with something else they couldn’t immediately identify. Dean leaned in to scrape some off into a vial. “I think I know what it is,” he said.

With a little further examination, Sam and Bobbie did too. They’d have to have Jerry test it out to know for sure, but if it was what they were thinking, then the Winchester kids did have a demon on their hands – a demon whose sole purpose was destruction on a massive scale.

A sense of dread hung in the air for a moment when the cracking of an opening door and a herd of incoming footsteps interrupted them. “Move,” Sam whispered harshly. They ran quickly out the door before anyone could catch them but then an alarm went off.

“Shit!” Bobbie picked up her pace and threw her blazer over the fence before jumping up and over. It was probably for the best that she wasn’t wearing her leather jacket because then it would have the tears in it rather than the damned blazer. Dean copied her, throwing his suit jacket over the fence and Sam didn’t even bother. If they got caught impersonating Homeland Security they were royally fucked.

Somehow they managed to get into the Impala and peel off and away without getting caught. They had a habit out of getting out by the skin of their teeth. One day it would backfire on them, but today was not that day.

 -

Just outside was what he feared most. Coincidentally it also ran in his blood. Chuck Lambert had always wanted to be a pilot, but then tragedy struck out of nowhere. He felt like it was his fault. On his watch more than 90 people died. How was he ever supposed to get behind the wheel of a plane again? “Baby steps,” he muttered to himself as his heart raced.

After much coaxing from a friend, he’d agreed to fly a small jumper plane. Actually driving something smaller might make him feel like he had some control again. It had so painfully slipped through his grasp before; he couldn’t let it happen again. He wouldn’t survive it.

As he rubbed at the searing pain in his head, he stilled. Now he felt fine. Like he was a whole new man.

“Ready to go, Chuck?”

The pilot’s friend had been weary about him getting back into a plane so soon, but Chuck was the kind of man that needed to get back on the proverbial saddle.  He wasn’t going to be convinced otherwise. “Yea, let’s go.”

When they walked outside into the cloudless day, he asked Chuck one last time how he was feeling.

“I’m great,” he said with an earnest smile. “I actually feel really good.”

He’d been so nervous just a few minutes earlier. What the hell had gotten into him?

Despite what he’d been through less than a week earlier, all seemed well as they picked up off the ground. “How long have we been up?” Chuck asked.

Honestly, he hadn’t even noticed. Looking down at the watch at his arm, he spoke. “About 40 minutes.”

“Wow, time really does fly,” Chuck said.

In an instant, Chuck tipped the plane toward the ground.

-

On the way back to the motel, Jerry called to confirm their suspicions. The stuff on the handle was sulfur – indicative of a demon. Dammit. “Why the hell would a demon possess someone to kill an entire plane?” Dean asked. “Don’t demons normally go for the one on one?”

“They do,” Bobbie said as she cleared her throat.

Sam leaned back into the seat of the Impala and raked his hands through his hair. “Do we even know what we’re doing?” He asked.

“What do you mean?”

They were used to vampires and werewolves and vengeful spirits. This was all together different and much more difficult. On top of that it was a demon that was causing damage on a larger scale.

“I mean we thought it was a demon before. We don’t know how to handle them, not specifically anyway, and now we have confirmation that it is actually a demon, so what are we going to do?”

Dean straightened in his seat, demeanor changing in the face of Sam’s doubt. “We do know what to do. We just haven’t done it before. We’re going to go back to the room. Delve into all that lore you love so much and figure out how to track it down and the exact exorcism we need to use. Then we’ll do it. We have to stop this Sam. You know we do.”

“I know,” he replied taking a deep breath. “I just wish Dad was here.”

He’d know what to do.

-

An hour later, Sam’s fingers were still gliding over the pages of all the research they could gather on demons. “So get this,” he said suddenly. “Some cultures believe that certain demons cause particular disasters, both natural and unnatural. So there would be a demon or hurricanes, a demon for earthquakes, a demon for plane crashes…”

Dean blinked in surprise as he tipped the bottleneck of a beer toward his mouth. “So…what? A demon just found a way to ratchet up the body count?”

“It makes sense,” Bobbie interjected. “That’s a demons drive. Death and destruction. It could be a demon that’s been one for so long that killing one by one just doesn’t do it for him anymore.”

“Jesus.”

“Yea. Alright Sam, can you scan Dad’s journal for what exorcism to use?”

“Sure, but we haven’t even found it yet.” Sam replied.

“But if we happen upon it, we need to be prepared.”

“Okay, yea, I’ll do that. What about you?”

“I’m going to get us some beer.”

Dean smirked as he drank the last of the beer he had left. “I knew you were my favorite sister.”

“I’m the best you’ll ever get.”

-

Sure the store was just down the road, but stealing the keys to the Impala and the running like a bat out of hell from her baby brother was much more fun. Him giving her the finger as she drove away made her feel like she had a normal family for a split second. Dysfunctional sure, but normal.

However, once she was out of his sight the smile drained from her face. They were so in over their heads. It had been that way since they were children. Neither Dean nor Bobbie had been able to get a hold of John, but she pulled out her phone again on autopilot. Even as the oldest of the three of them, she still needed her father and she wasn’t afraid to admit it – to herself at least.

“Hey Dad,” she said softly, her voice shaky as she tried to keep her composure. “Dad, we’re in over our heads. We’ve got a demon on our hands. You’ve handled these before. We haven’t. If you are getting these messages, can you call me? We need you.” Bobbie’s lip quivered as the anger bubbled over. “I can practically hear your response. ‘You don’t need me, Bobbie. You are stronger than I’ve ever been.’ Well, you know what, that may be true, but I’ve had to be your emotional sounding board and their mother since I was five because of your fucking vendetta. I’ve had to be an adult for 21 years and I want my damn father to show up and do his job. You’re not just a hunter and a husband. You’re a father. Act like it.” With shaking hands, she ended the call and threw the phone to the bottom of the car. When she returned from her beer run, she heard it buzzing on the floor.

In a perfect world, it would’ve been John, saying he was sorry and that he’d be there as soon as he could. She wouldn’t have accepted the apology right away, but it would’ve been a step in the right direction. Unfortunately they didn’t live in a perfect world. Instead it was Jerry. “Hey Jerry. What’s up?”

“My pilot friend, Chuck. He’s dead.”

“I’m so sorry,” she replied. “What ha-“

“His plane went down in a field outside Nazareth.”

-

Indulging in a couple of beers with family was something that normal people did. Instead, Bobbie rushed back to the motel and informed her brothers of Jerry’s phone call. “Where’d it go down?” Dean asked.

“Right outside Nazareth.”

Sam couldn’t help but see the connection. It was yet another nail in the proverbial coffin that said ‘this is a demon, you should probably back off.’ “That can’t be good.”

It took the three of them about a half hour to get there. It should’ve taken about 45 minutes, but with Dean behind the wheel you could always count on getting to your destination 10 or 15 minutes ahead of schedule.

An enormous plume of black smoke greeted them as they drove down the road toward the crash site. Jerry was already there of course, shake to his core that two planes had gone down in less than a week, one carrying a dear friend. “We have to hurry here. The authorities will be here again soon and I can’t explain the three of you away.”

Sam quickly climbed into the open cockpit being careful to leave little evidence of their search behind. “There’s sulfur.”

“What does that mean?” Jerry asked. A momentary hint of panic flashed behind his gray-green eyes.

Dean pointed him toward his car. “Let’s go back to your office and talk there.”

The second they were back in Jerry’s office he demanded to know what was happening. “You were right,” Dean started. “It wasn’t mechanical failure. It was a demon.”

Jerry’s eyes went wide. “What? Are you serious? Like hell spawn demon?”

“Unfortunately,” Bobbie replied.

Sam went on to explain what demonic possession was actually like. “It’s likely Chuck was possessed before he got on the plane.”

“But how?”

“Demons seek out people who are in a state of weakness. They can take over stronger people, but if someone is sick or ridden with anxiety or even just has a cut it’s easier for them to take over,” Bobbie explained, turning towards Dean and Sam. “Did you notice how the plane went down after 40 minutes?”

Dean nodded.

“2485 went down after 40 minutes too,” Jerry said slowly. “What does that mean?”

Taking a deep breath, Sam told Jerry what they’d only just put together themselves. “Forty is biblical numerology. Like 40 days in the desert. The number stands for death.”

“Remember when the EVP said no survivors,” Dean asked, “but we all knew that made no sense because there were survivors. That’s because the demon is going after everyone that survived 2485.”

@remember-me-forever-silent-angel @gaylemonshark  @marveldivergentouatdctvfangirl @lalirang @averagekansan @addsomesalt @stusbunker @sebba-hiddles @fanfictionrecommendations-com @hoppy519 @thatwrestlingfan91 @extremeobsessions101 @spence-imagines @bettercallsabs @whaaatthefuuuuck @letsgetfuckingsuperwholocked @your-imagination-runs-wild @cryinglots @steggy01 @gigilame @sedulous-mind @a-unique-girls-heaven @just-antiyou @rmmalta @original-criminal-fanfics @ties-n-suits @veroinnumera @eurusholmmes @fanficienjoyedreading @astridstark13​

[pessimisticpleasure]

Black Mirror Season Four Review

I’ve been waiting ages for season four of Black Mirror. It’s a good range of episodes all of which have a distinct and different feel to them from each other and also from what has come before them. This season relies on both bleakness but also uplifting moments which work well in tandem together, although is let down by the constant twists which, while always theoretically good can wear a little thin. I’d also like to praise the diversity of the season - every episode gives at least one really good role to a woman - although I refute the claim they all have female protagonists, USS Callister, Hang the DJ and Black Museum are male and female and all actually feel more geared towards the male as the main protagonist but I digress. There’s also a lot of roles for non-white actors which make the worlds far more believable and is incredibly still something I feel I have to give specific praise for because so few shows manage it.

USS Callister 10/10 - I went into this season of Black Mirror expecting this Star Trek parody to be my least favourite episode but it absolutely blew me away with how good the story was. This is a pretty disturbing look at the implications of virtual reality and technology which can ‘think’ and of how the kind of ‘lonely’ ‘nice’ guy who tends to be the sort committing horrific acts of workplace violence in the real world might respond to advances in technology which allow them to remain undetected as they cause harm but it’s also given an uplifting ending - unusual for Black Mirror but pleasing for me as a viewer. The balance between humour and darkness was well met, the acting was good and so were the characters. Altogether, this was my favourite episode of the new season.

Arkangel 7/10 - Arkangel was not bad by any means, it was a really interesting story which had some really interesting themes regarding parental control and children growing up with technology, I just felt like it could have gone a lot deeper than it did. It ended slightly underwhelmingly, neither hugely positive or negative when I felt like it needed to pick a lane. Also there were too many teenagers in it but I haven’t let that pull the score down. It was also unfortunately framed by two much better episodes in my opinion and as a childless woman in my twenties I don’t relate to either a parent who needs to keep an eye on their child or the child being spied on because my parents really didn’t have the need to do that. It’s a shame because I was really looking forward to the first female-directed episode ever and it really under-delivered.

Crocodile 9/10 - This is a chillingly dark look at desperation which I found genuinely difficult to watch at times. The previous two episodes and their ‘it’s mostly okay’ endings deceived me a little and I was caught a little off guard by just how dark this managed to go towards the end. It’s a quintessentially Black Mirror episode showing humanity at it’s worst and the depths someone might go to for self-preservation when they’re under attack. I’ve seen some negative reviews of this episode and I definitely understand why it won’t be for everyone - it’s unapologetically violent and difficult to watch but for me that’s part of what makes it so good. (Just one side-note question: why is it called Crocodile? Is it about Crocodile tears because that seems kind of like what it might be but also that doesn’t make a huge amount of sense? Anyway, I pondered that for a really long time.)

