#like if we forget about how mid the season was overall and that ending

[whumpandpunch]

really ate that jj maybank whump this season tho

[the-wolfbats]

Thoughts on Rakkety Tam

We have only two books left, folks :( Those will probably just be one post before I give my overall thoughts

I had to read this one because otherwise I would get through this entire thing and go “damn it did I forget that book AGAIN”

Lady Melesme ok let's see if she does anything “she's sending ye a drum!” I love how everyone is shocked when canonically, 1000 years ago or whatever, they used a log when the bells were being created. 

Immediately we have cannibalism and a character telling the main characters to go to hell lmao maybe I judged this too harshly at first. 

Bloodlight is mentioned twice at least. The first time I can understand bc it refers to Tam, who may not know the term bloodwrath, but the second is by a Long Patrol hare Fortindom. Non-badgers can get bloodwrath. Mayhaps this was the beginning of a lesser form of bloodwrath. 

I like how the hares don't adhere to the dichotomy and immediately thought squirrels killed their fellows, also the language barrier. Then this bird thinks Tam is also a vermin. So I guess the dichotomy was slightly challenged in this book, congrats to us!

“Only a fool rises to the bait of h’another fool.” things we all can learn. 

The map is facing...somewhat behind Salamandastron, with more focus on the land. Other maps face somewhat in front of it, with the mountain being on the edge of the ocean, and this is the map that has stuck in my head for decades. So when it said the Squirrelkingdom was South of Salamandastron, I was wondering how this grove of trees was just in the ocean.

I imagined Tam and Armel to be a bit older than the writing suggests. Not as old as Brag and Saro but older than the typical heroes of the books. They're maybe just entering their mid seasons. 

Brigadier Wotwot 💀

Tam’s personality is a little.overwhelmed by everyone else. Doogy is a delight.  That's an issue a lot of these paired up protagonists have (Triss and Shogg, Buckler and whoever that was) I like the focus on his heritage being stronger than others with his weapon choices, and more would have been nice. 

I think this is the most chapter art we've gotten with a villain. I guess Gulo was just that fun to draw!

This may be one of 2 books (I remember Doomwyte being similar) where the Abbeybeasts are pragmatic about the need to fight. Screeve was very casually “ya I just killed that bastard with a rake”

20 books in and I just now wonder: where do they go to the bathroom. 

“Doogy Plumm threw up his paws in resignation. “Och, that explains everythin’. He should’ve been called Martin the Destroyer o’ Weapons.” Legit had me laughing. 

This one is more tactical than others, focusing on the surroundings of Mossflower more than a battle at the very end. Look at how the foebeast had a plan to lock the hares out from Redwall that almost worked. As a whole, it's refreshing.

[weirdthoughtsandideas]

THE BIG DCLA ASK GAME

I've done 80 Violetta questions and I've done 80 Soy Luna questions... now it's time for 250 DCLA related questions - the 250 simply because I will sneak in some bonus ones related to D+LA as well. The ask game is simple - send a number or several numbers and get an answer for the questions that was those numbers. It's mixed with general questions as well as questions specific for one show. You do not need to have seen all of the dcla shows, as long as you've seen one that's enough (though say that in the tags so that people know which questions not to send you, etc). Also, I am aware that there are technically more dcla shows than just three, but I will keep it to Violetta, Soy Luna and Bia. Alright! Here we go!

1. Favorite first episode of any of the three dcla shows

2. Favorite season 2 opening of any of the three dcla shows

3. Favorite season 3 opening: Violetta or Soy Luna's?

4. Which DCLA show did you see first?

5. How did you get introduced to DCLA?

6. Favorite Violetta episode/s

7. Favorite Soy Luna episode/s

8. Favorite Bia episode/s

9. Favorite Violetta song

10. Favorite Soy Luna song

11. Favorite Bia song

12. If they made a new DCLA show, what do you want it to be about?

13. Least favorite Violetta episode/s

14. Least favorite Soy Luna episode/s

15. Least favorite Bia episode/s

16. Your favorite running theme in any dcla show

17. Favorite ship in general

18. Least favorite ship in general

19. Favorite song in general

20. Least favorite song in general

21. Least favorite Violetta song

22. Least favorite Soy Luna song

23. Least favorite Bia song

24. The best DCLA villain?

25. The worst DCLA villain?

26. Favorite Violetta character

27. Favorite Soy Luna character

28. Favorite Bia character

29. Favorite character in general

30. A certain DCLA moment you will never forget when you watched the first time

31. Most memorable scene from Violetta

32. Most memorable scene from Soy Luna

33. Most memorable scene from Bia

34. A storyline you wished they explored more

35. A storyline you wish they did not have at all

36. The most forgettable character

37. Favorite two characters played by the same actor/actress?

38 Favorite actor/actress in general?

39. The weirdest ending to any DCLA episode?

40. The best mid-season/episode 40 episode overall?

41. A scene you constantly forget exists

42. A storyline you constantly forget exists

43. The best meme you've gotten from these shows?

44. D+LA question: How many D+LA shows have you seen?

45. Have you read any Violetta fanfictions?

46. Have you read any Soy Luna fanfictions?

47. Have you read any Bia fanfictions?

48. Do you write DCLA related fanfictions?

49. Do you make fanart of DCLA?

50. What is your favorite DCLA fanfiction (that someone else has written)?

51. Your favorite non-canon ship in general?

52. Your favorite non-canon ship in Violetta?

53. Your favorite non-canon ship in Soy Luna?

54. Your favorite non-canon ship in Bia?

55. Least favorite Violetta character

56. Least favorite Soy Luna character

57. Least favorite Bia character

58. Your favorite character from a D+LA show?

59. Favorite Violetta headcanon?

60. Favorite Soy Luna headcanon?

61. Favorite Bia headcanon?

62. Which main character can you relate to the most?

63. Which character in general can you relate to the most?

64. Favorite mean girl?

65. A ship you always forget were a thing

66. What did you know about Violetta before you watched it?

67. What did you know about Soy Luna before you watched it?

68. What did you know about Bia before you watched it?

69. If there's a DCLA show you haven't watched, what have you heard about it from people?

70. Weirdest storyline?

71. What was the biggest crime a DCLA character committed without getting caught, according to you?

72. The most misunderstood character, according to you?

73. A character many people dislike but you like?

74. A character many people like but you dislike?

75. LGBTQ+ headcanons for Violetta characters?

76. LGBTQ+ headcanons for Soy Luna characters?

77. LGBTQ+ headcanons for Bia characters?

78. In D+LA: Best actual queer character?

79. Best endgame couple in Violetta

80. Best endgame couple in Soy Luna

81. Best endgame couple in Bia

82. Best parent/parental figure?

83. Which DCLA show had the best season 1?

84. Which DCLA show had the best season 2?

85. Which DCLA show had the best season 3?

86. If Violetta got a fourth season, what do you want to happen?

87. If Soy Luna got a fourth season, what do you want to happen?

88. If Bia got a third season, what do you want to happen?

89. Best friendship in Violetta

90. Best friendship in Soy Luna

91. Best friendship in Bia

92. Best platonic relationship in general

93. A line from any DCLA show that you quote a lot (note: the line can be dubbed)

94. A character you want/wanted to stay single

95. Cutest scene of your favorite ship

96. Characters with the biggest change in personality througout the show according to you

97. A couple you don't ship but you like them fine

98. A ship that was good but they ruined it

99. Worst scene of your favorite ship

100. Favorite 100th episode of any DCLA show? (This is 2x20 in Violetta and SL and 2x40 in Bia)

101. Favorite first kiss scene

102. Favorite kiss scene in general

103. Worst kiss scene

104. The most memorable character that only appeared for some episodes (Ana, Emma, Daniela, all the girls Maxi tried to date in s1...)

105. Storyline you felt like they just scrapped midway or rather quickly

106. Which DCLA show would you, if you had the chance, rewrite? And how would you rewrite it?

107. First impression of your current favorite character in all of DCLA

108. Something you shipped but not anymore

109. Couple you didn't picture being a thing until they became a thing

110. Best ship that dated but broke up

111. The most underrated dynamic

112. Biggest plot twist in Violetta

113. Biggest plot twist in Soy Luna

114. Biggest plot twist in Bia

115. Most emotional DCLA scene?

116. In which language/s do you watch the shows?

117. Funniest scene in Violetta?

118. Funniest scene in Soy Luna?

119. Funniest scene in Bia?

120. A couple you thought were gonna be endgame but wasn't

121. Gayest scene of Violetta?

122. Gayest scene of Soy Luna?

123. Gayest scene of Bia?

124. If you were in Violetta, which character would you want to be?

125. If you were in Soy Luna, which character would you want to be?

126. If you were in Bia, which character would you want to be?

127. Best siblings of DCLA?

128. Which couple would be most likely to have kids together in the future?

129. Favorite D+LA ship?

130. Best season 1 song of any dcla show

131. Best season 2 song of any dcla show

132. Best season 3 song of any dcla show

133. Worst season 1 of any dcla show

134. Worst season 2 of any dcla show

135. Worst season 3: Violetta or Soy Luna?

136. Favorite storyline in Violetta

137. Favorite storyline in Soy Luna

138. Favorite storyline in Bia

139. Is there any DCLA show you just like more than the others?

140. A character that disappeared from one of the show that you want back

141. Do you have any DCLA merch?

142. Any english dubbed song in Violetta that you actually enjoy?

143. Something you feel never got answered in Violetta?

144. Something you feel never got answered in Soy Luna?

145. Something you feel never got answered in Bia?

146. Which S2 of a D+LA show are you the most excited for?

147. A character you only can picture one person with

148. Your ultimate DCLA NOTP

149. Which DCLA character has the best singing voice?

150. How do you think they would translate the songs in Soy Luna if they english dubbed it?

151. How do you think they would translate the songs in Bia if they english dubbed it?

152. If you would rewrite Violetta season 1, what would you change?

153. If you would rewrite Violetta season 2, what would you change?

154. If you would rewrite Violetta season 3, what would you change?

155. If you would rewrite Soy Luna season 1, what would you change?

156. If you would rewrite Soy Luna season 2, what would you change?

157. If you would rewrite Soy Luna season 3, what would you change?

158. If you would rewrite Bia season 1, what would you change?

159. If you would rewrite Bia season 2, what would you change?

160. Which Violetta character has the best clothes?

161. Which Soy Luna character has the best clothes?

162. Which Bia character has the best clothes?

163. Which Violetta character has the worst clothes?

164. Which Soy Luna character has the worst clothes?

165. Which Bia characters has the worst clothes?

166. Which DCLA character would you like as your aunt? (it does not have to be a character who's actually an aunt in the shows, it can be anyone)

167. Which DCLA character would you like as your uncle? (it does not have to be a character who's actually an uncle in the show, it can be anyone)

168. Which DCLA character/s would you like as your parent/s? (it does not have to be anyone who's actually a parent in the show, it can be anyone)

169. The best DCLA mom?

170. The best DCLA dad?

171. The worst DCLA mom?

172. The worst DCLA dad?

173. The best D+LA parent?

174. The worst D+LA parent?

175. A Violetta song that easily gets stuck in your head

176. A Soy Luna song that easily gets stuck in your head

177. A Bia song that easily gets stuck in your head

178. Any Violetta character you could date?

179. Any Soy Luna character you could date?

180. Any Bia character you could date?

181. A Violetta ship you really don’t see the appeal of

182. A Violetta ship you see the appeal of, but you don’t ship

183. A Soy Luna ship you really don’t see the appeal of

184. A Soy Luna ship you see the appeal of, but you don’t ship

185. A Bia ship you really don’t see the appeal of

186. A Bia ship you see the appeal of, but you don’t ship

187. If you would rank the DCLA shows, how would you rank them and why?

188. How would you rank the seasons of Violetta? Why?

189. How would you rank the seasons of Soy Luna? Why?

190. How would you rank the seasons of Bia? Why?

191. Of the D+LA shows you’ve seen, how would you rank them? Why?

192. The grossest Violetta character and why

193. The grossest Soy Luna character and why

194. The grossest Bia character and why

195. What was the most surprising DCLA-related opinion you ever heard someone have?

196. Unpopular Violetta opinion

197. Unpopular Soy Luna opinion

198. Unpopular Bia opinion

199. Unpopular D+LA related opinion

200. Your favorite 200th episode (this is 3x40 for Violetta and SL and Bia sadly does not have 200 eps)?

201. If you would make a christmas related Violetta episode, how would it look like?

202. If you would make a christmas related Soy Luna episode, how would it look like?

203. If you would make a christmas related Bia episode, how would it look like?

204. Favorite marriage in a DCLA show?

205. In Violetta, how do you picture the characters 10 years from now?

206. In Soy Luna, how do you picture the characters 10 years from now?

207. In Bia, how do you picture the characters 10 years from now?

208. Any DCLA character you really don’t see the hype for?

209. Any popular DCLA-related headcanon that you disagree with?

210. When you rewatched Violetta, how did your opinions change from the first time watching?

211. When you rewatched Soy Luna, how did your opinions change from the first time watching?

212. When you rewatched Bia, how did your opinions change from the first time watching?

213. Any DCLA show you simply like a little less than the others?

214. An out of context Violetta scene you think about a lot

215. An out of context Soy Luna scene you think about a lot

216. An out of context Bia scene you think about a lot

217. A character you think many people are ”wrong” about

218. DCLA ship/s you think broke up after the show ended (or that you want to break up)

219. DCLA ship/s you think are together forever

220. Something in Violetta that you will pretend never happened

221. Something in Soy Luna that you will pretend never happened

222. Something in Bia that you will pretend never happened

223. Do you think you will ever be able to move on from these shows?

224. Favorite DCLA WLW ship

225. Favorite DCLA MLM ship

226. Favorite DCLA M/F friendship

227. A dynamic you think many people sleep on

228. A platonic dynamic in any DCLA show that you dislike

229. Favorite parent-child relationship in a DCLA show

230. Opinions on Tini the movie?

231. Favorite DCLA cast?

232. Sing, draw or roller skate?

233. Which character’s clothing style is the most similar to your own?

234. The best character development of a DCLA character?

235. The worst character development of a DCLA character?

236. Best Violetta performance?

237. Worst Violetta performance?

238. Best Soy Luna performance?

239. Worst Soy Luna performance?

240. Best Bia performance?

241. Worst Bia performance?

242. The hottest Violetta character according to you?

243. The hottest Soy Luna character according to you?

244. The hottest Bia character according to you?

245. Which DCLA main character’s house would you want to live in?

246. The worst scene of your favorite DCLA ship

247. The best season 1 finale

248. The best season 2 finale

249. The best season 3 finale/final episode?

250. A question of your own that you want to ask.

[the-autistic-duck-fan]

Alright, first analysis and we're starting with Season 1! Also I'm still finding my style, so sorry if my analysis seems strange.

I quite like season 1, it's a great start to the incredible legacy and franchise that it would become later. There's definitely some awkwardness and growing pains to it, but there's bound to be, it's season 1. And there's still plenty to like about it.

Season 1 is actually a bit hard for me to talk about. (I've tried to write this analysis three times). I'm not 100% sure why this is, but I'm trying my best here without copying others.

First thing I wanna get out of the way. I like both the Ringo Starr narration and the George Carlin narration for this season. I actually grew up with a bit of both. I can't say I think one is better than the other, they both have their own feel and their own strengths in my eyes. Ringo's monotone also makes me laugh in some spots. George Carlin does a good job of giving characters different voices.

Watching it, you can tell they definitely weren't used to the models yet. Things are more static and less detailed in this season in comparison to the following seasons, but it's not bad. They just needed some time (and a bigger budget) to improve the sets. Another interesting thing is the way it's shot, oftentimes with objects in the foreground and engines in the mid or background. I don't know why it's shot this way, but it's not bad, it just caught my attention. I'm no expert on cinematography though, I can't explain it. It kinda feels like photography sometimes (I mean, I know videos are just many pictures being taken all at once, but still), especially with the more limited motion for the season. I think overall they managed to balance it between taking enough time to tell the stories and moving along enough to keep the children's attention, seeing as the show continued on for a long time.