Hang the DJ 9/10 - I’m interested in what other people thought of this, my impression was that if you liked San Junipero last season you’ll probably enjoy this uplifting love story. It’s really sweet, funny at times and it was a nice breather after the void of darkness which came before it. I really can’t make up my mind on the twist at the end and whether I quite liked it or if it was a bit of a cop out because they couldn’t think of another way to end it. Either way, what came before it was stellar, it served as a nice break from the bleakness and the words ‘998 Rebellions’ were unbearably sweet.

Metalhead 3/10 - Sadly, this was the low point of the season for me. I’ve not previously enjoyed the more gory or horror-esque episodes and this was no different. Mercifully shot in black and white so the gore is not so obvious otherwise this would have been unwatchable for me. There’s a lot of jump scare bits which really put me off and the world of the story is never fully built. It’s high concept packed into only 40 minutes and for me it just didn’t work, the character was never realised and the plot seemed slow. If it had been longer and if they’d tried to build some kind of world (possibly by having two characters together for a little more exposition through dialogue) then it might have worked but instead too much time is focused on gore and shock value and trying to make you care about the main character without ever giving you a reason to.

Black Museum 7/10 - What really made this episode was the end - like the only other anthology episode White Christmas from way back in season two, I had guessed there’d be some twist at the end and for me that was what made this episode good. Even for Black Mirror, the technology detailed in this episode is particularly disturbing, especially the consciousness ending up in a cuddly toy. The three stories are pretty good - the first slightly comical before it takes a dark turn, the second just totally disturbing, and the third quite sad although rushed - but what hugely makes it is the scenes in the museum between Nish and Rolo and a punchy ending which ties everything together. References to previous episodes, both from this season and from others a much longer time ago are also really nice additions.

[swarkles-is-otp]

Found my rant and 100 reasons why swarkles should´ve ended up together which I wrote shortly after the finale. Thought I should post it