Another thing I like are the mini arcs for the characters. The one that stands out most to me would have to be Henry's. I actually didn't like Henry as a child and I don't really know why. Now that I'm older, I can relate to him actually. Not in the first part of his arc where he's afraid of rain and goes into tunnel, mind you, but once we get to the second part of his arc, where he needs special coal and needs to be sent to crew. I am someone who struggles with chronic pain and autism. I spent a lot of my life being told that I didn't try hard enough or that nothing was wrong with me except me being lazy, much like Henry. (I've learned to cope much better now, thankfully). Seeing Henry get the support he needed just felt nice and I was rooting for him (despite the fact I know exactly how his arc goes). I've heard others say that The Flying Kipper is their favorite episode and I have to agree.

Another smaller arc I like are Gordon and Thomas' shared arc, where both end up in disgrace and the two agree to work together. It ties up the season in a nice little bow, since the season started with Gordon teaching Thomas a lesson.

James' introductory arc was the one I remembered watching the most. I also remember his rather snazzy theme very well. James was my first favorite character. James entered with a spectacular crash and through a few misadventures learned his lesson. (Well, somewhat, but not really). Despite how many times I watched the James episodes, I don't have much to say about them.

I used to never think much about Toby, but I definitely like him more now that I'm older. He's kind and polite, but also takes no shit. I also like his musical theme.

For now, I don't have much to say about Percy, but I'll definitely have more to say about him later on, since he was introduced late into this season. I just wanted to make sure to note that I didn't forget about him. I do like his cheek though, like when he calls out Gordon for saying he's never had an accident or scares Henry with his wheeshing (is that how it's spelled?)

Season 1 overall is a good start to the series. It's definitely iconic and has made a lasting impact. It's not my favorite season, but it's always fun to revisit. Hopefully I could do it some justice here. I actually enjoyed this analysis, even if it took three tries to get anywhere.

[maya-matlin]

This is probably an idiotic question, but how much do you think Chad/Sophia and Milo/Alexis being in love in real life and that chemistry naturally translating onscreen has to do with why you ship brucas and literati: not a factor whatsoever, a small factor, a mid-sized factor, or a major factor?! I never thought it impacted why I shipped either of them but, honestly, on paper both ships are 'eh' to me and the writing has me cringing at points, but somehow when I actually WATCH them my heart is like 'yup, no matter what your brain says, we want these people together' and I really do think the actors' chemistry factors into that a lot more than I had realized. (The reverse is often true too---like my brain *wants* to ship brulian because they're a 'healthier' ship and Julian gave Brooke her fairy tale ending and all that but my heart is like 'eh, sorry, just not feeling it.') I swear there are a few Gilmore Girls scenes where I'm like 'that's not even Rory and Jess---you can tell by the tone and expression that it's Milo and Alexis lol' and same goes for Chad and Sophia when I rewatch parts of OTH. So I would say the actors' real life love coming through onscreen influences my shipping both those couples a lot, or at least more than I'd realized before. I'm so curious what your take is!

I would personally say that the chemistry has a massive impact. Not necessarily the real life relationships, though I'm sure for some that was part of the fun. Oftentimes, when fictional couples turn into real life couples, both the on screen and off screen dynamics are shipped simultaneously. I mean, it especially plays a large role in terms of Rory's relationship with Jess and their continued popularity. Their on screen relationship didn't last long at all. Milo choosing to leave at the end of season 3 and only appearing sparingly after that meant Rory and Jess never got a proper second chance or even a semblance of one beyond one kiss in season 6. Yet, their relationship is massively popular and touched so many fans. It's the definitive Rory romance even though she dated both Dean and Logan for longer. While Jess got a big push considering he was a real character with his own arc and story lines as opposed to Dean and Logan who primarily revolved around Rory with little things happening in their lives here and there (Dean's failed marriage, Logan's constant battle with Mitchum) that Rory would typically be there to observe, it's undeniable that what they shared on screen can't really be described as a successful romance. Both Rory and Jess had good intentions, but Jess also had a lot of problems that he needed to work through. He genuinely loved Rory, wanted to make her happy, and seemed committed to staying together after high school, but then his personal demons got in the way. So as a result, Jess let Rory down and failed to properly communicate the things that could have brought them closer as a couple. But, damn. The chemistry.

You see little moments like this on the show and also out of context in so many edits. You almost forget how badly things ended. Because how can you not love them?! And back to the chemistry. It never felt as natural with Rory's other boyfriends. I think it was more believable with Logan than Dean, but overall this looked effortless.

Also, Chad and Sophia. Good god. I don't know specifics about Milo and Alexis, but by all accounts Chad and Sophia's short-lived marriage ended in complete disaster to the point it's widely speculated that it played a role in how the endgames played out contrary to what everyone behind the scenes claims. Whatever Brooke and Lucas were intended to be in any given season (and I personally think that during season 2 at the least they might have been endgame), their chemistry far outshone the official Lucas/Peyton pairing. It was just so raw, you know?

These are all different phases. Through their initial relationship to the separating/divorcing era to firmly divorced, that chemistry never went away. Even when the underlying subtext isn't supposed to equal Brucas, the fact their love was once real off screen meant that it never 100% went away. Lucas could say a million lines about what Peyton means to him and how he's never been happier, but it never packed the same punch as the look on his face when he's around Brooke. And I'm not stupid. This is not pro-Chad and Sophia. The man got engaged to a high school senior. I'm not here to debate his real life thoughts and feelings for his ex-wife. I'm also aware acting exists. But if we're talking about real life relationships and on screen chemistry, it's relevant. For them at least, what went down in real life made the love story between Brooke and Lucas feel real.

As for Brooke and Julian/Sophia and Austin, it's interesting how it all kind of inverted. This is a good example of how other times, what's happening in real life doesn't make a difference in regards to on screen couples. On screen, Brooke and Julian were perfectly fine. I'd probably say they had the most heat in season 6 when Sophia and Austin were still figuring out whether they wanted to be together, but the Brooke/Julian relationship overall never had the same passion and effortless on screen affection. It never looked as put on as Lucas/Peyton scenes, but it was never exciting. So I definitely see what you're saying. On paper, Brooke and Julian was the right ending. It was evident how much Julian loved Brooke and that they'd formed an incredibly strong relationship throughout seasons 6-9. But because of the differences in chemistry, it doesn't feel quite as impactful. With Brooke and Lucas, it's like their love for one another is so overwhelming and impossible to turn off even when they want to. With Brooke and Julian, they love each other and it's really nice to have that comforting love after years of failed romances. But it's not necessarily the romance that jumps out.

See, this is very sweet. They're doing everything right. But it's just not the same.

[wafflesinthe504]

The Rookie 5x15 Thoughts

Spoilers for The Rookie 5x15 below. If you've watched the episode or don't care about spoilers, please enjoy!

I'll be honest this was probably one of my favorite episodes as of recently. It felt like a truly ensemble show with everyone having some screen time and different people playing different but important roles in the overall story. Also, this felt more like a proper crossover episode with between The Rookie and The Rookie: Feds than some of the other official crossovers.

The FBI and the LAPD are playing an extremely dangerous game by trying to con Elijah and Abril and its going to be really interesting how the rest of this story line ends up playing out.

As we know Angela, Wesley, and probably the rest of the Mid-Wilshire crew are far from safe. Abril and Elijah now know that they were being conned and are now teaming up to take down Wesley and Angela. I think that the way that this storyline is being written has effectively raised the stakes for everyone involved.

The build up throughout the episode of seeing Angela and Wesley doing their parts to begin the con on Elijah and Abril respectively and then seeing how the FBI and the LAPD came together to setup an operation to try to take on both of these guys at the same had me on the edge of my seat. At the end when the operation fell apart, I could feel the pain and disappointment of everyone especially Angela. Alyssa Diaz really knocked it out of the park this episode.

I loved seeing Angela and Wesley in the spotlight. I can't wait to see how the rest of this storyline plays out. I wouldn't be surprised if the last episodes of the season end up being full blown crossovers because its going to have to be one serious team effort to take down Elijah and Abril.

Wade was right about Garza's plan to try to take down these two basically being something that could blow up in their faces with just smallest hiccup and as we have seen there has been a hiccup and it's a pretty large one. I wouldn't be surprised if the consequences of this case are going to eventually catch up to him and his own team.

Alright, over to Nolan's portion of the episode. Even though I enjoyed John's storyline enough on its own I felt like the choice to pull him away from the Mid-Wilshire crew during such an important storyline felt off. I get the John's mom died last episode and they were addressing that but it just felt like a completely different episode whenever they transitioned over to him.

I feel like this entire storyline could have waited just one more episode. Or if they have to incorporate Nolan's mom passing storyline make it match the tone of the rest of the episode. I know and love that The Rookie is technically a drama/comedy but its not like we've never seen completely serious episode before. They did it with 2x11 and 3x01 along probably a few others that I'm forgetting right now and I think that making it so that this episode was completely serious would have been appropriate for everything that was going on in the rest of the episode.

Nolan's parts of the episode almost felt like one of those Hallmark mystery shows. I feel like this would have been a great time to show Nolan struggling with the fact that his mom died and they weren't able to fix the relationship before she passed. Or him struggling with the fact that the one time that his mom actually needed his help he wasn't there to answer. We know that Nolan is an extremely empathetic person and we just didn't see it this episode. Seeing that side of him would have really helped to create a deeper and more complex character.

For someone who is supposed to be the main character I feel like he is the character who gets the least amount of development in the show because some way, somehow everything ends up working out for him and rarely is there ever any long-term consequences for him. Nolan not being in the action of what I would consider to be the main story this episode only ends up furthering this idea.

I really want to like Nolan more than I currently do, but for that to happen he's needs to actually be treated like a main character in other ways than just him having a lot of screen time. For me if anything this episode really just proved that nearly anybody else has the potential to be the main character other than Nolan thanks to the continuous development and rising stakes that nearly every other character gets.

Bonus: Since we saw a few of The Rookie Feds characters tonight I will say on their show I don't have this complaint with any of the characters. For me every character has just enough depth and complexity that it doesn't feel like one is outshining the other. Obviously, it's not perfect but it does feel a bit more balanced.

______________________________________________________________

Hope you enjoyed. If you want come chat with me in the comments about anything The Rookie related.

Until next time have a good day or night!

And of course, Happy Valentine's Day! 🌹💐

P.S. If you're interested, I wrote a Chenford Valentine's Day fic that you can find right here!

[nimata-beroya]

MY THOUGHTS ON TBB 2×05 "Entombed"

Oh, how much fun I had watching this one! I loved the full-on Indiana Jones-y vibe it had! Just perfect! And even better with Hunter's tired dad™ mood 😂😂😂 I swear he and Din and competing for the Space Dad who heaves more sighs Award, and they're head-to-head.

And I like Phee here, more than I did in the premiere. She's growing on me.

But before I share more of my thoughts about Entombed, this review will begin with a rant about the fandom. I'll hide it below the cut, so anyone wanting to skip it, can do that.

I know what so many in the fandom are saying. That this was a filler episode, even more so than last week's. And I ask, what if it was??!! What's wrong with that? I don't know exactly when and why people starting disliking filler episodes. When a filler episode became such a bad thing?

Let me tell you something: filler scenes/chapters/episodes are an important part of storytelling. They allow managing the pace, the intensity, and impact of the story. The overall plot needs room to breathe, to let the subtle things told to sink in. If a story is intense 95% of the time, it loses its impact.

Fans seem to forget what's coming. We've seen the trailers. Next week, we'll probably see Gungi, which means revisiting order 66 (again), probably horrible massacres in Kashyyyk and/or slave trade, or something equally bad, so it's NOT going to be a lighthearted episode. And the next week after that, it's the 2 mid-season episodes, which means Rex, Coruscant, Palpatine, and I'm pretty sure the first run-in of the batch with Cross after Kamino. Yeah, that's going to be so much fun /sarcasm/.

I'm pretty sure that the same people that complains about fillers are who complain about rushed plots and underdeveloped characters, etc. All they want is that they tell the season's complete full-arc story in just one episode. You can't have both ways. It's impossible.

Either you have a rushed story from beginning to end, told only with the essential and ignoring great character development, and having only shallow connections, or a story that can slow down, so its characters can grow and make deeper connections with others.

Besides, those who say the episode didn't bring anything to the overall plot should pay more attention. The foreshadowing at the end of "Faster" and how the batch got to know more Phee in this episode are related.

I know, I know! Some of you might be having this meme in your heads right now

But hear me out.

Millegi warned Tech, Wrecker, and Omega about Cid, which seems to foreshadow that she will betray them in the near future. Maybe she will, maybe she won't, but if she does or dies or get arrested or get out of the picture for whatever reason, maybe Phee could become another, more fair source of jobs for the boys (like she offered to them go 50-50 in the treasure hunt). Perhaps she's the one who ends up betraying them and not Cid; or maybe Phee joins the rebellion along with them. I don't know. There are so many possible routes to go with her that's impossible to know which one will be at the end. But whatever that is, there's a reason for the boys to have worked with her directly in this episode that we don't know. We aren't supposed to know yet!

Or you know what? Maybe it was just that; a time to have fun. I think one of the themes for season 1 was survival. They did that, they escaped the Empire and are having a life on their own.

A theme for season 2 could be learning to have a life, not just survive, and sure this episode seems to show them to do something just for fun, to explore the galaxy and learn about things they've never seen before.

So for the love of everything you hold dear, have a little patience and enjoy the show. And If you don't enjoy it, stop watching! Nobody is holding you at gunpoint, so you watch it. So, just stop.

Well, with that out of my chest, let's get into the episode.

I love Wrecker and Omega continue with their amazing dynamic. I love them so much 🥰

Tech and Hunter less than impressed with Phee's embellished story is hilarious

Cute of Omega being excited to go treasure hunting. It seems she has taken the liking of it.

I like that mom and dad Hunter and Echo seems to be more in the same page right now, but Echo, my dear, it's just a tad hypocritical of you having doubts about accepting this job when it was you who kinda pushed it last time. I guess you learned your lesson 🤣

I didn't catch it in the first time I watched the episode, but (as Alex from Star Wars Explained in YT says) Omega is copying Phee (like she did with Hunter last season), and Hunter is jealous about it!! Omg!! That's so funny 😂 and so true.

Like I said before, I love the callbacks to Indiana Jones throughout the episode.

Ha! Even Tech is curious about the treasure now 🤣

I knew that creature was going to appear on ths episode

Oh no! They got separated 🫤

Hunter walking on those stone slabs made me so nervous, I was expecting something like that to happen. A booby trap was guaranteed

🤣🤣omg! Hunter is so so tired, so done

Don do it, Phre! Don't take it out! Don't! *Sighs* i knew it

What the hell!? It's the Mech?!! I didn't see that coming

Oh dank farrik!! It's what destroyed the planet before!

Dammit Phee don't fall down!!!

Phew! Thanks Hunter

Oh the poor droid! Nooooo!!! 😭😭😭

Hey! There's a continuity error there!! The window was broken, then it wasn't 🙈 Omega breaks it twice

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhh!!!! Hurry up!!! No the marauder!! Noooooooooooo!

Oh thank goodness!!!

The scene with mech falling reminded me to the one in season 1 in Bracca and the ion engine

Hunter's dad instinct at its peak there too

Tech roasting Phee the professional... The best!

Well, a fun episode to soften us, so the blows in the next 2 weeks hurt twice as much.

[templeofshame]

did you ever get around to fully finishing stranger things? what did you think of the ending? love hearing your Thots and Onions lol

To be honest my friend and I are waiting on the second half of the s4 finale until s5 is out.  Yeah, that's weird, but I know most of what happens and it's mostly a bumner, so we haven't felt motivated to finish after she fell asleep mid-ep, and we got into Yellowjackets instead.

I do still have opinions though...

like I think Mike sucks this season and I don't buy him and El this season; they were so cute in the beginning but now they're all performative, lies and superheroes and I'm not sure he even sees her as a person, it's Very Important that El has people who care about her as a person and not as a magical deus ex machina. I do know he's gonna say he loves her like 6 times, I'm sure he believes it, I don't buy it.