Is a ted/robin ending okay? (Absolutely no imo, but let´s have a look at all the seasons and at what points I wouldˋve accepted it) After season 1: OKAY (though 1. Zip, Zip, Zip was perfect and swarkles had great chemistry back then) After season 2: OKAY (though 2. Robin acting like she's stabbed when Ted "proposes" and B&r Shared cute moments like: Holy crap, You're beautiful. 3.Or robin caring for him when he is ill) After season 3: Swarkles was on, they were pretty cute, but they could've turned it in the Ted/robin way. (When they would've cut the scene where barney talks about everything he loves). Wouldn't have been the best finale, but OKAY (4. Though the chemistry in sandcastles was beyond perfect. Like do you watch them kiss? Their was more Passion than in ted's and robin's entire relationship, but okay, that's my opinion) And just want to add one thing: Ted is such a dork in this. I mean, yeah barney slept with his ex-girlfriend, but Robin doesn't seem to feel uncomfortable when she (!) invitied him to go to her place and watch the video, she was looking at him in awe e whole time they watched the video and got closer and closer to him and Robin was really into it, when kissing him... SO TED GET YOUR SHIT TOGETHER. SHE'S A FREE WOMAN WITH A FREE WILL AND YOU WERE NOT TOGETHER! SO I THINK IT'S REALLY UNFAIR HE ABANDONS BARNEY AND STILL TALKS TO ROBIN. AND EVEN IF MARSHALL SAYS HE HAS NEVER BROKEN AN ARTICLE OF THE BRO-CODE, LET'S BE HONEST, TO BARNEY HE WAS A REALLY REALLY BAD FRIEND THROUGH THE WHOLE SERIES. After season 4: NOT OKAY, because: 5.they showed Barney having a softer side 6.they showed Barney doing everything, so Robin won't be deported and getting her a job 7. poor barney being so hurt when learning Ted sleeps with robin 8. "If you ever do meet someone special, take a shot at it, will you?" "I'll try." (But no, Carter and Craig didn't write towards barney and robin) 9. they showed in "The Front Porch" that Ted and Robin would be miserable if they'd get old together (and no, not only because of the kids) 10. they showed this beautiful swarkles-friendship in the "Murtaugh List" and showed barney and robin have the same opinion about being old, etc. 11. barney: I miss her when she's not around, I think about her all the time.... 12. "Look at her, she's the greatest woman on the planet!" 13. THE LEAP (if you don't know what I mean, watch the episode and you'll know) After season 5: NOT OKAY, because: 14. the summer of Secret love between swarkles 15. "Robin 101" barney really tries to keep robin, robin says: "You're an idiot" (not sure, but did she say that to Ted?) 16. the sexless innkeeper: barney/robin's opinion against ted's again 17. poor heartbroken Robin who is crying because of barney (she didn't cry after the relationship with ted (except the one time Ted and she talked and broke up)sure, she was in argentina, so we didn't see it, but robin crying about barney was also shown in flashbacks) (another thing: she immediately started dating after Ted, but she didn't want to date after barney-and their relationship didn't last that long) 18. she's willing to choose her relationship with Don over her career, but then she doesn't do it for her husband??? 19. first blink at barney as groom... (It's season 5 now- so 4 FREAKING SEASONS TEASING A WEDDING THAT ENDS IN A DIVORCE. THIS IS SO NOT RAVEN) After season 6: NOT OKAY, because: 20. more glimpses to the swarkles-wedding 21. barney being the one who gets robin to dress up again instead of moping over her failed relationship (even after Don she was more devastated than after the breakup with ted) 22.Natural History: swarkles-chemistry at it's best- including barney and robin talking about his father 23. "Babytalk": Ted's opinion against barney's opinion concerning Robin's independence. Ted said once we should wait for someone who not only accepts our quirks but also kinda likes them (or smth like that)... Ted hates her indepence, but yeah they end up together. Great story 24. Robin was on Barney's side in the arcadian fight the whole time!!! She reminds the other ones how barney likes his job and after the arcadian is blown up, she also goes with barney 25. their "I kinda get it... Ted loved Zoey for a minute there, didn't he?" "Yes... And she loved him too, didn't she?" "Yeah....she did" -conversation... Everybody knows what they really talked about, another example where robin tells she loves barney 26. Robin's face when Nora says to barney: it's never too late. Barney is all happy about it. Robin looks really hurt and sad about it After season 7: NOT OKAY, becaus 27. the dance... I don't have to say more, do I? 28. Lily says to Robin: you and barney have the Kind of chemistry that just doesn't go away. -don't tell me it's suddenly away 29. Robin says: if you have chemistry, you only need one more thing. Timing, but timing is a bitch. -THEY HAD CHEMISTRY AND TIMING AND THEN THEY DIVORCE, NOOO 30. Robin:"I know we didn't work out the first time, and I know it doesn't make any sense. BUT I CAN'T SHAKE THIS FEELING THAT WE BELONG TOGETHER. (Ähhhhh sorry, short question: at what point was this show written towards Ted and robin after season 3?????) 31. Robin being crazy about barney and Nora dating- she sits under tables and cries, um yeah, she never did that when Ted dated other woman, just saying 32. Robin even attacks a woman because she has such conflicted feelings towards barney- and just to make him happy, she keeps this woman from talking to barney. She loves him so much, she just wants him to be happy, even if it's killing her. AND THEN THEY GOT A FUCKING DIVORCE? 33.Barney and Robin acting all goofy and sweet when trying to find out what's wrong with ted's date and tease marshall/Lily about their baby's sex 34.Disaster Averted: my all time favourite episode. The flashback-scene: When I let a day go by with not talking to you, that day's just no good. BUT THEN THEY DIVORCE? (Sorry overwhelming feelings, I will cut down the "they got a divorce" 35. the second Moment in disaster averted: their really, really hot kiss in the cab- and don't tell me barney hit on her, she offered to take barney home, she started the talk about their almost-kiss 36. so, barney and robin slept together, though both of them were in a relationship. Though feeling guilty the next day robin was not drunk or anything, so she was full aware of what she was doing. (Friendly reminder: back in season 1 when Ted was still dating Victoria and kissed her (while she thought they broke up) she freaked out afterwards and was mad at him for a few episodes. And it was just a kiss. And suddenly she can't hold herself together and SLEEPS WITH BARNEY though BOTH of them are in a relationship. Hmmm what could that be? Love, maybe?) 37. robin actually considered going back to barney- yeah she broke his heart when saying no, but she seriously considered it 38. the speech of nora's dad where barney imagined robin (when you meet the right person, you know it. You can't stop thinking about them. They're your best friend and your soulmate. No one and nothing else can compare.) AND THEN THEY GOT DIVORCED, ARE THEY KIDDING ME, LIKE SERIOUSLY, THEY WROTE TOWARDS BARNEY AND ROBIN, NOT TED AND ROBIN 39. though robin refused him, barney is still there for her. Later this season Ted avoids her, really great friend, Ted 40. barney and the Rose petals (sorry can't talk more about this, it hurts) 41. the pregnancy scare- just saying: robin Imagines two (!) kids, so she imagined getting more kids with barney. And the room where she is talking to their kids: the stormtrooper, so many little details, all this points to robin imagining a future with barney (though she was still with Kevin at this point) 42.ROBIN SAYING RIGHT INTO TED'S FACE SHE DOESN'T LOVE HIM (in addition to that: Ted, get your shit together, she just broke up with her boyfriend, crying on the rooftop and saying she can't have kids and you have no better idea than hitting on her! ARE YOU SERIOUS, TED?) 43. Ted saying he could finally let her go. "There was no part of me clinging to the dream being with robin. I can finally go on." HAHAHAHA, nice joke. Ted getting over Robin, yeah sure. All these episodes about ted letting robin go make absolutely no sense anymore. Why do they put us through this shit? 44. Trilogy time along with their make-out-Session (okay no real point, but come on, this scene was hot) 45. Robin being not amused when barney and Quinn announce they are engaged 46. they should've run away to Mexico together. They really should have, leaving Quinn, Ted and this whole shit behind. And she knows he's 100% awesome. 47.Robin is the bride- HOORAY (it's season 7, TWO SEASONS OF KNOWING BARNEY IS MARRYING ROBIN AND THEN THEY GET DIVORCED. -_-) Season 8, FUCKING NOT OKAY, AT THIS POINT IT'S ONLY A BIG OFFENCE, because: 48. Robin being really, really sad when discovering barney has "destroyed" every evidence they ever were a couple 49. BIG QUESTION: I GOT THE FEELING WHEN THEY WERE TALKING ABOUT THE "LEBENSLANGERSCHICKSALSSCHATZ" AND SHOWING ROBIN CRYING ABOUT ALL THE STUFF BARNEY STORED FROM THEIR RELATIONSHIP AND CRYING ABOUT THEIR PICTURES AND THEN SHOWING BARNEY LOOKING OUT OF THE WINDOW CLEARLY THINKING OF ROBIN, THAT THEY MEAN BARNEY AND ROBIN ARE EACH OTHERS LEBENSLANGERSCHICKSALSSCHATZ. LEBENSLANG MEANS "LIFELONG", SO WTF IS HAPPENING THERE. ANOTHER POINT THAT SHOWS THIS WAS NO WRITING TOWARDS TED AND ROBIN. So are you thinking the same or am I just stupid for believing this scene was hinting at barney and robin? 50. Barney not trusting Quinn, but Robin, making no prenup and bilson (was it bilson? Unsure at this point) saying to his dog: SEE TUGBOAT, THAT'S LOVE (no, tugboat, forget it. True love doesn't exist. And you don't deserve it when you have a clinging ex-boyfriend. No matter how much you love another one, you have to be always there to be the backup for your ex when his wife dies and you have to raise his children though you never wanted one. BECAUSE THAT'S TRUE TO LIFE. Go with it, tugboat) 51. we discover barney went with robin to her aunt to give her the dogs. She was with that at that point, he wanted that she gives the dogs away, and BARNEY is driving with her, saying a lot, don't you think? 52. Robin being so worried about barney and helping him with brover. And then she goes with barney to give brover back to his owner (who thinks they are a couple, btw) 53. BARNEY'S SPEECH, BARNEY'S WONDERFUL, HEARTMELTING SPEECH, WHERE YOU JUST WANNA HUG HIM AND CRY BECAUSE HE LOVES ROBIN SO MUCH: (I love everything about her. And I'm not a guy who says that lightly. I'm the kind of guy who has faked love his entire life. I thought love was just something idiots thought they felt, but this woman has a hold on my heart that I could not break if I wanted to. And there have been times that I wanted to. It was overwhelming and humbling and even painful at times. But I could not stop loving her anymore than I can start breathing. I'm hopelessly, irretrievably in love with her. More than she knows.) AND SUDDENLY HE STOPPED LOVING HER. IT MAKES ABSOLUTELY NO FREAKING SENSE 54. Robin's face after hearing the speech and confronting him afterwards with her hopeful looks and everything 55. Robin helping barney looking for a new strip Club (and choosing the one with the old people- kinda shows she doesn't want him to be touched from women he could be sexually attracted to) 56. Them having fun together at a strip-club. Shows how alike they are and their kiss was just omg 57. Robin going nuts when barney says the door on them is closed and he is done trying to get her. She is really desperate to get him there... 58. Robin being obsessed and breaking into barney's appartement, so she can find the playbook and show it to Patrice. The other ones even have an Intervention because she is after barney. 59. Robin questioning Patrice about barney and almost fireing her because she is that jealous. Then Robin even cries and says "I really don't like feelings" (I guess she gets back together with ted because there are not too much feelings involved? At least, it seems like it) 60. Ted realizing Robin still has feelings for barney. Robin crying and being angry when Hearing about the proposal. Robin chooses to run to barney (what should I do? Kick the ring out of his hand and saying "you should be with me"- so it's kinda clear what she wants) instead of going with ted who has kind of a big night that day? So, NO you can't convince me she loves Ted more than barney (or even loves Ted at all) 61. THE ROBIN (no more words needed here, it was just perfect, showing how well barney knows her and even though she was angry at first, she IMMEDIATELY (comparing to ted's "proposal" where she says about 100times no) says YES) 62. Swarkles standing on the rooftop being all in love (the nose-kiss!). Leaving barney&robin, Lily&marshall&marvin, and Ted being alone but soon finding the one, so they are all in happy relationships (at least I got it this way, guess I was wrong) 63.Ted moping about robin again, but robin makes it pretty clear SHE WANTS THE BAND NOT THE DUMB DJ (hope you know what I mean with that metaphor) 64. barney caring so much about robin, that he finally gets her dad to talk properly with her 65.Robin saying she's marrying barney any way (though nothing ever seemed to be as important as her dad's approval) 66. Barney is cured from his one-night-stands 67. Robin realizing the true power of the ring. Lily: Oh, sweetie, I know it's nice to be groped by strangers, but nothing beats the rush you get when that one special person looks at you. Marshall: It’s true. Like, here, in this bar, there's only one thing that I see, and I see her brighter and more clearly than anything else in this world. You know what that is? That’s love. And possibly alcohol mixed with some very powerful antibiotics. Lily: And that's Barney sees you. And I know that's how you see Barney. Then we see barney and robin looking at each other and seeing each other brighter and more clearly than the Rest of the world. BUT NOOOO, CRAIG AND CARTER, YOU ALWAYS WROTE TOWARDS ROBIN AND TED. YEAH, SURE 68. Marshall asks Robin if she's figured out how she's going to get drinks at the bar now that she's engaged. Her answer: "Oh sure, I know a way that's going to last forever." Then she leans to barney asking for a scotch on the Rocks (WHAT CONCEPT OF "FOREVER" DO CARTER AND CRAIG HAVE?) 69. Barney getting obsessed over robin's past. Robin saying to him it's okay cause he is her "Dobler" (meaning both of them are into each other, you know what: I think ted is robin's dahmer). 70. barney saying he lies, but there is one true thing: HE LOVES HER. 71. Barney willing to sell his "fortress" because superman used the fortress when he wants to be alone. He realizes he doesn't want to be alone anymore, he wants to be with robin. 72. Robin: "If I ask you to change too many things about yourself, You're not gonna be the man i fall in love with. Turns out, I appreciate even the grossest, most sociopathic parts of you." 73. Robin knows barney just as well as he knows her: THE BARNEY (wow, Carter, Craig... Let me guess: another hint that ted and robin belong together? -_-) 74. we're gonna be legen...wait for it...married- Legenmarried!!! I love you so damn much, robin scherbatsky. I love you too, Barney Scherbatsky :,) 75. the two of them against the annyoing couple was just precious and showed their perfect Team-work once again. All in all, at the end of the episode they were all lovey-dovey and in high anticipation of their wedding Season 9, NONONONONONONONONONO NOOOOOOO, THIS IS THE WORST ENDING YOU COULD EVER IMAGINE, THE THINGS YOU DID WERE MOST PEOPLE'S WORST CASE SCENARIO AND YOU WENT THROUGH WITH IT? SORRY, BUT ONE LAST TIME: ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME? Because: 76. they were considering staying together even when they thought they were related!!! 77."I've got you. I don't have to wait for it anymore." 78. "AWWW, it must be a soulmate thing" ROBIN is saying that. She says BARNEY is her SOULMATE 79. They couldn't get their hands off each other because they were so in love. 80."I don't need them to believe in true love anymore. I've got you for that now." (Carter and Craig, you must hate us big time. Do you know how mean this is? Showing us a couple for such a long time, giving them a whole season for their wedding, showing that even two broken and messed up people can find together and experience true love. You made many believe in true love-because of barney and Robin- now you destroyed everything. Thank you) 81. Barney going to Robin to the carusell after all. He just was not as fast as Ted. So don't even dare to come with the comment "Ted knows Robin better" 82.We know it was more of a joke, but Barney broke with his family, just to show Robin how much he loves her -- "I'm always gonna have your back, no matter what" (but wifi is the big exception) 83.YOU CHOSE POORLY (just saying) 84. they're lone wolves, but "Maybe we can learn how to work together". And they did. This was the special charme of barney and robin: always afraid of commitment, always Independent and alone, but together they made the perfect match, because they knew what the other one feels and overcame their problems together. But yeah, every couple who grows and develops so much together must get divorced at some point. I mean 1. it's true to life and 2. Nobody is allowed to be that happy, when he isn't based on a writer. So letˋs give Ted (*cough carter*) two happy ends while barney and robin are reduced to their season 1-selves and get none... Life can be wonderful, right? 85. Robin can't have kids- FLASHBACK- she tells barney. And what does barney do? He is concerned about Robin and just hugs her and even asks shyly if this is weird. (Contrary: Ted! When he discovers it, it all turns around him AGAIN. He confesses his love and blablabla...Ted PLEASE, the woman is hurt and has enough emotional things to deal without you already. Leave her alone or hug her or anything, but don't do that. It's rude, not the whole life is about you, Teddy Boy (exception: you are based on Carter Bays, then yeah, sorry, everything is about you) 86. barney saying: "No I never wanted kids, I always liked kids." "I'm not marrying a Future possibility of starting a family. I'm marrying a girl who means more to me than kids." (AND THEN HE ENDS UP BEING A DAD AND WITHOUT ROBIN. ARE YOU AWARE HOW MUCH THAT HURTS. NOTHING IS RIGHT HERE!) 87. The mother saying: No, this is gonna take more than 20 minutes. This is the big one! (And in the finale she suddenly doesn't care they are getting a divorce and barney is picking up Bimbos again? SRSLY, WHAT KIND OF SICK ALTERNATE UNIVERSE WAS THAT?) 88. "From this day, I had one challenge and one challenge only. Get robin scherbatsky fall in love with me." - "Challenge completed" (But of course she ends up with ted, nothing would make more sense at this point (just in case: SARCASM)) 89. " THE REHEARSAL DINNER, THE WHOLE EPISODE, JUST WATCH IT (He brought whole canada to her. He did everything to make her happy. Tell me in what universe stealing a stupid blue french horn is better than this lovely gesture?) 90. "Robin along with the idea that vengeance will soon be mine has made me 100% awesome" "I always felt kinda broken... But I don't feel that way anymore" 91. Sunrise- a whole stupid episode of Ted letting Robin go, watching Robin flying away like a stupid balloon. ALL FOR NOTHING 92. Robin acknowledges the fact Barney only lied to them because he wants them to feel better (....that we could rally). And barney says how much he loves his friends. And they treat him like shit. 93. The wedding!!! Barney willing to give up his lying, because this is the only vow he will make to robin and the only one that counts. 94. Sweetest scene: Robin flings her arms around barney's neck kissing him and they hug. This was so cute and honest and yeah, it made me cry. 95. The ceremony itself. Barney and Robin looking at each other full of love. 96.THEY GET MARRIED. AFTER 6 YEARS OF PINING FOR EACH OTHER THEY GET MARRIED. (AND THEN DIVORCED AND I REALLY NEED SOMEONE TO SLAP REALLY REALLY HARD IN THE FACE) Okay, I think I should get the 100 done, so 97. robin complaining why she can't be "Gretel". Ted tells her she hasn't found the right "Hansel" yet. He tells her she will find the one for whom she wants to dress up and everything. First of all, she SUITED UP for him back in the first season. the Murtaugh List: both of them dress up together. Then, when she discovers barney is one-quarter-canadian, she is so delighted about it and teases him with the mounty-costume. Herself going as a Hockey-player. She had found her Hansel...but suddenly after their divorce, she's the only one at that party not wearing a costume. Anyone else having tears in the eyes??? 98. Both of them love scotch, cigars, Challenges, etc. They have a similar humor and Robin even takes his phrases once in a while (Challenge accepted, true story). In Addition to that barney sees through her right at the beginning. When Ted sees her, he's instantly thinking about getting married, barney saying: "you just know she likes it dirty." Robin hated marriage at that point, but we all know she indeed likes it dirty ;). And the phrasing is kinda revealing to. Ted thinks:"see that girl, I'm gonna marry her someday"- and it's all about him again. Sometimes I really wonder of this guy ever thinks about robin's feelings. She refused him many times and he is still hitting on her with that horn. 99. the first thing she says to Ted when they talk what they like about each other- robin: I think I like your suit. (Who wears suits all the time? Who always tells Ted it suit up? Hmmmm, who was that again? I think his Name begins with a "b") 100. THEY ARE BARNMAN AND ROBIN, THEY ARE R-TRAIN AND B-NASTY, THEY ARE SPARKLES AND SWARLEY... THEY ARE SWARKLES FOREVER <3 So, I know opinions are really different on this. Some think it was the perfect end where the circle with Ted and robin and the Blue french horn is concluded. They see it as a happy end cause Ted is the Main character and he got everything what he wanted: kids and the woman of his dreams. They see that barney could only grow up with having a child. They see that Lily and Marshall both got times for their careers and their kids. I would love to see it this way (though I could never ship Ted/robin. I think they are gross-sorry I can't help myself. No offence), but I can't. What I see is widower-Ted still living in the past, can't moving on, still idealizing a girl that refused and hurt him more than once. I see a lonely Barney, never really accepted by his friends the way he is, never feeling loved. The only one who accepted him is away, but he never felt good enough for her anyway. All his hopes that someday, someone might love him unconditionally are on his daughter. The woman he loved more than anything, the woman he chose over kids is not his anymore, so he hopes there's at least this little baby, depending on him, who has to love him, because kids are supposed to love their children. Barney, though always portrayed as the bad womanizer only searching for one thing: love. His daughter can't be taken away from him. Robin may find another man, but ellie won't find another father, one who loves her as much as I'm sure barney does. That's why I hated the plot with ellie too. Yeah the scene is kinda sweet, but all in all, it's showing barney being changed by something he never wanted as an escape from his sad life. What I see is a lonely Robin. She was willing to choose love over her career- then Don left her, for his career. In my opinion Robin just loved Barney too much and couldn't bear the idea to be left by him too. So she choose the career this time. But not only she Looses the love of her life, the career doesn't seem to fulfil her either. We don't know what happened with her job in 2030, but as it seems, she's not that busy anymore, otherwise she couldn't have Five dogs (AGAIN) and living in the appartement (which looks quite similar to the one from season 1). She wasn't fulfilled back in season 1, she doesn't seem to be fulfilled now either. So what I want to say, I see Robin being lonely, having lost the love of her life, her career successful but not making her too happy either and being glad when someone comes to her. Even if it's the one that she refused before, the one she never really loved, but the one who was always a safe choice in her eyes, who was always available. It's her last chance not to die alone getting eaten by her dogs. What I see is Lily, who always struggled between having a family and a career. Who chose her career over marshall a long time ago. Then she faces this choice again, difference is: she has marvin and another Child on the way. So she has to choose again. Marshall is willing to give her that one year in rome though, but after that? After that, it seems to be over. She is the birthing machine, the supporting wife, but nothing more. So what they did with the women's characters is in a way pretty offending. When a woman can't have kids, she's not worth it (barney is changed by a baby, the only thing she could never give them. And Ted also has two kids). So the Message we got, is that a woman has no value when she can't bear children. We learn that women have to choose. Either they choose their family and give up on their career (Lily) or they put their career first and there will be no place for their loved ones anymore (robin). All in all I think, marshall is the only one that wasn't screwed in this. So what I see are four people, evolving for 9 years, bringing the best out of them, only to put them back in the EXACT same place they have been in season 1. so if that's the story they wanna tell us, that no one can grow cause eventually they will be at the exact same place again, great. So, for me the story was not a fulfilling end, not a circle being finally closed, it was a big disappointment. All the life lessons, all the magic, all of that means nothing. Because all was a lie, all of it was a red herring to keep the fans watching. And in the end, I just can say this: All of it was unnecessary. It would've been the EXACT same story if we'd just seen the pilot and the end. For some this is the greatest thing ever because the pilot along with the end makes perfect sense. For me, it's a huge pain in the heart because all the magic, the evolvement that happened in between is gone. I feel it was a waste of time, putting so much love in creating these characters, letting them grow, only to regress all their evolvement in the end. I loved himym so much and I still do (except the crucial "Last Forever"), but the end was so not worth it.