I also feel like this season has a plot about trauma/survivor's guilt (via vecna/victims) and abuse (via el and a bit max) and I'm not sure very thoughtful about what it's saying about them. Forcing El to go work with her abuser, Max grieving hers, the relationship between Max and Nancy and El and others in terms of survivor's guilt... these are super complex interesting things that get barely touched on. And with Chrissy's apparent trauma seeming relatively mundane compared to what literally every major character has been through (and I forget what Patrick's is, is his name Patrick?), vecna's choices seem kinda weak. Maybe he says something in the second half but I'd rather them have all been dealing with survivor's guilt specifically.

I felt like the guitar scene was anticlimactic and weird for how much buildup eddie the guitarist had, and the plan seemed kinda bad? I guess it's harder for me to say how things should work though because the rules of the Upside Down have substantially changed since s1, like in this Upside Down Will and Barb could've just hid in someone's house with barely any tentacles, there seem to be lots of safe places.

What else... I think Jason was more worried about people thinking Chrissy was cheating on him than Chrissy's death. I think the jock death mob has vibes of that hyena episode of Buffy, and overall I think we could have a lot less of them (I like Lucas being caught in the middle but otherwise they're uninteresting). I wish Eddie was a little less musical theatre in that first scene, it just felt like he was in a totally different show than anyone else (possibly Rent, or Glee). The issues for Nancy & Jonathan feel very contrived and the show trying to throw Steve at Nancy is just annoying. There was no logical reason for her to date him twice, let again another time. Also could've done with less Hopper torture porn, like we get that it sucks. Similarly with the bullying, it's so over the top that it took me out of things rather than really hitting me. I think I've posted already about how the characterization of Robin changed so much and while she has great lines, it doesn't feel like her (and like is it because we know she's a lesbian now that she can't be snarky coolgirl anymore and has to be dorky mess?).

The positives! Love Argyle. The scenes with Will & Mike and Will & Jonathan are lovely heartstring pulls, so well done. (Will deserves better than Mike, but he's young and stupid so). I don't overall love how separate everyone is this season but for that setup, love the whole pizza freezer thing. I love Murray, I love Joyce&Hopper (even though irl I would 100% tell her not to touch a man with that much assault history with a 10-ft pole). Lucas finally gets material to work with and his acting has gotten so good! Running Up That Hill is obviously a great song. I am biased by fic but after that initial scene, I like Eddie and his face. I love the humor.

I'm probably forgetting a lot! I'm sure I'll be bummed about how only Dustin and Wayne seem to care about Eddie's death, and how much of the season was about protecting him just to have him die anyway. I'm sure I'll be annoyed they don't kill vecna. I'm sure I'll be worried about Max.

[showtoonzfan]

I always feel bad when it comes to a character like Moxxie. To me, he was the only tolerable character in the whole show of Helluva Boss, being the closest thing to a kind person and having braincells, unlike the other air headed main characters. I really liked him in the pilot, he was a sensitive demon being surrounded by crazy characters, but was crazy himself in a way and didn’t take shit from mostly anyone. Sadly in the show, he downgraded a LOT, and changed for me.

Moxxie had potential to be such a good character in the show, and it kinda started out that way. Despite his character arc in the first episode being a little plothole-ish (meaning why would he take a job as an assassin if he wasn’t comfortable killing innocent people), I did like it overall, as he had to learn there are people out there who are just crazy and far gone, but they deserve to live their lives before they end up in the same place he is. You can quickly sympathize with a character like him, and it would have been interesting to deep dive into why he’s so decent, and more of his outlooks on life and the society around him. Sadly, as time moved on my views on him changed, mainly how poorly the writing treated him. Before I get to the actual criticisms, I do want to say that while I found him decent to watch, now he’s just……annoying, but that’s only for me. I don’t know how to explain why I feel that way, maybe it’s Richard’s voice, or the unfunny way Vivzie writes him whenever he’s just being himself, but now I find him annoying. Not despicable or AGGRAVATING to watch like Blitzo, but just……mid, and annoying. But let’s forget that and talk about his 2 MAJOR issues to why his character doesn’t work for me anymore.

Everyone has heard this criticism before, but I have to state it again because it’s one of the most important things. Moxxie’s ENTIRE character in the show is just that he’s a useless punching bag. It would make sense at first, because he’s sort of a fish out of water character, being a decent person despite being in hell, but good lord, the show goes out of it’s way to TORTURE and rip on this guy every chance they get that you’d swear they hate him. Moxxie being picked on was NEVER funny to me, but even if it was, it got old really REALLY fast. Like….we get it show. Moxxie is a wimp who’s weak and sensitive. You don’t need to have almost every character around him stating that TWENTY FOUR SEVEN. I don’t get the appeal, it’s not even charming or likable to see people rip on him, heck it’s not even the characters alone, half the time he’ll get thrown around, beat up, or hurt in some shape or form and it’s just not pleasant to watch. I don’t laugh when it happens, every time I see Moxxie slander I just get more and more aggravated because it’s a character who DOESN’T deserve it at all. And yes, while a character getting tortured who did nothing wrong CAN be funny from time to time, especially when it comes to running gags but……..again……the jokes towards Moxxie got old very quick, and it doesn’t help that part of our MAIN characters’s personality is to rip on this guy every…….chance……he gets. It’s bad enough the show acts like he’s nothing to them, but for the main character to abuse him every time they freaking interact, yeah…..that’s a huge turn off. I’m so sick of watching Moxxie just get pushed and yanked around in every damn episode, he can’t catch a break and it feels like Viv is choosing character favorites simply because Moxxie is actually a decent guy and isn’t “edgy and cool” like the others are. It’s sad to watch.

Finally, the biggest turnoff and disappointment when it comes to Moxxie’s character is that in season 1, he goes through the SAME…..arc over and OVER again, and this is important because it’s one of my MAJOR criticisms in the show.

When he’s not being the punching bag or loyal to Millie, his whole character is that he needs to learn that he’s not a wimp and has to prove everyone (including himself) that even though he’s not strong or wealthy or big and scary, he can be useful and have a purpose. He’s a very insecure character, so part of that comes into his arc because he believes he isn’t enough at times and can’t do right. Now don’t get me wrong, arcs like these are completely okay. There’s nothing wrong with giving your character an arc like this, I mean it makes sense since Moxxie is a softer demon around a bunch of crazy characters, HOWEVER the way they handle him is the problem. For starters, it doesn’t help that the world surrounding Moxxie always beats him down no matter what. I could get past maybe one or two characters ripping on him, but in this show it feels like the whole UNIVERSE is against him. Why have a character go through an arc where they have to learn they’re worthy if the world around them will just beat him up for laughs regardless? Moxxie will never win no matter what, the show will keep using him as the punching bag no matter what he learns, an example of this would be episode 1. In episode 1, Moxxie gets shitted on for being sensitive. He’s hesitant about killing innocent people, and he’s seen as a fuck up. After realizing his target was a monstrous family, he still wanted to give them a chance regardless because his viewpoint was that they deserve to finish their lives and have a purpose. Of course though, the show gets the last laugh as the family just up and dies, traumatizing Moxxie. In the end he’s still just seen as a fuck up, the episode practically degrading Moxxie’s feelings. This isn’t necessarily about the whole “same arc” issue, but I wanted to bring it up quickly because I’m SO sick of the “Lol Moxxie’s a wimp” moments or even episodes. Like….it gets so tiring, like I said before….I get it show, he’s a wimp.

But yeah, regarding the whole same arc thing, let’s discuss that. Like I said, he always needs to prove himself and show that he’s strong, and……that’s it, and THAT’S the issue. I swear, there aren’t ANY other arcs Moxxie has had that don’t revolve around him being a wimp and I can’t stand it. Like…..talk about not knowing what to do with a character. I’ll give episode 1 credit, his sort of arc was good, until the episode just botched it in the end so it doesn’t count. The next episode he gets an arc would be in episode 5, which….yeah is the arc I discussed. Millie’s parents don’t approve of him, everyone seems to like Striker who’s stronger and can fight, and Moxxie wants to prove he’s worthy of being an assassin and being Millie’s husband. In episode 6, he vents out his frustrations about how cruel Blitz is to him, and that he’s scared of rejection, probably meaning he’s scared of people not seeing his worth and turning him away. Then in episode 7, he just gets shitted on for being all lovey dovey. While you could argue this isn’t a lot of examples, I still feel the way I feel. It genuinely always feels like the writers have no idea what to do with him. He’s either the weak punching bag, the weird wimp, of the adorable lover to his wife. That’s it, he honestly isn’t anything else and it’s funny because he does HAVE development, it’s just the same theme. Like you’re going to tell me there isn’t ANY other arcs for him Viv? Something that doesn’t have to do with him being small, weak and vulnerable? He’s one of the MAIN characters yet there feels like there’s barley anything to him. I think the biggest complaint out of all of this that I thought I personally thought he was 10 times better in the pilot!

In the pilot, Moxxie was still a soft sensitive character, but at the same time he CLEARLY spoke his mind whenever he wanted to, and didn’t put up with Blitz’s bullcrap, or at the very least, he would always say something back. In the actual show however, it almost feels like his personality is different. The show just upped the sensitivity and insecurity he had to the MAXES, and most of the time whenever someone backs him down, Moxxie just takes it instead of firing back. The only time Moxxie genuinely stood up for himself was in episode 6, and that’s it. All the other episodes, he’s kinda just lets people walk all over him, and is thrown around for laughs. It feels like a HUGE downgrade to how he was in the pilot, and it’s just disappointing to see that he’s not really an interesting character anymore all because the show wants to use him as their punching bag. I’m also not happy for season 2 regarding him, because we have yet to meet his bad mobster father. I bet 50 bucks that it’s ganna be another “I’m a wimp, so I have to prove everyone I’m not”, arc, aka the SAME damn arc. I just hope he gets explored more in season 2, because there’s not much to him. We know he likes musical theater, we know he’s loyal to his wife, and we know he’s the gun expert, but that’s it. There’s so much you could explore with this character, like why he took the job of an assassin, why he’s so nice, what’s his outlook on Hell’s society, what was it like growing up in the wrath ring and how he became so skilled, there’s a whole bunch of interesting things you can do with him, and I pray that for ONCE the show gives him a break and just lets him be HIMSELF without getting trampled by the rest of the cast. He’s a main character, and he deserves to shine in a new good way instead of being the same thing over and over again. My point still stands about what I said earlier, I do find him meh and annoying now, but that doesn’t mean I don’t want to see him written well. I want him to breathe on his own as a character without Millie, without Blitz, just himself so we can learn more about him and connect with him. My doubts for season 2 are still high, but since the crew is saying it’s about the character’s “journeys”, let’s just hope Moxxie gets his time to shine. Thank you for reading! With that said, what are your thoughts on Moxxie? Do you agree or disagree with me? Let me know in the comments, and I’ll see you soon! 💕

[octaviasdread]

any girls! dark academia movie recs? i really struggle to find anything not about a group of boys (as much as I love them)

SO MANY!!! This is probably a far more detailed answer than you were expecting but this is a popular question and I want to keep a list for myself and others.

Feel free to add to it/give opinions. I've tried to give a tw for anything I can remember

Girls! Dark Academia Movies/TV Shows

Mona Lisa Smile (2003)

1950s Women’s college

Art professor! Julia Roberts

She’s legit the female Mr Keating of the art & college world

Feminism vs. Tradition

Maggie Gyllenhall x Ginnifer Goodwin; their characters were more than friends. Fight me.

Does not end how you expect

Strike!/All I Wanna Do/The Hairy Bird (1998)

MY FAVOURITE!!!

Free on YouTube under one of its various names

Comedy

1960s all girls boarding school

Young Kirsten Dunst

Group of girls plot to sabotage a merger with a boys school less prestigious than their own

Secret attic clubhouse meetings of the D.A.R aka Daughters of the American Ravioli (eaten cold, ew)

girls get political & advocate for their rights using ANY elaborate and chaotic scheme

TW: eating disorder, vomiting & creepy male teacher but the girls plot against him too

The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (1969)

based on a short book I read for uni by Muriel Spark

1930s girls school in Edinburgh

Scottish teacher! Maggie Smith, controversial with a focus on romantic ideals

Spoiler alert, the liberal teacher is actually a fascist

Her group of fave students has cult- vibes and it’s fascinating

Picnic at Hanging Rock

1970s movie or 2018 mini series

Never watched either but I plan to

Wild Child (2008)

00s romcom every UK teen girl loves

Emma Roberts as the spoiled rich American teenager sent to a strict English boarding school

Plots to get herself expelled but oh no she’s making friends with the girls who help her

And the headmistress has a hot son, and he’s nice??? Double oh no

ICONIC SCENES

Everything! Goes! Wrong!

omg she burns the school down

Feel good, comfort, nostalgia

St Trinians (2007)

English girls boarding school

The kids are all criminals, no joke

So are the teachers

CHAOTIC

gay awakening for british girls

Art heist pulled off by school girls

Government tries to shut them down but oh no, the education minister & the headmistress are ex-lovers

Colin Firth x Rupert Everett in drag

Superior cast: Jodie Whittaker, Gemma Arterton, Juno Temple, Stephen Fry, Colin Firth, etc...

embodies the phrase 'problematic fave'

St Trinians 2: The Legend of Fritton’s Gold (2009)

Mystery, pirate ancestors, hidden treasure

omg Shakespeare was a woman

girls disguised as boys to infiltrate and rob the posh boys school

Villain! David Tennant in that ICONIC boat scene

Teen girls vs. ancient misogynist brotherhood

like the first film but MORE chaotic and BETTER!???

The Falling (2014)

1960s all girls school

best friends! but its unrequited love

Agoraphobic + distant mother aka mommy issues

Sudden death and the school suppresses/ignores the students grief, sparking mass hysteria & a fainting epidemic in the girls

Cast: Maisie Williams (GoT) & Florence Pugh (Little Women) & Joe Cole (Peaky Blinders)

TW: teen pregnancy, death, vomiting, underage s*x, sibling inc*st, past s*xual assault

READ THE PLOT SUMMARY FIRST

The Book Thief (2013)

Based on an amazing book by Markus Zusak

set in 1940s Nazi Germany

Daughter of a communist whose family were taken by the Nazis/died is fostered by an older couple who teach her to read & she paints a dictionary on the basement walls

Coming of age story about a compulsive book thief. No joke, this kid steals books from banned book burnings and breaks into the mayor's library through the window

Family hides the Jewish son of an old friend in their basement and he helps her to start writing about her experiences in the war

TW: death, bombings, WW2 anti-semitism

Mary Shelley (2017)

Overall good & roughly biographical

Pretty costumes and aesthetic

Modern feminist take on Mary Shelly in her own time period

So many INACCURACIES for the drama so don’t take it as truth

Percy Shelley slander and not all of it is justified

Cast: Elle Fanning, Douglas Booth, and Maisie Williams

The Secret Garden (1993)

Based on a fave childhood book

1901 colonial India & Yorkshire, England

Orphaned, spoilt & neglected girl sent to live with her reclusive Uncle in the English countryside

Gothic elements, mysteries, secret doors/passages/locked gardens

local boy with a flock of animals, magic, kids chanting around a fire and all around immaculate vibes

Happy ending!!!