[simplemlmsponsoring]

New Post has been published on http://simplemlmsponsoring.com/attraction-marketing-formula/attraction-marketing/3-steps-to-making-your-new-years-resolution-ideas-stick/

3 Steps to Making Your New Years Resolution Ideas Stick!

It’s that time again!

If you’re anything like most folks, January 1st always brings big aspirations about what’s possible the coming year.

Maybe you’ll…

Hit the gym and lose 15 pounds?

Quit smoking, TV, or carbs?

Spend less time on your phone or Facebook?

Write the next great American novel?

Get your business massively into the black?

Whatever fresh start you’ve got in your sights, I’ve got some sobering news…

New Year’s resolutions are a complete waste of time!

You’ve probably observed the annual pattern of short-lived good intentions over the years, but here are the stats…

According to a recent study from the University of Scranton, only 8% of all people actually achieve their New Year’s resolutions.

The other 92%?

Well, not to sound harsh, but if you could ask each of them personally, they’d surely tell you they couldn’t drop those stubborn 15 pounds because “the gym was always too crowded”; or they’d come up with clever rationalizations to explain how they were always “too busy to read for 30 minutes before bed every night.”

And hey, we’ve all found ourselves making resolutions every year just to see them fade away as time goes by (I’m as guilty as anyone else!)

In fact, most of us are unable to keep up with our resolutions past the first few days of the year…

Studies have shown that close to 70% of people who’ve made New Year’s resolutions will have abandoned them within the first two weeks!

So what’s the difference between those who actually achieve their goals, and those who keep making excuses?

What keeps pushing us off course whenever we THINK we’re on the right track to reaching our goals?

What separates the doers from the dreamers?

You might want to sit down for this one, because…

Your brain is getting in the way of your success!

More specifically, a part of our brain called the “basal ganglia,” which is in charge of certain motor functions, pattern recognition, procedural learning, and, most importantly:

Habit-forming behaviors.

Humans are hardwired to resist changes to our behavior; it’s simply part of our nature.

“Between the great things we cannot do, and the small things we will not do, the danger is that we shall do nothing.” —Adolphe Monod

Now, don’t get me wrong…

This doesn’t mean all your resolutions are doomed from the start.

It just means you’ll have to tackle them from a different angle, one that’s more in-tune with your biochemistry.

Lasting change can only be achieved through the power of HABITS

Those who fail have their minds completely set on these “specific goals,” but they are not aware of the small changes that need to take place in order to actually succeed.

And what’s even worse, this failure to achieve goals plagues every aspect of our lives, from our relationships with friends and family, to our day jobs, and our online businesses!

This might sound cliché, but humans are creatures of habit!

Literally.

Successful people are simply those with successful habits. —Brian Tracy

In his best-selling book, The Power of Habit, author Charles Duhigg tells the story of “Eugene”—a man whose brain was so damaged by a viral infection that he survived with only his short-term memory, and the memories of his life prior to the infection.

That’s a pretty tough situation, but something interesting happened in the final decades of Eugene’s life, when he and his wife moved to be closer to their children.

If asked to draw a simple map of his new home or neighborhood, he couldn’t do it, since he had absolutely no memory of this new location.

However, he was able to successfully navigate his way around their home, find items in the cupboards with ease, and even take a stroll around the neighborhood…as long as NOTHING changed along his route.

So how was he able to do this with absolutely no memory?

The short answer is: the virus didn’t damage his basal ganglia!

Eugene was basically living day to day on “autopilot.”

…much like when you can’t remember if you locked the door—you did, of course, you just can’t remember because you were “sleepwalking” through a well-established routine!

By studying Eugene’s unique condition, researchers came to this conclusion:

You are literally little more than the repetition of your behaviors.

In fact, research shows that over 40% of all our daily activities are simply routines that require little conscious thought.

Thus, if you’re truly motivated to create different results in your life, it’s imperative that you break bad habits and replace them with good ones.

But how do we get rid of those age-old habits?

The process starts with an audit

Dreamers fantasize about the rewards while doers must first understand where they currently are to figure out where they want to go, and how to get there.

We are all susceptible to our bad habits.

It is easier to prevent bad habits than to break them. —Benjamin Franklin

I’ll give you a personal example: a couple of years ago I catalogued my routine and found that I was falling far short of what I deemed acceptable…

You might ask yourself similar questions:

How much am I exercising?

How well am I eating?

How much am I reading?

How often am I creating content for my business?

How often am I using social media for network marketing (instead of personal entertainment)?

During my audit, I found that…

I wasn’t exercising regularly

I was eating out far too much

I’d not read nearly enough books in the past 12 months

And I wasn’t creating an acceptable output of content

Does this sound familiar?

Audit your own routine and identify the habits you’d like to replace.

“If you focus on results, you will never change. If you focus on change, you will get results.” —Jack Dixon

Once you’ve got a clear picture of where you’re at and where you want to go, it’s time to take a look at…

The science of habit formation

In The Power of Habit, Duhigg describes the three-step neurological process that forms habit: the cue, the routine, and the reward.

What Duhigg calls the “Habit Loop” starts with the…

Cue, an event that triggers your brain to react on autopilot through one of your habits; then, an emotional, physical or mental…

Routine follows; and finally, the…

Reward is presented, which helps the brain decide whether a particular “Habit Loop” is worth remembering or not.

The first step towards replacing harmful habits is choosing a cue that will trigger an effective response.

It could be anything from a simple note on your refrigerator to something more complicated like setting a radio alarm clock to a specific station that will get you on board a particular train of thought that will ultimately lead to you take action.

Let’s say your goal is to get into the habit of jogging 30 minutes every morning.

What would remind you to go jogging?

Setting an alarm on your cell phone?

Hanging a poster of a professional athlete on your wall?

Leaving your running shoes on the floor, next to your bed, so you literally stumble over them every morning?

You can try different cues, and experiment with any combination of them.

The goal is to figure out what works for you!

The reward within your particular Habit Loop needs to provide immediate and undeniable motivation, so that you’ll immediately start to yearn for it the second you come in contact with your cue.

Think about what motivates you.

Whether it’s a fine piece of chocolate waiting for you when you get home from jogging…

An episode of your favorite sitcom just waiting on your DVR for you to press play…

Or that collection of funny cat videos you’ve watched over and over, but still manages to crack you up every single time.

This step can be a bit tricky, especially since a time may come when you are no longer properly motivated by such a reward, which might lead you astray.

After a few days of executing your Habit Loop, you should ask yourself if you still crave the reward you’ve chosen.

If not, then it’s time to choose a new reward in order to continue building a powerful habit.

With your cue and reward in place, it’s time for action!

Execute your routine as part of your Habit Loop, and truly commit to your plan.

You could even put your plan in writing in order to really hammer it into your brain. It could be something like:

“Whenever I see [insert CUE here], I will [insert ROUTINE here], to get [insert reward here]”

Specifically, if we go back to the example of jogging…

“Whenever I see my running shoes next to my bed, I will go jogging, to get that delicious piece of chocolate.”

You get the idea…

You can adopt any new habit whenever you want…you just have to set your mind to it.

Now, in order to “stay with the program,” and continue to build favorable habits, it’s always a good idea to…

Set actionable, quantifiable goals

Dreamers imagine themselves reaching

their goals with one giant leap, while

doers realize the road to success is

comprised of smaller, gradual steps.

One of the concepts of goal-setting that has become increasingly popular over the past few years is the SMART acronym, which basically states that in order to successfully reach objectives, your goals should be…

Specific

Measurable

Achievable

Realistic

Time-based

There’s just one problem with this popular methodology, however.

“There is no greater mistake than to try to leap an abyss in two jumps.” —David Lloyd George

You see, while certain aspects of SMART goals are spot-on—such as setting specific, measurable, and time-based objectives—it fails when you ask if your goals are achievable and realistic, because those questions will cause you to look at your past experiences and inevitably limit your possibilities.

Think about it: if you’ve got a “moonshot” goal, how are you to determine whether it’s actually achievable and realistic for you?

After all, who’s more qualified to set, say, your fitness goals and timelines, you or a personal trainer?