Hidden Figures (2016)

African-American women as mathematicians for NASA

1960s space project

Women balancing a career and family obligations

Deals with racial & gender discrimination

Loosely based on the lives of Katherine Johnson, Mary Jackson, and Dorothy Vaughan who worked for NASA as engineers & mathematicians

Anne of Green Gables (1985) & sequel (1987)

Adaptation L.M. Montgomery’s ‘Anne of Green Gables’ books

Canada (late 1890s/early 1900s)

Highly imaginative & bookworm orphan is adopted by a reclusive elderly brother and sister duo

Small town & school years comedic drama

Unrequited Enemies -> Friends -> lovers

Inspiring new woman teacher

Girls re-enact Tennyson’s poem and nearly drown for the aesthetic™

Dramatic poetry reading with INTENSE 👀eye contact👀

Writer! Anne & English teacher! Anne dealing with unruly girls school antics

Collette (2018)

biographical drama on french writer Sidonie-Gabrielle Collette

Victorian & Edwardian era France

More talented than her husband so she ghostwrites for him

Fight for creative ownership of her wildly successful novels

Affairs with a woman called Georgie and also with Missy, born female but masculine presenting

Cast: Keira Knightly, Dominic West, Eleanor Tomlinson (Poldark)

Enola Holmes (2020)

Netflix book adaptation

Younger sister of Sherlock Holmes

Victorian era! feminism/suffragettes

Mother-daughter focus

Mystery, adventure, secret codes, teens running away & escaping from (and eventually fighting) assassins

Cast: Helena Bonham Carter, Henry Cavill, Sam Claflin, Fiona Shaw, Millie Bobby Brown

Ginger & Rosa (2012)

1960s England

best friends since literal birth navigating troubled teen years

poet & anti-nuclear activist! Ginger

off the rails but also catholic! Rosa

Shout out to Mark & Mark the gay godfathers we all want

family troubles 

TW: older man has an affair with a 17 yr old

Testament of Youth (2014)

based on WW1 memoir by Vera Brittain

young woman (writer & poetry lover) escapes traditional family & goes to study at Oxford University

abandons to become a war nurse

romance, tragedy and war trauma

Cast: Alicia Vikander, Kit Harrington (GoT), Taron Edgerton (Rocketman), Colin Morgan (Merlin)

Little Women (2019)

Writer! Jo & Artist! Amy

Mother/daughter focus and sister dynamics

the March sisters’ theatre club is *chefs kiss*

champagne problems edits of Jo x Laurie are a mood

Ambivalent ending perfectly captures Louisa May Alcott’s dilemma with the book the movie is based on

set in 1860s America

ALL STAR CAST and a Greta Gerwig masterpeice

Lady Bird (2017)

coming of age in early 2002/2003 Sacramento, California

all girls catholic school

writer! Christine aka Lady Bird wants to get outta town and start her life again at college 'in a city with culture'

Mother/daughter dynamics - so realistic!

I live for that Jesus car stunt & the nun's reaction

school theatre program

Cast: Saoirse Ronan, Timothee Chalamet, Beanie Feldstein

Another Greta Gerwig gem

Beguiled (2017)

Virginia, civil war era

Girls school with only five students and two teachers left

Find an injured Union army soldier & bring him inside

Women & teenagers want his attention (v. problematic) before uniting against him

(tbh you'll either love it, hate it, or watch once & forget it)

Sofia Coppola film so its very feminine gaze

TW: violence, death, underage

Legally Blonde (2001)

No questions will be taken

Elle Woods was the blue print

TV series:

House of Anubis (2011-2013)

I know it’s a kids/young teen show but I still unironically love it

ANCIENT EGYPT!!!!

Modern day with Victorian era links to treasure hunters & Egyptian research expeditions (stealing from tombs)

Chosen one plot lines, curses, kidnapping, mysteries, secret tunnels under the school, elixir of life

Teens have investigate & protect themselves cus oh no the TEACHERS are involved in some shady stuff

new American kid at British boarding school is the actual premise not just a fanfic au

Nostalgic, light-hearted, funny, and kinda cheesy but I will accept no criticism

The Alienist (2018 -now)

Mid 1890s, New York

Woman’s private detective agency (Season 2)

Serial killer mystery

Woman secretary turns detective and teams up with a criminal psychiatrist and a newspaper editor to solve crime

TW: violence, child pr*stit*tion

Cast: Dakota Fanning, Luke Evans, Daniel Bruhl

The Queen’s Gambit (2020)

Woman chess prodigy

1950s & 1960s

TW: drug & alcohol abuse

Gentleman Jack (2019 - now)

Based on the diaries of Anne Lister

Victorian Yorkshire, England

Upper-class lesbians

Confident, suit wearing! Anne Lister x shy! Ann Walker

Business woman! Anne running the family mines

Cast: Suranne Jones (Doctor Foster) & Sophie Rundle (Peaky Blinders)

TW: violence

Gilmore Girls (2000-2007)

bubbly/ambitious single mom + intelligent daughter

bookworm! Rory Gilmore gets into a prestigious private school and then an Ivy League college

Small town drama is comedic gold

Fast dialogue packed with pop culture and literary references

Comforting & nostalgic

TEAM JESS

Anne with an E (2017-2019)

Loose adaptation of L.M. Montgomery’s ‘Anne of Green Gables’ books

they completely change the plot lines but it’s still very good content!

Orphan girl with trauma and a love of books/poetry is adopted by an elderly brother & sister duo, bringing light and fresh ideas to a rural community

Feminism, girls writing club, lgbtq safe spaces, girls eduction, black/indigenous representation

Miss Stacy as THAT inspiring teacher

Aunt Josephine’s lavish gay parties have my heart

TW: creepy male teacher tries to marry a student, racial discrimination, indigenous assimilation school

Victoria (2016-2019)

Adaption of Queen Victoria’s life

Victoria navigating her political, royal, and personal life

Albert’s involvement with The Great Exhibition, 1851 (on cultural + industrial innovations)

Alfred Paget x Edward Drummond is exquisite

Gorgeous costumes and aesthetics

TW: bury your gays trope

Derry Girls (2018-now)

1990s Northern Ireland during the troubles

Comedy, episodes 20-25 mins long

English boy sent to an all girls Catholic school with his cousin

✨Dead Poets Society parody episode ✨with a free-spirited female teacher

Sister Michael, the sarcastic nun who hates her job & reads the exorcist for giggles

Wee anxious lesbian! Clare Devlin (plus her friends wearing rainbow pins)

Badass with bad ideas! Michelle Mallon

Main Character! Erin Quinn

Lovable weirdo who would fight a polar bear! Orla McCool

Wee English fella & honorary Derry girl! James Maguire

Dickinson (2019-now)

Loose adaption of the poet Emily Dickinson’s life

Set in 19th century Massachusetts, US

Historical drama with modern dialogue & music that works SEAMLESSLY

gives a great understanding of Emily Dickinson’s poems

💕Vintage gays! Emily x Sue💕

Theatre club, writing, poetry, dressing as men to sneak into lectures, love letters, teen drama, feminism, and an underground abolitionist journal as a brief side plot in season 2

Wiz Khalifa plays death in a horse drawn carriage

TW: opium use

A Series of Unfortunate Events (2017-2019)

Based on great childhood books

Bookworm! brother, Inventor! sister, and baby sister with sharp teeth

Mystery, secret organisations, orphaned siblings figuring things out & fending for themselves against the villain after their fortune

Adults either cartoon evil, comedically incompetent, or SPIES

Boarding school, library owner, scientific researcher, and theatre episodes

Ambiguous time period which is really fun to try and pin point

Killing Eve (2018-now)

Classic detective who has homoerotic tension with the assassin she is tracking down

British Detective! Eve Polastri figures out the notorious assassin MI5 are investigating is a woman, is fired & then put on a secret MI6 case with a small team

Assassin! Villanelle, a psychopath with a tragic past and a mastery of both accents & fashion

Woman MI6 boss! Carolyn Martens, head of Russian section

Travel Europe following Villanelle’s killings and escaping the assassins sent by Villanelle’s organisation

‘You’re supposed to be my enemy and moral opposite but omg you’re the only one smart enough to get me and why am I obsessed with you????'

🚨 GO IN FOR A KISS AND THEN STAB YOUR ENEMY 🚨

Cable Girls/Las chicas del cable (2017-2020)

Spanish drama set in 1920s Madrid

Four young women at a telecommunications company form a group of friends and help navigate the difficult situations they are all in

Secret identities, dangerous pasts, murder, crime, lgbtq couple & throuple, trans man character, feminism/suffragists

girls commit crimes for humanitarian reasons and cover! it! up!

UNDERRATED SHOW!!!!

Gorgeous costumes and set

Haven’t finished it yet and I’m catching up

TW: abuse, violence, death

Outlander (2014 - now)

haven’t watched yet but plan to

Woman time travels to Scotland, 1743

Rebel highlanders, pirates, British colonies, American revolutionary war

Time jumps between 18th & 20th century

[starsstruck]

strange phenomena; part one.

what happens when we meet again? you and harry have barely seen each other in almost a year. two ex-lovers find themselves in the same snowy town by strange chance, both looking for something they can’t seem to figure out. cafe run-ins, old love letters, and bittersweet nostalgia. 

pairing: harry x reader warnings: language, slight mention of sexual content words: 13.3k

series masterlist

an: thank you for being patient with me. this is just a little story from my little heart shaped brain. thank you to @sunflowers-styles​ for beta-ing and being supportive and the overall best 💌 i hope everyone enjoys and please do let me know what you think ! happy reading xoxo 💌

There was something unsettling about not having a schedule.

Your entire life, you had been told that you weren't supposed to  quit a job without having another one already lined up, and you had been able to keep up with that. Until now.

The impulse to leave the office that left you frustrated, tired, and overworked had been bubbling up inside of you for years, and it was only a mere couple months ago that you finally snapped.

Snapped, grabbed your things, and quite literally ran away. Call it a life crisis, maybe considered somewhere between a quarter and a mid, but there was something about simply leaving everything behind that took a temporary weight off your shoulders.

Which is how you ended up in a little town in eastern France, staring out the window of the café where you sat and watched the snowfall that had just picked up again.

There was an emptied mug on your side, crumbs of a delicious pastry sitting on a plate, and a blank page in your worn notebook. You had everything you needed to work: your favourite playlist softly playing in your ears so you wouldn’t get too distracted by conversations around you, not one but two notebooks filled with a year's worth of thoughts, and warm clothes that wouldn’t leave you with indents in your skin after sitting for too long.

But apparently that didn’t necessarily mean that you would be making much progress. 

Five days since you had gotten to Annecy. A friend of yours had moved out to the old tourist town a number of years ago after meeting her partner, and they were nice enough to let you stay with them. Five days of trying to work and still no progress.

You had daydreams of sitting down, words easily flowing as you would fill pages until the sun set. But it was only five days, a little leeway was okay, wasn’t it?

That idea of a bit of little leeway, however, was constantly being bullied by the big label of unemployed. You knew very well, soon the need for a job would be coming back and all those daydreams would have to go back on a hiatus.

But here on the fifth day, after picking at the crumbs of your long gone croissant, you decided to pack up your things and call it a day. That was the one thing you were able to do – tell yourself that today nothing would be done and that was okay, instead of spending the rest of the hours until midnight forcing yourself to do something.

So you buttoned up your wool coat, wrapped on your scarf and stepped out into the light snow to trudge back to your temporary housing.

Harry had seen you the second time you were there.

You were a creature of habit - just as he was apparently so - and you seemed to always return to the same café, the small but warm La buvette du marché, tucked away in the old town.

He nearly fell over his feet when he saw you sitting in the corner, earbuds in and eyebrows furrowed so deeply he could see the creases in your skin, even from the distance he stood away from you.

He left in a hurry, in a panic. He told himself that he had likely imagined it, maybe he was still jet-lagged, maybe his mind was tricking him, maybe it was some odd lucid dream during an afternoon nap.

But then he saw you again, on the fifth day as you packed up your things in a huff and hugged your coat tighter around your chest. You looked too wrapped up in your own thoughts to even notice anyone else around you, except for the quick smile that you shot to the older woman behind the counter before you were walking out into the darkening street.

Harry couldn’t help but slightly spiral a bit more. He tried to recall any mention from remaining mutual friends, or even acquaintances, about you coming here, but couldn’t remember. He even considered calling some, but decided against it in a quick grounding moment when he realized that it would seem far too odd.

Even more so, he couldn’t believe that you found yourself in the small town at the same time as him. In the same place. At the same time.

It was all too familiar.

He took that as a good sign.

The seventh day – now a week in – you were back at the café.

This time you had managed to scribble down some ideas. Last night you had barely slept, tossing and turning as you tried to force your brain to come up with something, anything.

Just as it always went, as you were falling asleep it seemed like you had an idea going but unconsciousness soon took over and you were left with bits and pieces to pick up.

Today, you hadn’t gotten something to eat right away and instead told yourself that once you got a good chunk of work done, you would treat yourself to something sweet and a little break.

Harry, by not so much of a coincidence, was also back.

He liked the small town of Annecy, winter was a bit of an off season no matter its proximity to the Alps, and it was lowkey enough to where he could easily keep a low profile and go as he pleased.

He walked over to the same café in the late afternoon, hoping that maybe maybe you would already be there. It was making him nervous. But maybe you wouldn’t be there, and that would stress him out even more because maybe this was all a dream?

But there you were, twirling a black pen between your fingertips as you subconsciously chewed at the inside of your lip. He could tell by the way your chin was slightly protruding, and the way your lips moved lightly. He almost hated himself for being able to notice such a thing.

This time, you were the one to look up at him.

And lucky for him, or maybe unlucky he wasn’t sure yet, he was already staring back at you.

He could see a flurry of thoughts filter through your eyes. Your eyebrows unknotted for a moment, before furrowing even tighter this time with your mouth slightly parting and then closing.

He tried to smile, finding himself shuffling closer to you as he tried to recall how to use his feet and his voice. Calming down just the slightest bit when you offered him a tiny wave, he took that as all he needed to keep walking the path that led to your table.

And then he was standing a mere few feet in front of you.

When you spoke, it made it all that more real for Harry.

Obviously, you were physically there in front of him, something he couldn’t have imagined happening to him now, but the quiet “hi” that escaped past your lips made blood rush to his ears.

He cleared his throat – he didn’t really need to, he just felt he could use the extra second – before repeating the greeting back to you. “Hey…”

You couldn’t break his gaze. Seeing – and hearing – the hesitation in him, you almost wanted to tell him to leave you alone and try and forget this had ever happened. Maybe leave for some place else.

But you really didn’t want to do that.

“What,” the word was a puff of air. He felt out of breath. “What are you doing here?”

What were you doing here?

“Working,” was all you said, wincing slightly at the way the statement sounded. You felt like your heart was about to explode, like all words seemed to escape you and that the floor was about to crack open and swallow you up.

He only stared at you.

You sat up straighter, lifting a hand from where it was resting on the table to motion to the empty chair across from you. “You can have a seat – if you’d like.”

It was like he was on a three second lag, staring at you for a moment too long before reacting to your words. With a quick nod, he sat himself down across from you, bag falling to the floor near where yours was. He kept his coat on.

“Nellie’s really letting you work from here?”

You didn’t miss the slight pettiness of his words.

Shaking your head, you decided to ignore it and instead rolled your lips into your mouth before glancing back up at him. “No, I uh – I quit.”

His eyebrows shot up so quickly, the sudden change in his expression nearly made you flinch. He quietly kept his eyes on you for a moment longer, as if you were about to tell him that you were joking.

“You did?” He finally said, and if you paid close attention, which of course you were, you could see a little quirk in his lips. “You really quit?”

Unable to help the small chuckle that left your mouth at his reaction, you felt the beginnings of a smile pulling at your lips. “Yeah,” you said softly. “I did.”

A smile was pulling at Harry’s mouth as well – you could tell that he was trying hard not to with the way his lips slightly pursed and he bit them together. But he couldn’t help it.

“Well,” he cleared his throat once more and leaned back in his chair, making himself more comfortable. “Good for you.”

Another silence came over the two of you. Your right hand was pinching the skin of your thigh through your trousers to ground yourself, to remind yourself that Harry was really sitting here in front of you. Out of anywhere he could be.

Everything about him was so familiar. You recognized his coat, the dark green that you knew was so warm to be wrapped up in. His hair looked longer since the last time he was in front of you, but it also sat slightly messy and unstyled over his head. He was nervously twisting the few rings on his fingers – most of his fingers were bare which was something you hadn’t seen in a while.

Even the way he watched you, his steady stare that seemed to speak to you without needing to say any words, left you to be speechless. 

Of course, you had thought about this moment over in your head countless times.

You fantasized about him showing up at your door, late at night and begging you to talk to him. You thought about running into him when you were out for errands, and would ignore him altogether. You thought about him calling you or what would happen if you called him, what you would talk about and everything he’d tell you. You had dreamt of everything that could possibly happen, but now you sat frozen.

“So uh,” Harry’s voice broke you out of your reverie. “If you quit, where aboust are you working now?”

You bit your lips together. “I’m not…working anywhere. Working for myself, I guess.”

He gave you a surprised look once more. “Writing?”