Make sense?

This is the primary benefit of having a coach to work with you to achieve your goals: you could easily be the worst judge of your own potential.

So be aware of the biases you have based on your past, and don’t limit your possibilities based on them.

Now, another important consideration to be mindful of is this…

Staying motivated can be tricky

Staying motivated is extremely important, particularly when building new habits.

Teresa Amabile, a professor at Harvard Business School, discovered the primary forces of motivation after studying hundreds of employees at over half a dozen major companies.

Her recommendation for the most effective motivational tool?

Keeping a daily journal.

Here’s why…

Doing meaningful work is one of the biggest drivers of motivation.

“Motivation is when your dreams put on work clothes.” —Unknown

It’s been proven to be more important than any monetary reward, shockingly enough.

And the trick to creating meaning in even the most mundane is progress.

You deal with setbacks and negativity as part of your daily life.

However, by keeping a daily chronicle of progress towards your goals, you’ll be able to reflect on the positives, however small, which will elicit feelings of accomplishment and fulfillment.

Here’s an idea…

Why not think of these feelings as the reward within a new Habit Loop in order to become a more productive person?

To stay motivated, record your progress consistently.

“People often say motivation doesn’t last. Neither does bathing—that’s why we recommend it daily.” —Zig Ziglar

The most effective mode of journaling is to recollect and capture what you achieved over the course of your day.

These are your trophies.

Hang ‘em up to admire!

To sum things up…

I’d like to recap some of the key points we’ve covered here today:

Humans are creatures of habit, and therefore hardwired to resist change.

To defeat our human nature and achieve our goals, we need to replace harmful habits with good ones.

New habits are formed through the “Habit Loop”: the cue, the reward, and the routine.

The changes you wish to make to your behavior should be specific, measurable, and time-based.

Tracking your progress through a journal will help you stay motivated.

We all have dreams and aspirations, and making them a reality is just a matter of plotting a specific course and using every available resource to stay on it.

Turn yourself into a “doer,” or your dreams will end up in the sewer

Doers and dreamers are not that different from each other; they are both driven by a genuine desire to make a change.

Hey, the world is your oyster!

YOU must decide if you’re a dreamer—perfectly content with fantasizing about the treasures hidden all over the globe, but never actually setting sail to find them…

Or a doer—looking to get more out of life, and willing to do whatever it takes, even if it means venturing into unknown territories and facing seemingly unbeatable odds.

Here’s the thing…

A dreamer’s ship will end up dead in the water, while a doer will harness the power of the wind to sail smoothly towards success..

The clock is ticking!

In a few more days, this week will be over.

Then, before you know it, this month will be done with.

And next thing you know, this year will zip by even faster than last year.

Come December 31st…

You’ll be either celebrating some big accomplishments, or looking back at another year of mediocre results, without a whole lot to brag about, still hoping next year will be better.

Unfortunately, most people will be in the latter camp.

Because as the old adage goes…

If ya keep doing the same thing over and over again, you’ll keep gettin’ the same results.

So, the big question is…

What are you going to DO differently this year, starting RIGHT NOW that will make this year bigger, better, and much more profitable than ever before?

Your answer will dictate what you do…and how today, this week, this month and the rest of the year will turn out for you.

Allow me to make a suggestion…

If one of your major goals for this is to generate more leads and recruit new reps for your business this year, then you’re going to need a proven action plan to habitually execute—day in, day out.

Luckily we’ve got just the thing to help…

Sign up for Elite Marketing Pro’s FREE 10-Day Online Recruiting Bootcamp and you’ll discover a step-by-step business-building blueprint called “attraction marketing,” which has a decade-plus track record of creating well-quantified success stories.

You’ll learn about about the specific tools and techniques you can use to connect with prospects online, so you’ll never have to act desperate, chase down or strong-arm anybody to make a sale, or deal with cold calling and rejection, ever again.

These methods allow you to build your business automatically—where prospects reach out to you (instead of you having to reach out to them).

The bottom line is that, in today’s age, you don’t need to be pushy, obnoxious, or overly-aggressive to build a successful business!

So if you’re ready to get started…

Click here to access our 10-Day Online Recruiting Bootcamp today!

  Sincerely, Andrew Draughon Director of Content Elite Marketing Pro

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The post 3 Steps to Making Your New Year’s Resolutions Stick! appeared first on Elite Marketing Pro.

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[pafsins2]

Everything Wrong And Right With Phineas and Ferb Star Wars

Well, it's Noddy time again. Yep, we had to make this a trilogy. He likes Star Wars too so why not bring him. So let's get into it.

SINS:

1. Pretty sure this takes more than just “a couple' summers ago.

2,. Jim Cummings isn't narrating about Bees in this scene.

3. “May the Ferb be with you' would have been a better official title than “Phineas and Ferb Star Wars”

4. Netflix repeats the intro on Part 2 again. At least they actually added an original version of the text crawl joke.

5. Oh, and the production codes skip a number again.

6. (Noddy) Despite the claim of not being canon this entire intro with Perry stealing the Death Star plans is now irrelevant thanks to Rogue One.

7. (Noddy) A tall administration building seems kind of impractical to put on a Star Destroyer, I mean what happens when it enters a planet’s orbit and gravity takes hold?

8. (Noddy) Why would people in Imperial administrative work need Stormtrooper helmets? They also look super weird with the ties over the torso Armour.

9.”Oh uh, it's work releated” Woooooow.

10.(Noddy) See, I told you having a skyscraper for admin on a Star Destroyer was a terrible idea.

11.They couldn't get any of the actual actors. I guess they're a bit old but come on, a cameo from some would have been nice.

12.Leave it to Phineas to be so sheltered he thinks Tatooine is a paradise.

13.(Noddy) Phineas and Ferb are flying with Jabba on his sail barge, implying that they are friends with an infamous crime lord and are okay with him doing stuff like owning slaves (like the twilek girls on his ship seen here).

14.Rap Verse

15.Them mentioning their tight relationship is slightly random, almost like it'll be important later.

16.Guess this Phineas figured the Phinbedriods were a bad idea too.

17.Also, a placeholder sin for every single anachronism  there is, like Rap existing in the Star Wars universe.

18.(Noddy) Apparently, Uncle Owen sacrifices efficiency and free upgrades from Phineas and Ferb for being “old fashioned”.

19. (Noddy) Okay the Empire is bad, sure, but did they ever use child soldiers for major missions?

20.”I told you to go before the raid.” Boooo.

21.(Noddy) Apparently a Galactic Empire can only afford plastic armour.

22.(Noddy) I don’t think Darth Vader would need socks, given that his feet would be entirely mechanical.

23.”Someone who has a weaker position than others think it's potential is being wasted ' cliche

24.Also “find” socks? Are they that rare that they must be “found”?

25.Perry can't be in the shot with her just because he wasn't in the movie.

26.I know their mission is about a socks but I think a rebel on board is a pretty big deal.

27.(Noddy) For some reason Anthony Daniels isn’t voicing C-3PO even though he pretty much does so for everything.

28.Also, Simon Pegg in two specials in  a row?

29.(Noddy) I don’t think the Sith are publically known enough to have a brand named after them.

30. (Baljeet does “Socks” to the tune of the Imperial March) Booooo

31.Ework screech

32.I wanna see what The Slacks look like here, but we just hear them.

33.(Noddy) Oh look, Darthenshmirtz built the Death Star, another detail Rogue One has rendered pointless. Even before Rogue One, Episode II confirms the Geonosians designed the Death Star, while Krennic in Rogue One ordered Galen Erso to design the laser.

34.(Noddy) I don’t think the Empire would allow bumper stickers promoting the Force to be sold if they’re trying to suppress knowledge about it.

35. (Noddy) I don’t know how someone would confuse physics camp with a galactic military, but okay.

36.(Noddy) In the Empire is an awesome song, however it gets a sin because it makes space fascism sound cool.

37.(Noddy) How would Candace get away with wearing Stormtrooper armour in a normal school setting?

38.And these kids are wearing clothes that should not exist in this universe.

39.(Noddy) Burbank being shown as an exotic world implies Earth exists within the Star Wars Galaxy. So much for a Galaxy far, far away.

40.(Noddy) Wouldn’t Candace get in trouble for not wearing her helmet and marching out of formation?

41.(Noddy) Mid level Darth.” This is logically impossible, because the Rule of Two prevents more than two Sith from existing at one time to prevent infighting.

42.He says “Feeling better” but in the Soundtack version he says “Feel better?”

43.”This is a bathtub stopper” Is he really that dumb?

44.”No, that's a stick” Same as above.

45.”Giving a bantha a shower” Ha Ha.

46.(Noddy) I always got the impression Hoth was a rather desolate world, not the place where a ski camp would be set up.

47.A Disney character who DOESN'T want to be out there? WHAT WITCHCRAFT IS THIS.

48.(Noddy) Lawrence and assumes the boys will only be into girls and doesn’t have it occur to him that maybe they will have different tastes?

49.(Noddy) Tatooine High implies there’s only one high school on the entire planet. I know Tatooine is a shady place, but still?

50.(Noddy) I don’t think the Doofenshmirtz Evil Inc. building seems like something good for flying.

51.The CGI in this is mostly good but this shot of R2 right after the boys hit him is...not good.

52.(Noddy) Phineas and Ferb’s speeder has a Hula girl twilek, promoting the objectification of twilek women like they always are across the Galaxy. They’re apparently friends with Jabba so this isn’t as far fetched as it should be.

53.(Noddy) Why would Obi-Wan bother training two random kids when his plan was to wait for when Luke was old enough to train him? I guess he wants a backup plan without Yoda knowing about it?

54.Even if it does exist in some EU book or whatever, it's stall weird seeing Cake in Star Wars, especially this kind.

55.Shouldn't you have told him about the next mission right away instead of cock teasing him?

56.Ferb is a dick to Phineas.

57.Where did that puppet come from anyway?

58.(Noddy) Promoting that your spaceport has scum and villainy is probably bound to turn off people instead of attract them.

59.Gilligan Cut.

60.Watto happens to have a near indenitcal sun named Blatto. Really.

61.'Hey. Spoiler alert” For a very old an iconic film everyone has seen. Also, haw haw.

62.(Noddy) Why is there a Darth Vader shaped shop in Mos Eisley? Vader isn’t really trying to promote himself publically.

63.The boys just keep showing the death star plans out in the open and oh look it bit them in the butt right away.

64.”My watermelon” haw haw

65.(Noddy) Why is it called paperwork when everyone would write their reports electronically?

66. “Only one death-” There's an alarming amount of death in this for a Phineas and Ferb episode. This is tame comapred to a certain joke later.

67. (Noddy) Obligatory Han shot first joke.

68.(Noddy) Vanessa is a Twilek while every other PnF character is still human for some reason.

69. I don't typicall call out stuff like this as “Fan service' but....this is fanserivce. I mean, she's even got these guys horny for her. AND OF COURSE THIS IS SIN 69.

70.”Solo” 'So low” Haw haw.

71.(Noddy) Isabella apparently has a rivalry with Han Solo. Seems pretty petty for Solo to have a rivalry with some young girl, huh?

72.(Noddy) I’m unaware of Chihuahuas existing in the Star Wars galaxy.

73.The Parsecs thing reminds me: Placeholder sin for every sin from the original movie that applies to this, at least the ones I don't end up pointing out myself later.

74.Isabella is a dick to Vanessa.

75.”Seems weird you'd call it something you didn't want to be asked about” Phineas would be good at P&F Sins.