You only nodded, unable to help the smile that was building on your mouth. And Harry couldn’t help but mirror it.

He took a moment to take you in, closer this time. You were dressed warmly, a thick purple sweater hanging off your shoulders that hit fairly low on your hips, over loose black trousers. The lavender made you glow – he decided it was his new favourite colour on you.

You had a different pendant hanging off your neck, and he could see a second chain hidden beneath the collar of your sweater. A series of pens were in front of you, and he knew that you had been toying with them based on how they were haphazardly thrown over the tabletop. You kept slipping in your bottom lip between your teeth, something he couldn’t help but watch as every time it brought his attention back to your mouth.

He shouldn’t be thinking about your mouth.

“That’s great to hear,” he nodded after another moment too long in silence. “I mean, you know I’ve said this before so I’m not going to say it again but –” he cut himself off, already finding himself rambling. “It’s good. I’m glad that you’re doing it.”

You chuckled again, and he felt himself melt a bit deeper into the chair across from you. “I’ve really barely started but. Thank you, Harry.”

It was the first time he’d heard you say his name in so long. He liked hearing it, he missed hearing it.

“’Course,” was all he said. “I’m happy to hear that you’re writing.”

Another silence when you simply nodded.

“Why did you come here?” He spoke softly, the somewhat elephant in the room getting aired as you briefly averted his gaze.

“Wanted to get away,” you said honestly. “And Eloise offered for me to live with her for a bit, so it was an easy decision.”

“Easy,” he mused, repeating the word as he momentarily pulled at the sleeves of his sweater. “Taking some time to relax?”

“Something like that,” you paused, thinking of how to ask him the same thing. “How about you – are you passing through or…?”

He lightly shook his head, drumming his fingertips over his thigh. “I’m here for some time.”

“Oh,” you closed the notebook in front of you, leaning your forearm over it. You opened your mouth to say something else, but you seemed to not remember how to form words. He jumped back in.

“I’m here writing as well actually – or trying to.”

You raised an eyebrow. “Album?”

“Yeah,” he rubbed his hand over the back of his neck, leaning forward in the chair again to rest his forearms over the tabletop, similar position that you were sitting in as you both lent forward. “Been trying to get it done for far too long now.”

You remembered – you remembered in your last weeks together his frustration over his inability to be happy with what he was creating for his third album. You held your lips closed with your teeth for a moment, unsure of which thread to follow. He continued once again after you didn’t say anything.

“I’m here alone,” he paused. “Staying in a small place just outside of town.”

You couldn’t help the quiet scoff. “You’re never alone.”

He laughed to himself. “I am this time.”

You both felt like you were circling around the same thing. You were the first one to voice it. “So you decided to come… here. To Annecy.”

He looked at you dead in the eyes, as if challenging you. “Yeah, I did.”

Another silence fell, this one seeming to be heavier than all the other one’s combined.

“It was –” Harry finally broke the silence after what seemed like ten minutes. You wished your brain was working at the moment. “It’s really nice seeing you.”

You gave him a gentle smile. “You too.”

He tucked his feet under his chair, ready to push back from the table and stand. He was ready to leave the café, think about this moment every hour of the days to come until he managed to let it go. If that’s what you wanted.

But you didn’t.

“I’ll leave you to it. I don’t want to keep you from your work for too long,” he sounded nearly remorseful as he blindly reached for his bag at the floor, not wanting to look away from you.

“Wait –” you said way too quickly, but you didn’t care. “Stay – if you want.”

He paused every movement he was making, glancing up at you with a growing grin. “Yeah?”

“Yeah,” you nodded, familiar warm feeling spreading through your chest when his expression eased. “We barely caught up.”

Harry slowly leant back into the chair, nodding with a hint of a smile playing at his lips. “Okay – I’d like that.”

He unzipped his jacket then, resting it on the back of his chair and pushed the sleeves of his sweater up over his elbows. Leaning forward again, this time not to stand but to take a peek at the mug sitting in front of you.

“Did you want another?”

“Still working on this one,” you smiled in thanks, grabbing the cup with the lukewarm coffee to take a little sip.

Harry quickly had his own coffee in front of him, clutching the little mug in his hands as if it would act as some kind of buffer between the two of you.

“I hope you stormed out of that office,” he told you, after once more asking if you had seriously quit your job.

“Wasn’t that dramatic, unfortunately,” you laughed, also wishing that you had the guts to cause a scene and walk out of work. “I gave my notice, had a very civil last chat with Nellie and that was really it. Can’t really afford to burn any bridges.”

Harry didn’t want to comment too much on your recent unemployment, the emotionally exhausting nature of your previous job being a hot topic of conversation when the two of you had been together. He decided it was best to bring up at a later time, if he had the opportunity that is.

“What are you working on now, then?”

You mindlessly picked up a forgotten pen, twirling it between your index and middle finger a few times before letting it fall back down. “What I’ve always said I would.”

“Book?”

You shrugged, not wanting to think about the implications too much. “Something like that.” 

He wanted to ask you about it further, but you easily changed the subject. “How long have you been here then?” 

“Just over a week now,” he took another sip of his coffee. “And you?” 

“A week,” you tried your hardest to stop the way your lips started to curve upwards, at the fact that you had both come around the same time. He seemed to be thinking the same thing, as a little nervous chuckle escaped his mouth. “How is the album coming?” 

His laughter died down. “Not well,” he said honestly. “Nothing really since…” Nothing really since we were last together. 

You nodded, knowing what he was about to say. “Keeping myself busy - I was actually filming for a movie the last few months.” 

“I read that,” you nodded, not realizing you were admitting to slightly keeping up with what your ex was up to. 

Another silence came across the two of you when you both took big sips of your drinks, you finished off the rest of the now cold coffee that had completely lost its charm. 

“You look good,” your voice came out a little quieter. “Rested.” 

You swear you saw a little pink hit his cheeks. “Thank you,” he hummed in response, having a thousand compliments ready for you but none of them found their way past his lips. “Are you allowed to tell me I look good?”

It was a cheap shot, but he took it.

You paused, a small smile pulling at your mouth. “Friends can compliment each other, no?” 

Friends. 

“Of course,” he hid his expression behind the mug that he raised to his mouth. “In that case - you look good - incredible even.” 

He added the second part on a whim, still staring you down as you refused to break his gaze, never one to back down from a subtle staring contest. 

A small sliver of silence passed, before Harry cleared his throat. 

“I hope I’m not keeping you,” he murmured, watching your hands fiddle with the pens that rested more or less untouched on the surface of the table.

“You’re not,” you shook your head. “I’ve barely gotten anything done either way. If anything, I’m distracting you.”

Harry bit his lips together. He was never one to complain about how much you distracted him. “You’re always a welcomed distraction,” he leant his forearms further over the table. “Not so much progress here either.”

“I have a hard time believing that,” you laughed lightly when Harry raised his eyebrows, giving you an incredulous look. “You were constantly writing. Never met anyone with so many filled notebooks.”

“I guess but I – I couldn’t make anything out of it, you know? I don’t know if you remember,” he glanced up as you gave him a little nod. How could you forget about any moment spent together. 

“Still feel just as stuck.” His brows knotted, staring at the table for a few seconds before glancing back up at you. “Sorry, for unloading this on you.”

“No, no it’s okay,” you offered him a sympathetic smile. “It’s okay if it takes you a little longer – if it takes a few tries.”

He forgot how much comfort he could get from your smile. “Thank you,” he murmured. “Feels like I’ve exhausted everything – like there are no words left for me to write.”

You couldn’t help what you said next. You didn’t mean to make it about yourself, you didn’t mean to even say what you did. You simply could not help it.

“Ever write about me?”

Harry stared at you for a few seconds. “You seriously…” he trailed off, eyes slightly wide on you. You had an apology ready on the tip of your tongue when he spoke again. “Filled countless books about you.”

You knew he wrote to you, leaving you little love notes or poems in your home or hidden amongst your things for you to find. Sometimes romantic, sometimes a little more explicit. But for whatever reason, you never imagined him writing a song about you.

He kept speaking in your silence. “You can’t be that humble – you can’t believe that I would never even think about writing about you.”

You didn’t know what to say. “I guess …I don’t know.”

Maybe you had been more successful that you’d thought in pushing memories of him away.

“To be honest, I uh,” now he was the one finding himself at a loss of what to say. “I didn’t want to put out something that was so personally about you. Wanted to keep you to myself.”

He lifted his eyes from the table, meeting yours before quietly murmuring. “Still do.”

A thick silence settled this time. You watched every small twitch in his demeanor – the quick bite of his lip, the bob of his Adam’s apple, the way his eyes flicked around your face just as you were sure yours were doing right now.

And they were, he was analyzing you, making new notes of your every feature that he could see for the thousandth time. He finally broke the silence, his voice sounding so loud all of the sudden.

“Come see what I have written.”

It was less of a question. Whether showing you old writing was really the only intention of the invitation was lost on you - and on Harry as well -  but neither pondered on it too much.  

You hadn’t said anything right away, but he was already reaching back to grab his jacket that was resting over the back of the chair. Slowly, you mirrored his actions and quickly began to pack up the pens and journal that had sat untouched for a good part of an hour.

Once you both stood wrapped in your coats and scarfs, with bags pulled over your shoulders, he met your gaze once more. “You coming?”

“Yeah,” you offered him a tentative smile. You realized you were nervous. Sitting with him in a public café was one thing, but spending time with him alone? That was something completely different that you weren’t sure you were prepared for. “Are we walking?”

“If that’s alright,” Harry nodded. “Staying just up the hill.”

And then you were off, following him in the thickening coat of snow that covered the yet to be plowed streets. Walking side by side at a safe distance, the falling snow hit you from every angle as the wind seemed to be starting to pick up.

Hugging your arms around your chest, you walked in silence for most of the trip.

At one point you were trying to move out of the way for a group of young school kids that were walking by, speaking far too fast for you to catch any words of their french as they excitedly bounced through the snow. Your foot caught on a lift of the sidewalk that was buried under the snow, giving you a momentary loss of balance.

Harry, however, was quick to notice. He had his arm looping through yours before you even realized you were tripping, as he held you upright and close against his side.

He knew that you were watching him, he could feel your eyes burn into the side of his face but he kept his gaze forward. The small kink in his lips gave him away though, when instead of pulling away you cozied yourself a bit more into his side and kept your arm tightly looped with his.

The rest of the walk was spent like that as you both trudged up the hill, out of the hub of the old town and out to the residential area. He quietly led you to his temporary housing, pulling out his set of keys from the inner pocket of his jacket and undid the front door of the building.

Walking up only one flight of stairs, you were soon being ushered inside a nice little apartment that could only be described as a character home. It was neat and cozy, just eclectic enough with tiled kitchen walls and different patterned rugs.

It was exactly the kind of place you had stayed in last time you were here.

“Let me turn the heat up,” Harry muttered, as you both shook off the snow from your hats and hair, hanging up the dampened clothing before warming back up in the apartment.

“Something to drink?” He called from the wall where he was presumably adjusting the heat, as you curiously glanced around the space he was staying in.

“What’ve you got?”

You easily found the kitchen as it was right after the hall from the door. A couple cups sat in the sink but it was otherwise clean. Harry joined you, standing across from you as he went to grab something from the fridge.

“”Have some mulled wine ready to be heated,” he pulled out a thermos.

“That sounds good,” you spoke quietly as you watched him work around the kitchen, grabbing a saucepan to heat it up.

He seemed to be stalling – you supposed you were as well. You didn’t know what you were doing here with him. You saw two possible outcomes, maybe three, but you didn’t know which one you were the most okay with.

Harry felt as though he had either been far too quiet, or was rambling too much. He wanted to ask you everything and find out absolutely everything and anything that had been going on in your life in the past ten months. He needed to calm down.

He heated up the homemade spaced mix, adding in a generous amount of the red wine. After a little moment while you distracted yourself with texting Eloise, you saw him pour a generous amount into each mug before turning off the element on the stove.

He handed you one of the mugs – a painted yellow ceramic one – settling to lean back against the counter across from you while you gripped the handle of your cup. 

You lightly blew on the smoke billowing out from the top, holding the mug out to him in a quiet cheers before each taking a sip.

It was still too hot, but you both seemed to be stalling from whatever was about to unfold and you took any chance to distract yourself that you could. The drink had been a good idea, and was already warming you up – probably both by the liquor and the temperature of the beverage

“Good?” Harry broke the silence, after swallowing another sip of the drink. He had one hand resting over the ledge of the counter, elbow bent with a relaxed shoulder while the other hand held the mug. You wondered if he really was relaxed or just appeared to be – you seemed to be having a hard time reading him at the moment.

“Really good,” you nodded, occupying your mouth with the beverage as you found yourself at a loss of what to say at the moment. “Thank you.”

Conversation seemed to be flowing so nicely in the café, but now it was like you had no idea how to be around each other.

Harry was nervous. When he made the offer to show you the countless unseen songs about you, he hadn’t really thought it through. It had seemed like the right thing to say, and he really did want to share that with you, but things were just so … uncertain.

He could tell, by the way you kept one arm crossed around your front with the other’s arm elbow perched to keep the mug by your lips, you were uneasy. He didn’t want you to be that way, he wanted you to be nothing but comfortable with him.

“So where is that writing you were bragging about?” Your smooth voice broke him out of his daze, as he lifted his eyes back up to see you peering at him from behind the mug.

Rolling his lips in against his teeth, the corners of his lips perked up both at the way you were looking at him and to mask the slight pit of nerves that suddenly appeared. “Give me a sec’”

Leaving his mug with you in the kitchen, he made his way to one of his bags where he knew was packed a series of old notebooks – all taken with him for any kind of inspiration.

Flipping through them, unable to help the way he suddenly grew anxious over the idea of showing these to you. Especially out of the blue. Especially after this sudden reunion.

Deciding what to show you and what not to, he triple checked that he had grabbed the right book before making his way back over to you. He found you exactly where you were previously, mug in one hand with the other holding your phone, quickly typing something with just one thumb.

At the sound of his footsteps, you placed your phone down on the counter and glanced up at your ex. Finding his place across from you in the kitchen, he extended the notebook out towards you. It was clearly worn in, little scribbles of words across the leatherbound cover.

You recognized it. From being perched over his lap, tucked in his bag, next to him on the nightstand. You knew it. 

“This was from that winter – actually think I filled it the last time we were here.” His voice was low, nearly distant as he tried not to look at you.

He didn’t know why he was sharing this with you now – maybe he felt like he needed to prove something, maybe he just missed you.

Wordlessly, you grabbed the worn book from him and tentatively opened it in your palm. Glancing up at him, he was clearly nervous and doing his best not to watch you read his every thought about you.

His eyes were cast to the side, looking out the window as if watching the heavy snowfall. With his arms now crossed over his chest, the thick knit of the sweater he was wearing bunching under his arms, you realized he looked more than nervous, almost worried.

You wondered if this was all a terrible idea.

Having not realized that you were still watching the profile of his face, looking at the way his eyes flicked from the window and down to the untouched mug that sat still on the counter. He grabbed it in a hand, the soft clink of the rings he had on against the ceramic being the only sound in the room.

You were sure he could feel you watching him, so much confirmed when the next place his eyes moved to were your own. Neither of you spoke, instead watched each other closely from either side of the small kitchen.

His expression was practically unreadable to you, something that you didn’t encounter often. You briefly thought he was upset with you, before he muttered. “Going to make dinner, if you’d like to stick around for some.”

Slightly surprised by the offer, even though you realized that when he had invited you to trudge up the hill with him to read a few half finished songs that probably wasn’t the complete intention.

Nodding, you answered with a low “thank you,” as he turned his body around and left the kitchen, no doubt searching for something elsewhere and leaving you to read alone.

Finally flipping open the book to a random page, turning a few pages until it looked less like a mess of scribbles and you could pull out several coherent sentences.

You found a small date written at the top of the page, and realized that this had been right in the middle of your last vacation in Annecy together.

You had to read over every word three, four times, before your hands moved without thinking and you were flipping the page to find more. Laying the spine of the notebook down against the kitchen counter, you leant over above it, completely captivated.