76.This is another placeholder for any and all big inconsistencies between the plots of thi and the movie because I'm sure they exist but neither of us felt like sinnning all and the wiki only points out like one.

77.(Noddy) Why would a bus take civilians to the Empire’s biggest weapons project, I don’t think they’d be happy with people knowing that they’re planning to destroy planets? In current canon they even fabricated cover ups for the events that unfolded in A New Hope.

78.The internet exists in the Star Wars Universe.

79.(Noddy)

80.Genocide joke.

81.PHINBELLAAAA!

82.(Noddy) How on Earth do lightsaber tools work?

83.”I don't think we could float all the way home” Still good at sins.

84.Giant Floating Baby Head Cameo.

85.(Noddy) Dan and Swampy cameo.

86. Vader chokes someone over socks.

87.We clearly see donuts in the truck but Phineas acts like they don't have any.

88.Also, they fell for that.

89.Wait a minute, in this universe they know he's a “Secret agent/' and went through the whole 2nd dimension ish story? This is very ….odd.

90.Isabella has no real reaction to this rebel Platypus.

91.(Noddy) Again, there can be no more than two Sith, and Doofenshmirtz doesn’t recognize this. Unless he’s confident enough to overthrow Vader and the Emperor and have Perry (and Ferb, given Doof obviously doesn’t care about Sith tradition and what let them survive under the Jedi’s noses for a millennia) by his side.

92.(Noddy) How is Perry sentient while in Carbonite?

93.How does Doof know about Alderaan being blown up already? Also, more Genocide Humor.

94.(Noddy) Feminised Stormtrooper armour. Female Stormtroopers exist and don’t need armour like this.

95.”Darth Vader can kiss my Bantha!” Booo.

96.”I'll have a victory number in the 4th act” But we're near the end of Act 4.

97.Ferb's hood is up after he gets hit by the inator but in the next shot it's back on.

98.(Noddy) Doof is a bigot to droids.

99.In the movie, the Imperial Officer on the other end of the com-link said, "We're sending a squad up." Here he says, "We're sending a squad in."

100.”Oh Bantha Droppings” Again, boooo

101.(Noddy) I don’t think Darth Vader would need an inhaler, given taking his mask off would be incredibly risky. Guess that’s why he threw it out?

102.It's not good anymore if it's- “It's not good anymore” Oh Come on!

103.”Let's make sitth happen/' Boooo

104.(Noddy) Oppressive regimes have crushed unionization to silence potential dissent, the Empire allowing one to exist seems like a bad idea.

105.They don't report that.

106.”Hero saves a bad guy” cliché.

107.Pretty sure this guy is dead now.

108.Phineas, she flat out said she might ditch you, maybe she shouldn't be trusted now

109.(Noddy) Apparently being hit with so much of the Dark Side makes you look like Darth Maul.

110.You couldn't pass up the chance for a Jar Jar joke, could you?

111.Being Evil makes you talk more. Ironic given Darth Maul wasn't amazingly talkative.

113.'Villain asks hero to join them” cliché.

114.(Noddy) Ferb obviously doesn’t understand Sith customs either. Unless he’s REALLY old school and wants to be like the Ancient Sith and their large numbers.

115.”What about Robin Hood?” “That has not happened yet” Again, pointing out your sins does not make them go away.

116.(Noddy) Candace, Buford and Baljeet seem awfully relaxed for realizing how awful destroying a planet is.

117.(Noddy) Not only does the Rebellion allow kids to fight with them, Gretchen also lampshades it. Guess PnF Star Wars was trying to get into the darker side of the Rebellion before Rogue One.

118. We'll subvert the Jar Jar Binks slam somewhat, but we'll flat out turn Porkins into a butt monkey.

119.(Noddy) Juice boxes feel really weird in the Star Wars aesthetic.

120.”What are you doing here Isabella, run out of cupcakes?” That's sexist.

121.The only Star Wars cast member they got is from one of the cartoons and was already on this show!

122.”The wookie is right” I'm sick of booing at this point.

123.(Noddy) These lightsaber designs Phineas and Ferb are making seem really impractical in a duel.  

124.Candace partakes in a Face Heel Turn cliché.

125.More jokes about death, yikes writers.

126.Ferb was evil for all of 5 minutes.

127.'Why is this guy hugging us” ...He's your brother....He told you, you even replied. Come on Candace.

128.There's some questions this reveal with them has, in the context of this episode but I'm tired at this point.

129.We finally get a reference to their real Dad, and it's not in Canon.

130.We don't see Isabella coming in for the sake of this fakeout.

131.Sorry, you can't avoid this mass death after all the other death jokes in this.

132.”There are copies of the Death Star Plans somewhere, we might have a teeny problem- “ Oh just you wait.

133.(Noddy) ““Hologram out.” Ha ha.

134.”Now I can live to fight in the sequel” We never got that sequel.

135.Chewy STILL doesn't get a medal.

136.(Noddy) I see more female rebel members here than there were in the entirety of A New Hope

137.”A New Hope has returned” Roll credits....kinda.

138.(Noddy)  C-3PO does the robot because he’s a robot, geddit?

139.(Noddy) Okay I’m late on this but the Rebel Let’s Go on the screen reminded me – I know things are readable so the audience understands everything, but in-universe shouldn’t it be written in Aurebesh? Even weirder, there were things written in said script in this special as well.

140.It just hit me: This Monogram has no Carl!

141. (Noddy) ”We're not related are We?'” Incest joke.

142.(Noddy) Extra sin because it’s a PHINABELLA incest joke.

143.Dance Party Ending.

144.Writer credits are at the end for some reasn.

145.(Noddy) I don’t think those spins R2 does are anatomically possible for a droid like him.

146.(Noddy) Somehow Porkins survived in the vacuum of space and made it back perfectly fine to Yavin 4.

147. Way to end  on a high note, guys.

EPISODE SIN TALLY: 147

SENTENCE: Watch The Star Wars Holiday Special.

…..I shouldn't be shocked, given this is the longest episode at 51 minutes but DAMN. Granted, Noddy, helped but still. Yep new sin recod. Noddy likes doing that lol. Anyway, let's look at the wins. Noddy didn't send me a ton, fair warning.

WINS:

1. Awesome recreation of the Star Wars intro and crawl

2. Jim Cummings is always a win.

3. The Text crawl bit in general  is really funny, especially Part 2's that you can see on netflix.

4. (Noddy) I don’t know if it’s intention, but if telling Jim Cummings to narrate faster was a reference to George Lucas’ infamous direction of simply being “faster, more intense,” then well played.

5. (Noddy)“And none of this is canon, so just relax.”

6. Phineas and Ferb has always had a spotty record with CGI,but this is has the best CG in the whole series, easily.

7. Infact, right off the bat the best part of this special is whole they capture the feeling of Star Wars, from the in jokes, to the animation to the music. Oh man the music is great, even the actual score is really good due to being less “Synthesized” than usual.

8.This whole opening is great, really gets in the Stars Wars move but it still adds in jokes when I needed like the “Work related” bit.

9.The concept alone for this special is great, taking place during the events of the movie. I don't think I've seen that idea done before like this and it works.

10.The first of many great songs. It's fun, sets up their relationship for later, and has many great visual gags.

11.Phinbedrod cameo!

12.While they didn't get most of the actual actors, the replacements are pretty decent given they aren't in for too long.

13.Fun Fact” Parts of this scene are a reference to a Deleted Scene for the movie. Now that's doing your homework.

14.Candace is a stormtrooper is perfect.

15.Them getting freaking songs for Vader is funny.

16.Buford and Baljeet joining her is also great.

17.Placeholder sin for every funny joke I don't point. In this case, I don't want this to be a list of good jokes, there's too many.

18.Simon Pegg is always a win.

19.SITH ROAST

20.Baljeet saying Socks to the tune of the imperial march is a win.

21.FULLY OPERATIONAL DEATH STAR

22.Darthenshmirtz is a win.

23.Him building the death star makes too much sense. (Even if Canon would later explain it)

24.(Noddy) Candace mentions she has busting instincts. Could this be a sneaky way of saying she’s force sensitive?

25.(Noddy) In the Empire is an awesome song, Ashley Tisdale rocks it.

26. Yeah, this is my favorite song in the special. It's one of the songs they did with live horns and it shows.

27.”You can be all that they want you to be” Best line.

28.Candace's rant was written by Wayne Brady, who is a win.

29.I like Candace's arc here of wanting to be appreciated as a Stormtrooper, nice set up for her heel turn later.

30.Interesting set  up Phineas not wanting to leave but still seeing how cool it is out there.

31. Great bit with Lawrence and Linda here.

32.This bit with Doof and Vader is funny.

33.(Noddy) Before Doof sees Darth Vader, one of the droids on the conveyor belt resembles one of the battle droids from the Prequel Era. Just found that cool.

34.And now we really get our set up with the boys getting the death star plan. Its a good set up for this story.

35.Hologram.

36.Love this little bit with Bobba fett.

37.Fun Fact, this text can be translated. They read “YOU GOT A JOKE NO ONE ELSE DID.", "IF YOU HAVE PAUSED THIS AND TRANSLATED THIS INTO ENGLISH, CONGRATULATIONS.", and "NOW, GO IMPRESS YOUR FRIENDS!". Nice.

38.Funny Gilligan Cut.

39.”They say he shot first but I could have sword it was the other guy” Nice.

40.Olvia Olson singing is ALWAYS  a win.

41.(Noddy) Isabella is awesome in this special. She’s fun, but also badass.

42.A Stark contrast to the previous crossover,to be certain.

43.I don't  know why but Isabella shooting her thing is funny, mostly for Vanessa's reaction.

44.Some great Isabella banter here, like with the discussion of her ships' name,

45.Call me sick but this joke with Alderaan blowing up behind Doof gets me every single time.

46.”Hey, Watcha doin?!” Nice.

47.”This is not a friend ship, it's a Space Ship, so don't invade mine” Heh.

48.Giant Floating Baby Head Cameo!

49.Amusing Dan and Swampy cameo.

50.”I find your lack of socks disturbing” This is already hilarious but that guy doing the awesome Darth Vader impression is one of the writers for the show, not an actual actor. Awesome.

51.Nice moment with Perry. Like the timeshift episodes, they take advantage of it not being canon to feature interactions we can't normally see.

52.Snarky Norm!

53.It's nice of Ferb to go help Perry on his own and I like the bit with Obi Wan.

54.Another awesome Doof sing. Lke all the others, it sounds nice and has good humor.

55.”Now he'll say I'm blown away, much like Alderaan” Yeah, I laughed here too.

56.Back when we had the “turn characters evil trend” in Season 3, me and some friends wished Ferb would be evil at some point. I got my wish.

57.Candace doing these expressions is funny.

58.Isabella has Anti Storm Strooper aim. Very fitting.

59.There's plenty of fun ways this ep and the movie connect and this scene with Doof doing stuff while the others are in that thing...is up there.

60.Phineas saving Candace is great, plus it adds more to arc which we'll get into more of later.

61.Nice Isabella moment here.

62.DARTH. FERB. IS. AMAZING.

63.As obvious as the Jar jar joke is, they cleverly subvert it by pointing out how dumb it is.

64.Ferb's accent just lends itself to evil.

65.(Noddy) The Phineas vs Ferb fight is actually pretty cool.

66. Even taking aside the fight itself, seeing the two have any kind of spat is just amazing and rather heartbreaking too.