It was all so overwhelmingly beautiful. You didn’t realize that a small puddle of tears was gathering on your waterline until you blinked, and a few of them escaped and slid over the tops of your cheeks. Maybe this hadn’t been a good idea.

It was everything you remembered about being with Harry. Everything you remembered about the last time you were together in the little French town. Every ‘I love you’, every stolen kiss, every touch and feeling shared. It had been the happiest you ever remembered being.

It took you months to forget, or maybe not forget but not think about. And in a flood of it all coming back, you couldn’t help the tears that seemed to come flooding out as well.

Shutting the notebook a bit too quickly, you remained in your hunched position as you sponged at your tears with the back of your hand, wiping them away the best you could. You hadn’t thought about the reality, that there was no possible way you’d be able to handle reading everything that Harry had to say about you.

“Done already?” Harry’s voice startled you, not having heard him rejoin you in the kitchen. You quickly blinked your eyes, knowing there was no possible way to hide the fact that you had been crying but you hoped it wasn’t too obvious.

“No, I –” you cleared your throat lightly, turning around to look at him. You didn’t know what to say to him.

You watched his eyes scan your face, expression softening slightly before offering you a small smile. You assumed the whites of your eyes were reddened, and the skin surrounding was damp and still shiny from the little spill of tears.

He didn’t ask you anything else, and instead grabbed a pot from where it sat cleaned next to the sink and brought it over to the stove. “Do you want to chop the vegetables?”

Nodding with a murmured agreement, he handed you what needed to be cut along with a cutting board and a knife. You were grateful that he glossed over the topic, and now you found yourself biting back a smile. Spending time with him in such a mundane way was comforting. He put on some music, a soft background song playing while you both started to cook in a smooth harmony.

Conversation was light. He asked how living with Eloise was, you asked how long he had been in town for.

It wasn’t until you were both sitting across from each other with steaming bowls of soup and warmed bread, each having poured a generous amount of wine into your glasses that conversation got a bit heavier.

It started when you asked if he had been out to the lake yet, even though the cold weather obviously meant swimming wasn’t much of an offer. 

It ended, however, with a heavy silence when you both started to recall the last trip to the lake. Nearly a full year ago now, it was the second day of March and your last weekend away in this undisturbed paradise. The air was still very much crisp and carried a winter bite, and on a barely warm night, the two of you had the terrible idea of taking a little night dip. 

After about thirty seconds in the cold water, you couldn’t bear it and had to step out into the even colder air. After shivering back to your rental, you had drawn a burning hot bath to enjoy together and both decided that you would come back during the summer months to fully benefit from the lake and hikes.

But then you weren’t together over the summer. 

Harry had immediately noticed your change in demeanor at the bittersweet reminder of the memory, silently cursing himself for bringing the conversation that way. He had hoped that it would maybe spark something in you, some kind or romantic nostalgia, but instead it seemed to just upset you. 

A crushing silence had fallen again, and at least you had dinner to distract yourself with. Harry instead decided to change the conversation again, asking if Eloise still had those two little grumpy cats, and if you were enjoying staying with them. 

You were lightheartedly laughing again by the time you were clearing the dishes, both the wine and Harry helping in the warm feeling under your skin. Your cheeks had been rounded with a smile and your mind a bit fuzzy, intoxicated not as much by the liquor but more so by the loving feeling around you. 

It was quiet when you came back to the rental outside of town, the tiles of the floor cold under your feet after you had peeled your socks off. The rain had only increased in your short trip out to the nearby Monoprix, picking up what you needed to make a nice hearty soup for dinner as well as a bottle of wine. 

After getting far too wet on the walk you had gone on during the afternoon, initially wanting to go hiking but the weather got in the way. Harry had stuck back while you grabbed your groceries and a fresh baguette as you had finished off the one you had during breakfast. 

Hanging up your damp coat and taking off your too itchy sweater, you called out Harry’s name after placing the groceries down on the counter of the little kitchenette. 

A faint reply was heard, as you followed the sound of his voice to the closed bathroom door. He told you to come in, and you were met with a warm steamy bathroom and your partner relaxing into the back of the tub. 

“Didn’t feel like a shower,” he murmured as you smiled down at him, eyeing over the bubbles that covered the surface of the water. 

“Hi,” you whispered, leaning down to press your lips to his in a quick greeting as he extended his neck out towards you. “It’s still dreadful out - you have the right idea taking a bath.” 

You sat down on the edge of the tub, feet flat on the tile of the washroom floor as your upper body twisted to gaze down at Harry. The weeks so far spent in the small French town were like taking a break from reality - time was still and you could spend all the time you wanted wrapped up in each other. 

“Missed you,” he murmured, wet hand raising from under the water to grab at your wrist. Pulling it towards him, he pressed a light kiss over your pulse point. You let your hand fall over his shoulder when he let go, when he instead decided he wanted to feel your lips on his again. 

You easily complied, bending lower once more to slot your mouth over his with a lingering touch as he sighed over you. “Lips are cold.” 

You chuckled an apology, shifting yourself closer to him as you still balanced on the ledge of the tub. Your hand wrapped around his neck, feeling the damp strands between your fingers as one of his hands grabbed a light hold of your arm.  He traced a pattern over your bare arm, before shifting his arm around to the small of your back. 

You remained like that for a moment, sharing sweet kisses laced with soft affirmations of affection, hands not wandering further from light grasps over each other’s bodies. 

Though at a sudden move, a not so light move, an unattractive squeal left your mouth when your boyfriend hooked a hand under your bent knees and gripped you firmly, pulling you over the edge of the tub and into the water with him. You giggled his name after recovering from the initial shock, the heat of the water a sharp contrast to the chill in your bones and the sudden movement had your head spinning just the slightest bit. 

You surprisingly didn’t mind all that much – in fact you didn’t mind at all. Wet clothes could be dried, and the way he held you so tightly and gazed down at you so lovingly you didn’t even realize that you were fully dressed in the bathtub. 

Harry held you tightly, your legs now resting over him with his arm still under your knees as you found your place in his lap.

“My clothes are all wet,” you bit your bottom lip down, eyes catching Harry’s with a gleam as you rested your cheek against his chest. You looped your arm tighter around him, easily supported against his frame. “Could’ve given me a little warning.” 

“Thought you liked spontaneity,” his mouth sought out yours again, this time landing a peck just over your cupid's bow. “And you just seemed so cold.” 

You laughed over him and he pulled you even closer, as the water seeped through your clothes. You lifted your upper body a bit, not minding the way your shirt clung to your body as you brought your other hand to graze along the top of his cheek. “Really missed you.” 

“Wasn’t gone that long,” you whispered. “Picked up some more bread - the woman at the bakery recognized me.” 

You could feel the hum from his chest before you heard it, as he stole another quick peck from your lips. “Becoming a true local, aren’t you?” 

“Guess I am,” you mindlessly trailed your fingertips over his features, tracing the curve of his lips as he spoke. 

There was a small pause, a quiet comfortable silence. “What d’you say we stay a little longer?” 

You didn’t really need to think about the offer that much. “How much longer?” 

Harry shrugged, although knowing you both had responsibilities that were eventually needed to go back to. “Maybe a few more weeks?” 

“I’d love that,” you pressed your lips to his, knowing that you’d eventually work out the details later. 

He muttered something against your mouth, something you couldn’t quite catch as he returned your kiss. His hands wandered under your shirt, quickly pulling the soaking material from your body and throwing it with a wet slap to the tiled floor. Another problem to be dealt with later. 

Your lips parted as his tongue grazed over yours, a soft hitting of teeth when you tried to reposition yourself over him. His lips slid down your chin and your jaw as you brought your legs to straddle him, the growing uncomfortable heavy corduroy of your pants needing to be the next thing to be taken off. 

A soft curse escaped your lips both at the feeling of your lover’s hands on you and at the cool air, when he tugged your bralette over your head and again threw it somewhere to be immediately forgotten. His hands cupped your breasts, warm and wet and pulling deliciously at your nipples while his mouth sucked over the sensitive skin of your neck. 

“Help me get outta these,” you whispered into the air, one of your hands fumbling with the button and zipper of your trousers while you held onto him for support. 

After much moving around – splashing water, and slipping over the smooth bottom of the tub –  the heavy material was tugged off your legs and thrown over the edge of the tub. Finally feeling his skin completely against yours, you repositioned yourself over his lap with a leg on either side of his as your mouths met.

You sank into his arms as he whimpered your name, holding you tightly around your hips. One of his hands wandered lower, brushing lightly over your underwear covered heat.

You were both incredibly hot - from the water and from the increasing tension - as you blindly grabbed at each other in quick desperation. 

Your hips pressed over his, while his lips were wandering over the damp exposed skin of your chest, and he moaned lowly against you, “love you close - love you everywhere.” 

He raised his swollen mouth from your skin, pressing his words over your mouth. “Gonna spend the rest of my life with you like this.”

“You should stay the night.”

You turned your head towards Harry from where you were carrying over the stack of dishes. “What?”

“Snow hasn’t stopped,” he motioned to the closed window. “And it's getting late. Better idea for you to stay tonight.”

You only stared at him with your mouth slightly parted as if to speak, but didn’t know what to say. You figured that you hadn’t really thought this through, and it wasn’t completely crazy that it was a better idea to wait out the night out here with Harry.

“Not stay the night stay the night,” he continued, easily noticing the little lift in your lips.

“So it was only ever about the writing then?” The teasing tone in your voice was evident, though Harry couldn’t help the way his heart skipped at the possibility of you wanting to be here with him just as much as he wanted you.

“I think it’s always good to hold out some hope.” He answered, watching your eyes linger on him for a moment longer before glancing away with a small chuckle.

“I know you’re right,” you hummed, turning on the tap to begin washing the small load that needed to be done.

“About holding out hope or staying over?”

Biting your bottom lip between your teeth, you watched him approach you from the corner of your eye before answering. “Both.”

He tried his best to hide his smile when he joined your side by the sink, each settling in without much discussion of you as the washer of the dishes and him as the dryer. “So you’ll stay?”

You didn’t think about it too much. “I might need a shower,” you started, keeping your eyes on the soapy water that you pulled a ladle out of. “And to borrow some things.” 

“Still have the same face cream,” his hip bumped yours – almost so lightly it could’ve just been him readjusting his feet. ”Welcome to anything you’d like, always are.” 

This time it was obvious that it was on purpose. Not so much of a bump but a nudge, a slow one as he leaned his body closer to yours and rested against you for a brief second. 

“I’ll hold you to that,” you said lightly as your agreement, trying not to think too much about sharing a bed with your ex.

The quiet that came when you worked through the dishes together didn’t last all that long before Harry asked.

“Been seeing anyone?”

You glanced at him briefly. A cheek was half lifted, the hints of a smirk forming on his lips as he eyed you.

“Why’re you asking?” You countered, the answer to the question obvious.

“Why do you think,” he let out a chuckle, although was unable to help but feel a little anxious at the answer to the question, especially in your silence.

“There was one,” you spoke slowly. “A friend set it up – a double date. Saw him one more time after and that was it.”

“That was it?” Harry repeated your words, clearly looking for more of an explanation.

“Haven’t seen him again,” you turned off the tap, wiping your hands on the dish cloth hanging off a hook before facing Harry. “And you?”

“Twice,” he said – if you were going to be honest so was he. “Different person each time.” 

“Busy boy,” you mused, trying not to wonder how long after you split it had been, or how recently. 

His smirk had died down, meeting your eyes earnestly. “Never saw either again. You're a hard one to get over.”

His words hit you hard in the chest, like a little stab of a knife deep and sharp. He had spoken lightly, but you didn’t miss the slight clipped tone of his voice. 

“Did anything… happen with the guy?” He asked immediately after, not giving you much of a chance to react to his confession.

You only bit your bottom lip down, holding your mouth shut. The soft lights from above seemed like they had dimmed, the space around you feeling smaller and more intimate.

He took your silence as the answer, a pit of jealousy building at the mere thought of someone else's hands on you. 

“Just a kiss,” you told him, barely able to recall the short end of date kiss shared between you and the man you hadn’t even thought about. “On the second date.”

Harry only hummed, arms crossing over his chest as he leant his hip against the counter. The dishes were nearly done and long forgotten by now.

“D’you wanna see him again?”

“Harry –”

“If you haven’t seen him since then it doesn’t sound that way,” he mused, cutting you off with his petty rambling. “Especially now that you’ve come here.”

“It wasn’t like that.”

“Wasn’t like what?” His tone was quiet, but as you looked up to see him again his eyes held something more, begging for your attention.

“I just wanted –” Stopping yourself, you couldn’t continue. I just wanted to stop thinking about you. Instead, you spoke a quiet “I don’t know.”

A heavy silence surrounded you for the millionth time that day. It had only been a few hours since you’d run into each other, since he’d invited you up and you’d easily agreed. You only looked away from him when his touch was felt over you, glancing down at the hand landing over yours on the counter, resting his palm over your knuckles.

His thumb softly brushed the skin. “Why did you come here?”

Harry couldn’t help but ask you again. He knew why he had come here, and he had a growing suspicion that you had come for the same reason – you were both just too stubborn to say anything.

“I told you, Eloise offered –”

“You could’ve gone anywhere though, I didn’t even know you were close with her.” Harry again, couldn’t help it.

You knew very well what he wanted to hear.

After a moment in silence, he spoke quietly and earnestly. “Did you miss us?”

You had to look away. You could feel his eyes burning into the side of your face, able to hear the heavy swallow in his throat before he spoke once more. “Did you miss me?”

You watched his hand lightly rest over yours, the way neither of you moved but once and a while there would be a small flinch or twitch of muscle as if the need to grab onto the other rested right below the surface.

“Of course I did,” his hand held yours a little tighter when you spoke. “We were good.”

“We were,” Harry repeated, quietly pondering on the past tense of the sentiment.

The decision to invite you up had been innocent at first, or so he wanted to tell himself that, but having you here with him was something he’d never thought to experience again. He asked you the same question once more. “Is that why you came here?”

Daring a few more steps towards you, the hand that was not over yours raised to brush its knuckles under your cheek, before grabbing a hold of your jaw. You were watching him closely, needing to swallow a thick gulp of air when he neared you.

Deciding not to answer him, as you both seemed to be aware of the true answer, you avoided the question entirely. “Is that why you came?”

You dropped your eyes down to his mouth when the corners of it quirked up, quickly looking back up to his eyes, almost hoping that he would avoid truly answering just as you had.

“It is, yeah.”

His earnestness shouldn’t have surprised you. You felt his words before you even processed them, momentarily reveling in your closeness. You were sure you were going to start crying again if he didn’t say anything else.

“Remember last time we were here,” Harry said, again quickly changing the subject. His hand that rested over yours moved up, sliding over the bare skin of your wrist before looping around to hold the counter behind you. Keeping himself impossibly close, he kept speaking at your nod. “Remember one of the first nights, in the park by the lake, the dancing, what was that called?”

“Bal musette,” you said without having to think about it all that much .

“Yeah,” his lips curved to a wider smile at the memory. “All the men wanted to dance with you.”

“They were all in their eighties,” you hummed, letting yourself lean into his touch over your cheek.

“Still,” he grinned. “We were good.”

You remembered the cool air, not quite spring yet but the ends of winter were apparent. Harry had held you close, he always did. It had been an evening of uncontrollable laughs, interlocked hands, and stumbling home in a rush. The late dinners, the indulgence in delicious chocolates, the walks by the lake; it was all too good. The entire time really, was a blissful month.

You knew it, you both knew it. Right now, neither of you could even remember what had led to a break up in the first place.

He was all around you, his arms keeping you in while the tip of his nose nudged your cheek and his face grew closer to yours. There was only a soft orange glow in the room, hitting off the top of his features in a way that drew you in. So close he became a blur to you, something you hadn’t experienced in nearly a year.

But it was when he tilted his chin down that you processed what he was about to do, that you let your head fall to the side in a quick move to avoid his kiss, only a brush of his cheek over your jaw being felt.

Harry let himself fall forward, his forehead landing on your shoulder as he let out a quiet chuckle into the crook of your neck. Neither of you moved from where you were, still standing pressed to one another with his chest pushing against yours and his arms on either side of you.

Moving your head back, you couldn’t help the breathless laugh that blew through your nose, not doubt tickling the skin of his neck.