67.I love this scene here. Candace's arc is really strong here. Let me put it it this way: She's hated Rebels her whole life and sees her as the good guy. But now she's starting to rethink that after Phineas saves her. It's great and this scene sells it. (Also, this arc foreshadowed Force Awakens. Bonus!)

68.”Didn't we just blow up  a planet?” “That is sort of difficult to justify, morally” Nice.

69.Gretchen's lamp shading here is nice.

70.(Noddy) The scene where Isabella and Han Solo talk is actually really well done and moving.

71. And it nicely adds to Isabella's arc. It's on the typical side I suppose but it's pretty strong here.

72.It also represents one of the strengths of the special: Combining P&F's usual strong storytelling with the Star Wars elements.

73.Dee Bradley Baker is Chewbecca if fitting. Even if his best Star Wars wll always be being EVERY SINGLE CLONE in The Clone Wars. I mean, dang.

74.”The wookie is right” Nice.

75.Candace saving Phineas is cool

76.”Ferb!” D'aww.

77.(Noddy) Phineas and Candace reuniting is really sweet.

78.”What happened to Dad?' “Funny story actually. He-” NICE.

79.”That's what friends are for” D'aww.

80.You know, I like that the story arcs aren't just the flat out ones from the movie. There's a (somewhat) original story going on here, that happens to intersect with the film's story. It has elements from it yet but it's not a rehash.

81.Nice way to address that thing about the innocent people on the Death Star.

82.”Now I can live to fight in the sequel” Nice!

83.(Noddy) Rebel Let’s Go is a cool tune to end on.

84.I've mentioned that Olivia singing is always a win, right?

85.I love that there's an incest joke in a Disney cartoon.

86. Phinbebella kiss. Yes, i'll admit when it's a win. (Just wait until the next episode...)

87.The Porkins bit is funny

88.So yeah, amazing episode and amazing Star Wars Cartoon too!

EPISODE WIN TALLY: 88

REWARD: Socks.

Yep, win record too. Less than I expected , but I did get out the more general wins early on. Once again, huge thanks to Noddy for doing this. It's our last with him on P&F Sins, although maybe there will be room in some series sin ideas  I have, I don't know. Hint hint.

http://noddytheornithopod.tumblr.com/

Well, with that done, we have 3 more left, and only 1 before we hit the proper finale. Join me Wednesday to nitpick the episode everyone has already nitpicked!

[canaryatlaw]

Okay, well today was pretty good. Alarm went off at 10:50, got up and got ready. Bus wasn't quite at the time I wanted it to be, so I had a few extra minutes, which mean I would be a few minutes late, but I didn't care that much since it's not really a big deal. Took the bus to the train, and the train to the DV courthouse where I sat with my spring break friend until about 2 pm when we finally got a client. Our boss put us both on it together because he didn't know if we'd get anyone else but he said if we did he would pull one of us off it. So we went and started, and I finished filling out the emergency form and the physical paperwork while my friend started the affidavit, and then at that point I did end up getting pulled on to another case lol, though it turned out to be only temporary. It was fairly late at that point, like 2:45, and of course court is only up till 5 and this shit takes time. It was a weird case though, mostly drug and alcohol issues and she wanted to use this option that's rarely ever used (in my two years of working there I haven't seen it actually used yet) where the OP is only enforced when the person is under the influence of alcohol or drugs, and it basically just complicates the whole process. So I get as far as the physical paperwork and emergency order (again) with her, when she asks if she can come back and complete the paperwork tomorrow because she thought she could have someone else pick her daughter up from school but they couldn't, so she had to go now and that was that, lol, so I got kicked back over to the other case where they were just finishing up and reviewing the paperwork. This case was a rough one, let me tell ya. I won't go into too many details but I'll say we had the conversation of whether she was comfortable using the word "rape" in her affidavit, but she felt like it was too intense a word, so we stuck with "forced to have sex at knifepoint" (though frankly I don't see how that's any better). But when we brought it to our supervisor he confirmed that it meant a felony investigation would get opened since the boyfriend had already been arrested on domestic battery charges, they'd now get upgraded to sexual assault charges of some sort and get kicked over to the criminal courthouse (the DV courthouse can only handle misdemeanors for whatever reason, not felonies). So we had to make some changes to the paperwork for that, but we filed soon enough and got up to court. Judge who I've had a couple times before, he's usually reasonable but he did deny one of mine once that I thought was an inappropriate judgment. But, given the facts here, I wasn't worried like, at all haha and that turned out to be with good reason. He like, swore her in, asked the like two baseline questions about prior orders and arrests, then says his "alright, give me a moment to read your petition" line he always says and then usually takes a moment and then asks questions about the incident. Well, he took a bit more than a moment, probably about 3 full minutes (doesn't sound like that long but when you're in a completely silent courtroom just waiting for the judge to read, it feels long) and right after reading it he immediately said "alright the order is gonna be granted" and went into his spiel to set the record for that, so that was like definitely one of the easiest ones I've had haha. I don't like how cook county has it set up though that when there's a felony investigation pending the person has to go out on their own and get a civil OP as opposed to the attys investigating giving them one. It feels like an unsafe possible loophole to me. Idk. It was just about 5 when we got out, and it was gross and rainy so we ran to the pizza place up the street and got some food there before taking a cab the couple blocks to class (because like I said, gross and rainy). Class was boring as always, we had two panelists tonight who mostly talked about fundraising and were mildly interesting at points, but for the most part it was a real struggle paying attention, especially when we didn't get our break until like, 7:40 instead of 7:10. But I did manage to get back to some people on emails and clean out my Twitter followers (mostly unfollowing celebrities I no longer care about, just because my follower count is almost as high as my following count and I'd really like it to supersede that, lol, I'm a dork I know). And that was that. Headed home afterwards and found my roommate watching more or big little lies, so I sat and watched that with her for a little while while also doing other internet stuff. I've only been half paying attention to the show and I've only seen a partial amount of two episodes, but it definitely has a certain amount of intrigue to it. That being said, I think it would drive me up the wall with their ridiculous behavior if i tried to watch all of it, so don't expect that to be put on my to watch list anytime soon. After that I made sure my tv was set up to record legends and prison break tomorrow, of course it has been doing it correctly all season but I had to make sure because I couldn't fuck around with tomorrow night's episodes. I think I have a pretty solid plan for evading class and not having it effect my grade, so hopefully that will be implemented successfully. And yeah, just work tomorrow than all that, and I'm about done for now so I'll end it here. Goodnight my babes. Stay wonderful.

[thepinkrvnger]

Not sure if you've watched the tvd finale yet, but my advice is to skip the first half. It's honestly really boring and pretty much the salvabros fighting over who gets to martyr themself.

I just finished it. And I forced my way through the whole thing because the only reason I even watched was for Nina, and even if I hated her by season 4 Katherine’s still fun to watch in action.

I think what pisses me off the most is that if the last four seasons hadn’t been complete shit that got progressively worse, or if they at least made an effort to make the last two seasons anywhere close to the quality of the first 3 ½, this would have been an amazing finale. I cried (mostly over the two Bonnie/Elena scenes–I actually started sobbing at the real one where Elena woke up, and the scene with Bonnie and the entire Bennett line standing with her to fight back the Hellfire, and… ok any time Elena was on my screen (that Gilbert family reunion hit me right in my fucking heart, even though I was still mad that they got McQueen back for .5 seconds and couldn’t at least show him having a fucking reaction to his sister waking up), and also Caroline’s sadness bc I felt nothing for Steroline but I still couldn’t help feeling for her), and I even laughed at a couple parts. There were a few individual seconds (Bonnie/Bennetts/Hellfire in particular) that reminded me of the way TVD season finales used to make me feel.

It could have been so good. With a solid season to back it up–EVEN LEAVING THE PREVIOUS SEVEN AS THEY WERE, if they’d gotten Nina back for more than one episode so the whole damn thing didn’t have to be so fucking rushed, and if they’d put care into these final 16 episodes (the care they used to have back in season 2 or 3 or hell, even 4) and let the entire season stand as closure for the series, instead of shoving it all into one 40 minute episode (or hell, if they made it a two-hour TV Special sort of episode to round things off), that could have been an amazing finale.

But it wasn’t. As it stands, it remains tainted by the rest of the season and the three before that, and yeah I stretch that back to season 5 bc that’s when it first became clear to me that the creative team behind tvd had stopped giving a shit about these characters and staying true to them and their journeys.

So in the end, despite the feelings some of the scenes evoked in me, despite my love for Elena and Bonnie and Caroline, at the end of the day… i feel nothing. I feel numb. And I’d like to go back into my little bubble of De Nile and pretend that the series finale was 4x23 and the rest never happened.

[yatterzuk]

TinyCo Facebook Live Q&A – Recap

Hey there Clammers!

TinyCo announced recently that they wanted to try out a Live Q&A on their Facebook Page, and a bit like their previous Reddit AMA  there were mixed feelings about them doing this, but I think it was long overdue that they reach out to the community again and as much as this didn’t go quite as I’d hoped, (more on that later), hopefully it’s a start.

For those of you who missed the Q&A, it was live on Monday 20th March, and you can still watch it in full via TinyCo’s official Family Guy Quest For Stuff Facebook page, but incase you don’t want to go there, I’m going share my thoughts on what was a rather unusual Live Q&A for me.

THE TINYCO TEAM

Left to Right we have: Jason (Lead Artist); Jay (Lead Producer); Kimberley (Narrative Designer); Damon (Animator) and Kate (Lead Community Support).

THE LIVE Q&A – MY THOUGHTS

Now this was a 30 minute forum, and I’m not going to sit and do a word by word transcript as I’m not sure who would lose the will to live first, me writing it or you reading it. Instead I’m going pull out and highlight any interesting info and just give my general thoughts on what worked in this format, and of course what didn’t.

I’m going to be straight up honest before we go much further and say I was disappointed by the way the Live Q&A went, and I don’t mean due to the comments and questions being hijacked by trolls. No, it was the fact that from the outset this whole Live Q&A came over as very scripted, like when politicians give a Live Q&A briefing but the questions have actually been wrote by their own team and the answers rehearsed earlier, this just lacked the spontaneity i associate with a Live Q&A. I’m sorry TinyCo but this was the way it came across, the questions were too much about the Team and not the game. And that’s not the type of questions we see day in day out from players.

There was possibly too much talk about who the guyswere, where they came from and the Family Guy show rather than the game itself, after half an hour of listening I feel I learned very little about the game I didn’t already know but I sure as hell felt like I’d known the TinyCo guys all my life. I felt by the time things ended I wanted get them all friendship bracelets as a token of my affection, lol. And hey, maybe that was the point of it, so we’d get to know them as people and not just TinyCo employees, and hey they all seemed awfully nice but by doing this the Live Q&A lacked spontaneity, fun, the unexpected and the down right bizarre that anything linked to Family Guy usually demands.

It also seemed to lack a lot of player questions, the whole point of going live is to answer questions that aren’t only asked before but actually asked live on the timeline, encouraging quick fire and fun responses. Check out this Addicts LIVE stream to see what I mean. Instead I sensed some nerves from the guys, although not the gals, and pre-rehearsed responses to pre-set questions. I’m sorry if that wasn’t the case but it’s certainly how it came across listening to it live.

So that’s my main criticism, and as this was a first outing I can forgive that, I guess some performance nerves combined with not knowing what to expect from what can at times be a very hostile Facebook audience, probably made this a who drew the short straw jaunt for the guys we got to meet. But on my 2nd, and 3rd listen of the Live Q&A  I started to look past this and pull out little bits of info I thought players might want to hear about, and yes I’m going share them with you soon.