“What was that,” you hummed quietly.

He tilted his head slightly, lips brushing over the skin of your neck. “Sorry,” he spoke, although he didn’t mean the apology all that much. He had wanted to kiss you; he still does. “Felt right.”

It was overwhelming, being close and personal with you once more. Harry moved his nose to the column of your neck, smelling the familiar comfort of the perfume that lingered on you.

“Felt right,” he repeated, voice muffled from his mouth resting over your neck. He didn’t miss the way you tilted your head again, this time not to avoid his touch but to allow more space along your neck as he pressed the lightest of touches onto the sensitive skin. “Didn’t it?”

He also didn’t miss the soft hitch in your throat, breath getting caught when he let his lips linger. Getting lost in you for a moment, when you lifted a hand to his shoulder, and wrapped your arm around him in a desire to keep him close. His lips pressed harder, parting to allow a quick lick of his tongue over the familiar skin. You sighed softly above him, feeling everything at once in a breathtaking moment.

But then you found your breath again, and spoke his name quietly before shifting away from him. “Harry –”

“I know-”

He sighed, a deep pull of air through his lungs when he pulled away from you. Just enough to meet your bewildered eyes, just enough that he could see every detail on your face without having them blur. “Let’s get to sleep, yeah?”

You only nodded, peering into his eyes as if it would help you read his mind. His gaze flickered away from yours, falling to the spot of floor between your feet before willing himself to move away from you. “We’ll feel better in the morning.”

You had no idea what he meant at all, but only watched him walk away from where he had just been. The quiet music that had still been playing was abruptly turned off, the lack of sound making the rapid beating of your heart that much louder. Taking a minute for yourself, you slowly followed him out of the kitchen.

“D’you mind if I shower?” Your voice sounded foreign to yourself, after an uncomfortable silence settled in the apartment.

“Go ahead,” his voice was distant, and you simply made your way to the washroom for a quick shower before likely not getting any sleep through the night.

Seeing the array of his toiletries laid out over the countertop was once more far too familiar, most of them being the same ones you had seen nearly everyday. Helping yourself to them since you were here for the night, you did your best to scrub off what makeup you had one before getting into the shower.

“Hey,” Harry’s voice suddenly invaded your senses, as he nudged the door open just as you were about to pull your sweater up over your head, hand stuck halfway up your chest.

Immediately dropping your hand back down as the knit fell back over your body, you saw Harry's eyes raise up to yours through the mirror. “Sorry,” he spoke quietly. “Just bringing you some clothes that you can sleep in.”

“Thank you,” you only looked at him through the mirror, watching as his eyes fell back down to where your hands were still holding your sweater by your hips.

Another moment too long passed with neither moving or saying anything, and just as you parted your lips to say anything, Harry cleared his throat. “I know, I know.”

He sighed, as if you had been about to scold him for lingering again and shut the bathroom door behind him, leaving you alone once more.

You showered as quickly as you could, washing your body and keeping your hair out of the water. You tried your best not to think about the way Harry’s eyes had slowly dragged over your body, even your sweater covered one. You tried not to think about the way he smelt the same, or the way his hands felt so good around you and the way he had wanted to kiss you. Or the way his lips felt so familiar over your neck, that if you hadn’t stopped him there might not be a wall separating the both of your right now. 

And it didn’t get better when you came around the corner dressed in his clothes, sweats bunching at your ankles and the crewneck looking warm around you. You shot him a nervous smile from where he was already in bed, placing your belongings next to the bag you had on the floor, before turning back to glance at Harry.

“Well come on in,” he smiled, trying not to let his gaze linger on you for too long and lifted the corner of the duvet up on the other side of the mattress. With the sleeves of the crewneck pulled over your palms, you tentatively slid in on the bed, trying your best to maintain as much distance as you possibly could.

Harry turned off his phone, placing it on the table next to him before leaning over to shut off the only source of light.

You rested on your side, daring to face Harry as you hugged the pillow under your cheek. “It was a nice surprise seeing you today,” you started, not wanting to go to sleep on an awkward note. 

He faced you when you spoke, mirroring your position from the other side of the mattress. “What are the odds that we both came back here,” he posed it less of a question, more as a quiet wondering. “Would never have thought -”

Humming in response, you didn’t know what the odds were really. Must have been pretty low, and the fact that you were both here and now found yourselves sharing a bed was not at all where you thought you’d end up when you got up this morning. 

He turned from his side to his back, looking away from you and instead chose to stare up at the ceiling. The urge to be close to you was strong, and it felt incredibly odd to not be near you as you both went to sleep together. 

“Goodnight,” you spoke quietly. You shuffled down the mattress and rested your head over the pillow. There was no way you were going to sleep tonight.

“’Night,” Harry hummed from the other side of the bed, lying just as stiff as you were.

You rolled onto your side with your back to the man you couldn’t believe you were sharing a bed with once more. You begged your mind to turn off, to let sleep take over your body so that it could be morning, and maybe everything would make sense in the morning.

But instead your mind wandered to every possible thought regarding Harry, and you rolled onto your back to stare at the ceiling. Trying your damn hardest not to pay attention to Harry’s breathing, or his own shuffles on the bed.

You didn’t know how long it had been, but you were starting to grow hot. Sticking a leg out from under the covers didn’t help much, and then you couldn’t stop thinking about it. You couldn’t stop thinking about Harry – about how you felt with him, about how he made you feel when you had been together. In and out of the bedroom.

Rolling onto your stomach for the thousandth time, hoping Harry was asleep so he hadn’t been hearing your constant shuffling, you squeezed your thighs together and cursed yourself for thinking what you were while lying in a bed with your ex. Wasn’t so much arousal, but just… neediness.

Not only could you not stop thinking about every touch you shared, the linger of his hands and his lips, but you couldn’t take your mind off of every single word you read in his old notebooks. It was haunting you nearly, an old ghost that was sitting on your chest and leaving you heavy hearted. 

It was when you rolled from your stomach to your back again with a quiet sigh, that Harry muttered against his pillow with a low voice, “stop movin’ around.”

Slightly embarrassed that he had obviously been awake the entire time as well, you rolled your head to the side to see him over the space of the middle of the mattress. “Sorry – can’t sleep.”

He did the same, turning his head so that your eyes could meet in the nearly completely dark room. “Me neither.”

You simply looked at each other for a moment, trying to let yourself relax enough so that you could eventually drift to sleep before Harry spoke again. “It feels odd, doesn’t it? Sleeping but not being close.”

You nodded, realizing he couldn’t really see your movement before speaking. “Yeah – I can’t relax.”

This time there was no pause between words. “Come here,” Harry said quickly.

“What?”

He shuffled closer to the middle, closer towards you. “Friends can cuddle, can’t they? Just – come here.”

You didn’t think too much of the offer..

You moved away from the very edge of the bed, closer to where Harry layed. He extended an arm out, wrapping it around your shoulders as you came closer and pulled you in to lay next to his chest. Tentatively raising your hand, you laid it flat over his chest before sliding it around him as you hugged him from the side.

It felt nice – normal even, being in his arms. He let out another sigh, murmuring a quiet “goodnight” before settling back down into the mattress.

You felt his hand fall lightly over your shoulder, fingertips brushing on the fabric of the borrowed jumper. You were hyper focused on your breathing, trying your best to steady it in a lame attempt of getting your heartbeat to calm down. But when you realized Harry’s heart was beating just as fast, you relaxed even more against him.

Sleep came slowly, but it eventually did come. At one point Harry moved positions, just the slightest bit, but just enough that he was able to push a leg against yours. Slowly moving your own legs, you let him rest his calf over yours with the small tangle of your legs. That was the last thing either of you remembered before falling asleep.

The morning held a bit more tension.

Harry woke up before you, and spent far too long contemplating on whether he should get up or not. So long, in fact, that you had woken up and made the decision for him. While he feigned being asleep, you quietly shuffled out from under the covers. 

Following the sound of your footsteps to the washroom, he heard the door close behind you and the quiet hum of the tap after a moment. He wondered if you would leave immediately.

Getting out of bed himself, he first went to go adjust the thermostat as the air was far too cold after being out of the cozy warmth of the bed, and went to go turn on the kettle.

You were by his side moments later, each sharing quiet “good mornings” while he tried not to stare at the way your eyelids still drooped down and the way you pulled the sleeves of his jumper over your hands.

He knew the offer of coffee would get you to stay for a cup, but by the way you had rushed back to the bathroom with your clothes from the day before told him that you weren’t planning on sticking around for too long.

By the time you reappeared by his side, you were dressed just as you had yesterday. He knew he’d find the clothes you’d borrowed folded over his bed. You seemed fresher faced than last time, even catching a whiff of his lavender scented moisturizer that you always used to borrow.

Biting his lips together to hide his smile at the fact you had in fact taken your liberties with his toiletries just as he’d offered, he quietly prepared you a cup of coffee while your attention was drawn down to your phone.

You mindlessly answered texts, none of them that urgent that they required your full attention as you still couldn’t help but pay close attention to Harry’s every move.

“Sleep okay?” He finally broke the silence.

You paused, needing to clear your throat before answering. “I did, yeah.” Only after he had invited you to lay peacefully in his arms. “You?”

“Did as well,” he hummed, filling the two mugs with the wonderful smelling coffee. “A lot better after you stopped moving around.”

“Sorry again,” you suddenly felt hot at his mention of your irritation – at the reminder of how incredibly needy you had gotten for him to even lay a hand over your own. Taking the mug of coffee as a welcomed distraction, you cupped it in two hands to bring it up to your mouth, blowing over the hot liquid.

He dropped the subject, though, as he mirrored your action and you both took a moment to let the coffee stall the inevitable goodbye that was about to be shared.

“What’re you up to today?” 

He thought it over for a second, not actually having planned all that much. “Need to grab a few things from the store, otherwise not a whole lot.” He thought aloud. “And you?” 

“Driving to Aix-les-Bains with Eloise, some store over there she wants to see.” You had just seen the text from your friend, deciding to not answer all the ones questioning what had happened with Harry. 

You both took big sips of the still too hot coffee. “No writing today?” 

“Not that I’ve been that successful,” you mumbled into the mug. 

“You’ll find it,” he affirmed. “I know you will.” 

Your chest warmed, not from the heat of the beverage but from the sincerity of his statement. You hid your face behind your mug, taking a nearly too big sip that you nearly choked on. 

“Thanks again, for letting me stay and for… everything.” You placed the mug by your side, the caffeine suddenly making you nauseous. The words you had read in his old notebook still haunted you. 

Harry realized that you were about to tell him that you were leaving, and a small bout of panic rose through his stomach. “Of course -” 

He watched, dumbfounded of what to say, as you walked from the kitchen to where you had left your belongings and started arranging them in your bag and put your phone into the pocket of your trousers. Harry couldn’t stop watching every small move you made.

His eyes followed you around the kitchen, mind racing to find anything to say to you anything that would at the very least have you coming back to see him.

“Can I see you again?” He suddenly blurted, voice louder than it had been before, making you stop in your movements and turn to face him.

Your mouth parted and for a moment he thought it was forming into a ‘yes’, but it never came. And he didn’t realize that it never came because his attention caught on something else. Something that had been hiding beneath the tight knit of your sweater yesterday, something that he had forced himself to forget about.

He moved without realizing, taking the two small steps needed to stand right next to you. Noticing his sudden action, you turned yourself so that your body faced his with a small crease of confusion forming between your brows.

He couldn’t help it. Reaching out to where the small locket rested below your collarbones, he caught your attention with the small tug of the chain.

Oh.

Remaining quiet, you watched his focus fall to the necklace that had never been taken off. His bottom lip fell with a quiet exclamation, one you couldn’t hear no matter how close you stood. He turned it over in his hand, briefly wondering whether it was too far to open the little locket.

“Couldn’t take it off.” You said, as he remained quiet due to his current fascination.

You both watched as he toyed with the light metal in his fingers. Grazing over the small flat pearl that graced the front of the pendant, seeing it just as he’d last remembered it.

He had once again found himself standing desperately close to you. If he had moved closer while looking at the jewelry, he wasn’t sure. But when he let it fall back against the light purple knit of your sweater to meet your gaze, he realized that he could see every twitch of your eyes when they moved to gaze up at him.

His hand didn’t fall far, landing with a light touch over your wrist just as he had the night before.

“Give me a shot.”

You tilted your chin up, his words settling in with a flip of your stomach. “You said it yourself – we were good.”

“I know,” was all you could muster, the clear confidence in his words making your heart beat a little harder.

“And I’m having a hard time remembering what went wrong,” a humourless laugh shook from his chest, as he kept his eyes focused on the little locket that had been gifted to you nearly a year ago. “And seeing you here, out of all places. I can’t be the only one.”

“I know,” you repeated, very aware of the intense emotion that had been clouding your mind in the past twelve hours. “You’re not the only one.”

He lifted your wrist that he held, gently placing your arm over his shoulder to move in closer to you. You didn’t object, sliding your palm over the crook of his neck. You were unable to help but take a quick look at his mouth, at his lips that hovered so close to yours.

“Give us a shot,” he whispered, breath hitting the inside of your wrist when he titled his chin towards your arm. His lips skimmed the skin, pressing feather light kisses over the inside of your wrist. With the same light pattern of kisses on the inside of your forearm, he moved his lips away to instead focus on your face.

Placing his hand under your jaw, a similar position that you held him in as he seemed to be moving ever so slowly. Tilting his jaw up towards you, he let his lips skim so slightly across your cheek, so light you nearly thought you had imagined it. Just as he had last night, his nose brushed over your own first while he took a moment to savour you.

Waiting for any sign of hesitation on your part, which never came, he let his lips slowly fall over the corner of your mouth. Wet trail of touches that moved away from your lips and instead over to your cheek, he took a moment to hold you against him.

He whispered something over your jaw, you couldn’t hear him. With your eyelids fluttered shut and your head spinning, all your focus was set on what his lips were doing rather than what they were saying.

This time it was you, who slid your hand to the back of his neck with a much firmer grip. It was you that led his mouth to capture yours.

It was just lips on lips at first, a quick kiss that lasted barely a second. You pulled away before he could even have a chance to react, a small smile curving at your lips when you glanced up at him.

His hand slid up your arm to hold a tight grip around your back, while the other circled to the back of your neck, thumb brushing over your skin in soft circles. He pulled you in again, both relaxing into the kiss as his lips eased over yours.

Kissing him was everything good you remembered. The way he gripped you tightly against him, the soft touch of his lips, the way your name was rolling off his tongue in a quiet incredulous breath. 

His mouth was warm, inviting, fitting so perfectly over yours as you tentatively parted your own lips to invite him in for more. Your free hand joined the other around his neck, letting his tongue graze against yours as you tasted each other for the first time in nearly a year. It was all the same – like no time had really passed at all.

Feeling his hand circle around your hip, holding you close as a quiet moan rumbled from deep in his chest. You couldn’t help the content sigh at the sound, completely melting into him. He was pressing tight against you, mouth completely capturing yours while your breathing mixed and lips dampened. 

Your chins hit awkwardly when you tilted your head to the side and he went to lightly suck over your bottom lip. Though you didn’t mind the slight sting of his chin knocking yours, in fact you found yourself welcoming everything about him. 

It wasn’t until you realized you were sharing heavy breaths, and when your lips had been growing more and more desperate for the other that you needed to separate for a quick deep breath of air. 

He breathed your name with a quiet smile tugging at the corners of his mouth that was easily heard in his voice. “We’re still good.” 

Your head was spinning. His head was spinning. Nothing seemed to be real, at the moment but at the same time everything seemed far too real. 

Just as he leant in again, searching for your lips once more, you slid your palm down from his shoulder to the center of his chest and pushed yourself back an inch. “Harry…”

You wanted to feel his mouth on yours again, you really did. You just couldn’t bear to think what would come of it – you couldn’t revisit all the pain that you had managed to push away. 

He shook his head, not believing you were about to turn him down again. Especially after that. He knew he shouldn’t be upset with you about it, he knew it was completely valid on your end but in this moment he felt like everything was coming crashing once more.

When he heard the quiet and pained tone in your voice, he bit his lip down – his lip that could still feel the whisper of yours – and shook his head in disbelief.