I’m also hoping if you watched the Live Stream you’d give us your thoughts in the comments. But please no hating, this isn’t what this post is about, it’s about saying a little Thanks to the TinyCo guys for making the effort but also telling them what worked and what didn’t in order when the next Live Q&A happens we might see more of our questions and less strategically planned answers. Also we might see a bit more interaction with what’s going on on Facebook as they chat, I’d have loved for one the guys to have joked about sending them some love and likes as that sea of little angry faces ran across the bottom of my Facebook screen. You know an instant reaction but in a joking way, jesting with us, playing with us, truly interacting with us. Even a “hey you guys, stop mocking us” in their best Stewie voice. Sometimes it’s ok to show us you’re only human after all…..

THE LIVE Q&A – WHAT THE TINYCO TEAM TOLD US

Well they told us a lot about themselves, which I’m guessing most of you don’t want to know so I’ll try to be brief. But suffice to say, although they weren’t jumping up and down Tiny Tom style they all appeared to love working on FGQFS as much as some of us love playing it. Even Kate, who surely has the toughest job of any at times.

Here’s a few of the things they said about working on FGQFS: It’s a dream; It’s wonderful; It’s great; Every day is different; Can’t wait to go to work everyday; Paid to do what we love; Get to spend the day making stuff up and playing; Team is like a family; Gives you an adrenalin rush and that’s despite the long hours, stress, the brutal nature of the mobile gaming industry and even at times being so busy you end up sleeping in the office.

They are also all big Family Guy fans, they said this about the show: Love the humour; The random nature of the show; How it always comes back to family & friendship; It’s got heart at the centre of it.

And Brian & Stewie seem to be their favourite characters from the show, so it must frustrate them as much as us they can’t use Stewie more. But it’s great to know they all have a passion for the game, and want to be there devising content and events for us for a long time.

Now the second overall thing I took from this is the way they all talked about the game going forward, as let’s face it there’s been a lot of speculation that with the Futurama game looming the end was nigh for FGQFS. But the TinyCo’s teams general chat and body language did not seem to signal the end is imminent in any shape or form so it could be the game everyone loves to hate it going to endure for a while yet.

What made me think this, well talk of bringing in more land once we see more of the older devices disappear from our lives, so they talk in terms of the game outliving these devices. They also talked about the issue with The Blimp, in fact they referred to the ongoing problems as a horror story as every fix causes a new issue, so they are planning to remove it and redo that part of the game, now that’s not something they’d consider if the game were on its way out surely? There’s also still a team of 40 or so working on the game, so it’s not down to one guy and his computer just yet.  And the artists continue to create 3 new characters a week. So this all says to me FGQFS isn’t going anywhere just yet, so don’t unbuckle your safety belts guys as this crazy ride continues.

Ok now onto more specific bits and pieces, as I mentioned above there’s a team of about 40 that work on FGQFS, so next time we moan about having to buy a premium item I guess we should think that those folk need paid, they ain’t doing voluntary work. And Kimberley revealed for every 4 week event they need to come up with at least 200-250 new jokes. I take my hat off to that as like Kate, I struggle to come up with one joke, never mind being able to roll off a production line of them. I’d be laughing all the way to the Bunny Asylum if that were my job.

They told us how they plan an event, sometimes they pick an episode and build the event around it, and I must say this is the events I like to see, ones where I recognise characters and costumes from the show. But they also confirmed sometimes they do the opposite and they get the rights to an Intellectual Property, say for example, Power Rangers, then they look to see if it has links to the show and if it doesn’t they devise a way to merge the two together in a funny Quahog kind of way.  They also revealed they still working very closely with the writers at the Family Guy TV show who continue to share ideas with them.

They also talked about something we see in our comments a lot, a desire for new gameplay and features during events, many of you have recently felt that too many events are the same format onl with different content to unlock. And they talked about this revealing that even when they reuse a format they do endeavour to make it better, for example they said the Quahog Heat gameplay features were based on those of The Hauntening, only with some tweaks to improve it.

But they also added not only did they understand our cries for new features in future events, they were actually going to be delivering some in the next event, Mighty Morphin Power Griffins.  So as much as many of us say they don’t listen, they obviously do!

Likewise they touched on the ongoing demand for old event characters to return, the most popular requests being for American Dad characters; Superheros characters and of course Star Trek characters. This is a question that they’ve now answered many times, but did so again. Basically they only get a limited time contract to give them the rights to use these characters during an event. If they want to bring them back they need to agree a new contract, so they can’t just drop these characters into the game at any time to please new players. But Damon stressed he’d love see some return himself as he hasn’t got them in his game either.

They chatted about their favourite Family Guy characters that they get to work on in the game and for everyone who’s fed up with Peter having so many skins, please be kind to Jason as they’re one his favourite things to work on. And Jay, well Joe’s his go to guy, and as for Damon, he’s got a soft spot for Bruce. And Kimberley well it’s all about Brian & Stewie. And Kate well she kept that her little secret, lol.

They also found time to chat about all us multi-millionaires and tried to explain why some of us have more coins than we’ll ever be able to spend. They said they will try introduce items to buy but in order to try keep events balanced and fair they will always use an event currency or else us multi- millionaires would just burn through events too quickly. And they are right, we would and then we would probably complain we’re bored, cause hey we’re entitled multi-millionaires aren’t we. Lol.

There you have it, hopefully the start of a new relationship with the Staff at TinyCo currently working on Family Guy: The Quest For Stuff.

Did you see some things you were curious about answered? Have some helpful suggestions/replies to some of the questions you saw or the LiveQ&A setup adopted? Thoughts on the Current Staff? Let us know.

~ Russian Tigger

TinyCo Facebook Live Q&A – Recap was originally published on Yatterz

[canaryatlaw]

Well, the good news is I managed to drag my ass out of bed at the appropriate time today, so that's a win. Alarm went off at 10:10, got ready and went down to school to meet up with mentee number 1 for lunch. We went to the little salad place across from school I've never actually been to because I can't really eat salads (most salad dressings bother me, and I'm not eating plain vegetables because fuck that shit) but they also have wraps and such so I got one of those and had the dressing on the side and it was pretty good, despite definitely being "healthy" with like a whole wheat tortilla and such (so not a fan). It was good though, we just talked about life and dealing with work and everything in between, and how things change second semester. After we went back across the street to school and I dropped my stuff in the PAD office before heading down the street and hopping on the bus for a quick trip to the gym. I was meeting mentee number 3 at 2:40 when their class let out and it was like 12:50 at that point, so I had enough time to get a decent work out in at least. Did the arms and legs machines for a little, then the abdominal ones which of course I tried not to strain myself too much on because I'm going to the kickboxing gym tomorrow and I don't want to injure myself and not be able to do that. Then I did like 25 minutes on the exercise bike with intermittent periods of going crazy fast to match whatever music I had on just for kicks. Around 2:10 I headed back so I had enough time to get there and everything. Hung out in the PAD office for a few and helped one of the girls on the school mock trial team run through a witness direct she was trying to memorize (as the witness). After that my mentee showed up, and we walked down the street a bit to find a place, we were looking for a specific bakery but ended up finding one that had delicious looking sweets in the window and just wound up going there. It was a cute little place, they had breakfast food and sandwiches and "specialty juices" (that were like $7 ffs) and some very nice desserts so I got an earl grey and lavender cupcake that was delicious and she got a brownie and she basically just vented to me about everything going on because she was feeling so stressed out and I totally do not blame her. Apparently they're still switching stuff up in LARC and the profs still aren't communicating well, like they'll tell one kid something in office hours that contradicts what they said in class and everyone just ends up confused, it's a mess. So I let her vent and gave her my best advice, and told her I could hook her up with a family law contact for the interview she has to do for their "preparing to practice" program they make the 1L's do which is well intentioned but executed very poorly (and I confessed to actually faking that interview using a colleague of my dad's, lol). But I think overall it helped and she was able to calm down a bit, just you know take one day at a time and all that, and it will get better as you go on, and property just sucks for everybody and use quimbee because if it wasn't for them I would've royally flunked property (but instead ended up with a B+). So that was good I think. Went back to school and hung out in the PAD office some more (it's basically just my default at school place since it's in the lounge anyway). I tried to switch some things around in my mock trial direct and cross based on the feedback we got from the scrimmage this weekend, and sent it to my coach for feedback. I asked her about responding to the other side's motion in limines (pre-trial motions) especially on the hearsay objections to the texts because the exception they had previously listed only applies when the declarant is unavailable and I don't want to try and use that in front of a judge who's gonna realize that and just think I'm a fucking moron. She wasn't super helpful at first but I emailed her back with a more explicit question regarding it so hopefully that will help. Sigh. Ate some more of my wrap before class (I only ate half at lunch) then went to crim pro. We were spending the whole period on the Strickland opinion, which is the basis for the ineffective assistance of counsel standard (or appealing on the grounds that your defense attorney sucked). I was already very familiar with the standard thanks to the undisclosed podcast following the Adnan Syed case as they'd discussed it thoroughly. It was an interesting discussion though, and we for once actually talked about the case and discussed that parts of it, so that was nice. I did raise my hand once and of course referenced the serial case because it was on point lol. Our prof did a good job of explaining her opinion and why she wasn't a fan of the opinion (she's an appellate defender so she deals with a lot of these cases) and basically said she thinks the standard should be if counsel was ineffective and whether it was harmless error or not, not if counsel was ineffective and if the outcome was prejudiced by that, which is the current standard and is much higher. It made sense to me being that I think criminal appeals are already way too hard to win, and this opinion definitely showed that. So yeah, it was a good class. She let us out a little before class which was nice. Went home and watched Arrow, which was a curious episode. It largely centered around the gun control debate and was definitely the most political the show has gotten, although the conclusion was basically placating to both sides by saying we should have common sense regulations that don't restrict freedoms (without specifying what those are because that would cause more infighting). The plot was interesting enough though, if kind of overdone for its type. The last flashback scene and then the follow up between Rene and Curtis bugged me though, because it was a terrible misrepresentation of the child welfare system. And like, I'll be the first person to tell you the system has a TON of problems, but you don't need to invent more problems for it that don't exist. Like pretending a kid would get taken because of a single home invasion is bullshit, without other compelling evidence of the parent's actions (and in this case those of the surviving parent, so the mother's alleged drug use wouldn't have factored in) that would not happen. The same goes for them supposedly not letting Rene see his daughter, that's just straight up false because unless there has been some seriously disturbing violence (or if the kid doesn't want to, but that didn't seem to be the case here) parents are ALWAYS allowed visitation, in fact it's a major factor in deciding whether the kid will get returned home or not, and not visiting your kid is a great way to make sure they stay in the system forever. The same goes for his quip about "counseling." If a kid is in the system, they have to provide as many services as needed for reunification- which means he would absolutely be offered counseling and likely soooo much more. And then the end when Curtis was like "my lawyer friend is gonna help you get your kid back" I'm sorry, but no. If you're not visiting your kid and doing your damn services, there's no lawyer in the world who can get you your kid back. It's that simple really. There's nothing a lawyer can do if you're not gonna do your shit. It doesn't work like that. So all of that bugged me and I'm sure this was an unnecessary rant but you all know how false legal bullshit like that on tv shows bugs me so here we are. And yeah, that was pretty much my day. Tomorrow is work, then kickboxing, then small group. Should be good, and until then I'm gonna get some sleep. Goodnight dudes. Sweet dreams.