“We shouldn’t.” 

A sharp pain came from your chest as Harry seemed to deflate against you. “If you don’t –” he had to look away from your heavy eyes as he spoke. “You can’t kiss me like that and then push me away.” 

He was right - of course he was right - but you were so incredibly confused and couldn’t seem to process a single thing that you were feeling. “I’m sorry,” you whispered, neither of you moving. “I didn’t mean to…” you didn’t know what to say, because you really did want to kiss him. You still do. “I’m really sorry.” 

Harry shook his head. “Don’t be sorry –” he sighed, hands falling from your body.

When he didn’t say anything else, you slowly dragged your palm over your forehead, feeling the sudden tension of the situation manifest in a growing pain in your head. “We can’t keep living in the past.” 

He hated himself for the sliver of hope he felt when you said ‘we’. 

“We were so fucking good,” he knew he needed to stop entertaining the topic but he really couldn’t help it He knew you saw it too. “We were a team, we were solid. I just don’t know,” he cut himself off, running the back of his hand over his mouth.  “I don’t know.” 

A thick moment of silence passed – you couldn’t bear it. “It’s too…” you had to take a deep breath as you felt a sob build in your chest. “It’s too painful to go through this again, Harry – this has been the hardest year of my life I can’t –”

You need to cut yourself off, shoulders shaking as you kept your eyes glued to the floor. “I should go.”

[youngjusticeslut]

Hi there, its the Plot Shit™ dude.

Personally, I think that if they were going to give 5 episodes to any arc, Kaldur's arc should have been the one to get it. Personally I think that all the slideshow side-plots in Zatanna's arc were added in so that they could stretch her arc for five episodes in order to not leave the show on a cliffhanger going into the mid-season break, which is fair I guess. But! You asked for my thoughts on the final ep and oh boy I am here to deliver.

I think we should have seen more of Kaldur and Co in the caves. Like a whole episode of that where we got to see Kaldur slowly fraying at the edges before just, y'know, snapping. It would have done a lot more for the catharsis of his arc and maybe contextualized his decision to take a break. For only having one episode to do that, they did their best (and I did like the callback to Bruce being an absolute asshole to 16-year-old Kaldur because I too would have internalized that shit if an adult in an authority position said that to me at 16). I just think that he didn't really reach the breaking point that would have justified his decision to take a break in a way that makes sense for his character. At least not onscreen.

Yes Mera becoming king is very girlboss of her. I didn't like it. It felt like Orin kinda just made that decision on her behalf, and presented it in a way where she kinda had to go along with it or risk a huge riot. Like yes he asked her if she was okay with it, but at the same time he had already done his 'She is your One True King!' speech. I get that it was a shitty situation all around but at the same time I got the vibe that she didn't want it. And she didn't really get a choice where she could think about it and decide, she kinda was strongarmed into it on the spot. Idk, maybe I'll change my mind, but that's just how I feel. I am respectfully looking at her in the crown though.

Aron being a clone wasn't surprising. Aron being a clone with Orm's implanted memories was actually kinda a cool twist, even if YJ has simply done too many clone twists in my opinion. Also it proved my mini-theory that there would be two Orm clones (because clones always come in pairs on YJ) right in a way.

Traci as Fate was [*chef's kiss*] and also I love her.

I like that the bus, the only thing that was actually not a hallucination, was the thing that made Connor go 'huh. maybe I'm losing my mind here'. From his viewpoint it makes sense but also from a meta stance it is funny as hell. Also the end credit scene implies that Zatanna didn't tell the rest of the team that Connor might be alive, like what the everloving fuck girl.

A side note on Connor; how come he gets to have a mental breakdown in the Phantom Zone, but Kaldur can't have a mental breakdown while being trapped in the caves? What the fuck is up with that, huh Grandon? Huh? /j

Overall I give the episode a 7/10. It was good, I just think it would have worked better if there had been another episode between it and Emergency Dive. Too much Plot Shit™ to wrap up neatly, even with the exclusion of most of the non-Atlantis B-plots. This probably should have been split into multiple asks, so sorry that this is so long. I didn't realize how much I wanted to say until I started typing.

Hello SaintClay, the Plot Shit™️ dude! Thanks for sharing your thoughts with me, long as they may be ☺️

I agree, I think this was the arc that could have greatly benefitted, and would have succeeded all the more with five episodes. The cave-in episode idea would have been *chef's kiss* and I lament that it doesn't exist.

I did predict Mera becoming the #girlboss king in the end, but I feel a little neutral on it because of the lack of buildup. She didn't seem like she wanted the title and I think back to a post that someone made earlier (I forget whom) about Orin's lack of emotional intelligence and oof they were right on the money about that. Fun fact about Mera in Arion's crown, if you look back at the trailer for 4b, the scene where all the magic users are circled around the bell in the Tower of Fate, you can actually see her wearing the crown there 😂 #spoileralert.

The episode was a solid 7 out of 10 for me too. Was good, could have been better!

[kuh-boose]

I wish the Halo show had done something more similar to Forward Unto Dawn. Not exactly, obviously, but the same general idea of how to handle showing Spartans. 

(TLDR below)

Could you imagine how good the show would have been had it played with the legends Spartans ended up becoming? We spend so much time playing as Spartans that we forget how more average military personnel or civilians may see them. I think this would have been the perfect way to explore Halo and Spartans without stepping on the toes of the already established story and characters. Each episode would follow a new individual or group as they go about their business/missions, maybe discuss Spartans or get info on them. Then the episodes subjects end up in a situation that gets worse and worse until it feels like there is no way out. Enter Spartan IIs, rolling in and looking like demi-gods come to earth. They clear battlefields like nothing, take on risks with no hesitation, save people with no regard for their own safety. They are perfect soldiers and the best line of defense anyone can have. If there’s Covenant around, you want a Spartan with you. We see this happen in different situations, each episode a new set of people saved by Spartans, and we see how much they’re needed to swing the tides of war in humanities favor. We see how much they become a beacon of hope to people with no way out of very bad situations. We see how skilled and untouchable they are.

Then mid-way through the season, we as an audience see our first Spartan casualty. After episodes of seeing them victorious in horrible odds, of walking away with scratches where others were annihilated, we see true failure. We see one of these almost gods die in a violent way. Maybe the mission fails completely, maybe they still get through it, but one way or another, a Spartan dies. 

Then, we cut back to the start of Spartan II training, with the abduction of six year olds, and the rest of the season we follow them through it. We see them suffer and face casualties throughout training, throughout augmentation. We see them up to the start of the Covenant war and we are shown that the heroes we’ve been watching save people over and over again with no thought for themselves are practically still teenagers. 

We are confronted with the question that Halo as a series likes to ask: is this sacrifice worth it? 

We see how needed Spartans are, we see how much hope they bring. Then we are forced to see the suffering they’ve gone through to be those heroes. The sacrifices they’ve made, are making, to buy humanity time and won battles. We are forced to ponder the morals of children being forced to become protectors. The horror that is sending teenagers to die so that we have a fighting chance. 

I just feel like this would have been a perfect direction to take a Halo show, since it’s compelling both for fans of the series to really soak in what exactly Spartans are, and for a new audience to Halo to be taken by surprise. And both are forced to think about how they feel about heroes they’ve come to love being the result of abduction and forced training. There would be multiple directions to view the Covenant and the UNSC from, without forcing characters into unnatural situations for your audience to see it all. You can sprinkle in the events of the overall war. And it does what the show is obviously (clumsily) trying to get at, it humanizes Spartans, while still recognizing them as these incredibly powerful and capable people. AND it gives a lot of freedom to create different and compelling characters and situations. 

But instead we got some generic sci-fi shit that tramples the lore.

 yay. 

TLDR: I wish the Halo series had followed multiple stories that end with Spartans saving the day and just generally being capable bad-asses and perfect soldiers, only to shatter that godly image half way through the series with one of them dying. Then I wanted the series to follow the Spartan IIs training from abduction to deployment. We’d be seeing both views of Spartans, both the mythological legends that turn the tides of war and do the impossible, and as children forced to be protectors of humanity and sent to die horrible, violent deaths. 

[thebookreader12345]

Right the Wrongs

Pairing: Natalie Manning x Best Friend! reader

Summary: Y/N and Natalie have been best friends for years, so when Natalie is in an accident with Will, and something seems off with Phillip, Y/N does everything in her power to fix the present

Requested: Yes, by anonymous

Warnings: slight swearing, mentions of a car accident, blood, and injuries

Word Count: 1,355 Words

Note: Takes place during Chicago Med Season 5 Episode 1, Never Going Back to Normal

"Hey, Y/N," my best friend Natalie greeted me. "Can we talk for a moment?"

"Uh, can it wait? I'm working a double shift tonight so I want to get all of this stuff done. And I'm kind of busy at the moment," I say and hold up a chart. I turned towards Natalie to get her response, but when I saw her face, my heart dropped. "You know what? This can wait. What's up?"

"I might be having a mid life crisis," Natalie told me. "And I'm not really sure what to do."

"All right, well, on a scale of 1-5, how major is the crisis?" I question.

"I think I'm still in love with Will," Natalie confessed.

"Um, Doris, could you go ahead and get the patient in Treatment 1 started on prednisone?" I ask. Doris nodded, and I quickly thanked her before leading Natalie to the empty doctors' lounge. "Okay, you're gonna have to start from the beginning. What do you mean you think you're still in love with Will?"

Natalie shrugged. "I don't know. Don't get me wrong, Phillip is nice and all, but I just recently discovered that Will didn't want to go back into Witness Protection because of me. And yeah, the two of us have had sort of a rocky past, but the time I spent with him... I can't imagine being with anyone else."

"Okay, this is definitely a level 5 crisis," I declare. "What are you gonna do?"

"What do you think I should do?" Natalie countered. I took a seat on the couch and pat the spot next to me, and Natalie sat down. For a second, I didn't say a word because, well, I didn't really know what to say. Finally though, I spoke up.

"Lets make a pros and cons list," I suggest. "So Phillip, for the pros, he's really sweet and handsome, and he cares a lot for his sick daughter. Cons, his wife did just die, and maybe his feelings for you aren't actually real. You did try to help save his dying wife, and you've been working tirelessly to save his daughter, so this could be a case of transference."

Natalie nodded. "Okay. Now what about Will?"

"Well, the obvious pro is that he's really dedicated, especially with his patients. And he's an overall amazing guy. Plus, he's good-looking and has really nice hair," I add, to which Natalie laughed. "Then there are the cons. He's reckless and stubborn and doesn't always tell the truth."

Natalie sighed and leaned back against the couch, rubbing a hand over her face. "So what are you trying to say? You think I should stay with Phillip?"

"Quite the opposite, actually," I admit. "Sure, Phillip's a great guy, but you and Will have a deep history. And everyone in this ED, hell, the whole hospital, knows how much you care for each other. I say you go for Will. But at the end of the day, it's your decision."

"No, I uh, I think you're right. I need to go find Will," Natalie spoke and stood up. "Have you seem him?"

"Well, shift's just ending, and considering his jacket isn't in his locker and neither are his other things, he's heading to his car," I state.

"Well then, I better hurry to catch up with him. Thank you, Y/N," Natalie murmured and hugged me before exiting the lounge.

................................................

"Oh my god! What the hell happened?" I quiz as Will carried Natalie into the ED. Half of Will's face was covered in blood, and Natalie looked like she had a nasty head wound which was leaking a lot of blood.

"Natalie was thrown from the vehicle," Will explained and placed Natalie down onto a bed.

"Crockett!" I shout to get the doctor's attention. "I need some help in here!"

"I'm here," Crockett breathed out and slipped on some gloves. "What have we got?"

"Blunt head trauma and loss of consciousness," Will disclosed.

"I'm putting a collar on her," I announce.

Crockett nodded. "Start an IV and get her on the monitors and a nasal airway."

"Don't forget a chest X-ray," I add as the two of us worked together.

"Elsa, take Will here to Trauma 2," Crockett instructed.

"No. I'm staying with Natalie," Will argued.

"You're a mess, Will, come on," Crockett requested.

"I'm staying!" Will insisted.

"Will, you need to get looked at, and standing there is not going to help Natalie. I will find you when we have an update," I tell him. Will hesitated, but nodded and allowed Elsa to bring him into the next room.

A Few Hours Later...

I was standing at the nurses' station in the ICU doing some charts, but it was getting hard to keep my eyes open. Usually I could get through a double shift with almost no problem, but today, between Natalie's injury and the huge caseload I had, I was tired out. However, an argument from one of the patient rooms woke me up a bit. I rushed towards where the shouting came from and realized that it was coming from Natalie's room, where Will and Phillip were quarrelling. Crockett appeared behind me, but he allowed me to take the lead.

"Hey! You two can't be here. Natalie needs her rest, and we're only allowing family to visit right now. So both of you need to leave," I declare.

"Natalie and I are engaged," Phillip claimed. "So that would make me her family."

"What? Natalie never mentioned you proposing," I retort.

Phillip nodded towards Natalie's unconscious body. "See for yourself." I glanced over at Natalie's hand, and there, sitting on her finger, was an engagement ring.

"Crockett, could you take Will outside?" I ask.

"Sure thing," Crockett replied and led Will out of the room. As they left, I turned to Phillip and crossed my arms over my chest.

"What?" Phillip questioned.

"I didn't see that ring on her finger when she came into the ED, and I definitely would've noticed it. And if it was there, we would have removed it," I share.

Phillip scoffed. "Is this really any of your business?"

"As her doctor and her best friend, yeah, it is," I answer and glance at Phillip one more time before leaving the room. A few hours later, Natalie was finally awake, and as soon as Phillip was nowhere to be found, I entered her room.

"Hey, Nat," I greet her. "How are you feeling?"

"Fine," Natalie responded. "But uh, Dr. Marcel, he told me Phillip and I were engaged. I don't-I can't remember him proposing."

"Because I don't think he did," I exclaim. "Natalie, before your accident, you told me that you wanted to be with Will. Do you remember that?"

Natalie thought for a moment, and then nodded. "Yeah. I remember that. You have to help me, Y/n. I need to talk to Will, but if Phillip sees..."

"Don't worry. I've got you," I assure her. "Phillip just went to the cafeteria to eat lunch, so he should be gone for at least 15 minutes. I'll get Will in here so that you guys can talk."

"Thank you," Natalie mumbled. I gave her a small smile and left the room, paging Will to my location. A minute or two later, Will appeared by the nurses' station.

"Hey. I got your page. What's up?" Will quizzed.

"Natalie is awake," I tell him. "But before you go in there, there's something you need to know. Right before the accident, Natalie and I were talking, and she told me that she wanted to get back together with you. Phillip lied about the engagement. He put that ring on her finger when she was unconscious. So just go in there and make everything right. Natalie is my best friend, and I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I didn't do everything in my power to make her happy."

"All right. Thank you, Y/n," Will spoke. "For everything."

I smiled. "No problem. Now, go in there and get Natalie back. It's about time the two of you got back together."

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

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[littledevil-jpeg]

Okay, so last post I was giving Lucifer 5B some credit for getting me interested and intrigued about a shitty character, so, as all things should be balanced, here comes the other side of the question. I'll say right off the bat that Lucifer was never a show I took seriously, all at once because of the tone, the way they chose to develop and delve into the themes, the monster-of-the-week format (though also done in spn, there it's redeemed by the darker tone and more subtle theme-development. Obviously, this is S1-S5 I'm talking about) and again the overall way this world works. I've been known to accuse Cobra Kai and even Breaking Bad for coincidence-bending, but they don't even come close to the level of Lucifer here. Then, of course, there's how easy everything is, like a bloody sled on ice: drugs - no problem, kill someone - no problem, infiltrate a mafia group - no fooking problem. How? Well, glaze over that, it's not that important. Except it is. Remember how in that same Breaking Bad Walter's team spent considerable chunks of the show planning, hiding evidence, preparing, measuring little details, diligently covering up their tracks. And they were only involved in a measly drug manufacturing business. Imagine the shit Lucifer runs, with crime bosses, drugs, demons and prostitutes piling out of his front door. Obviously it's a show about angels and demons, and the realism isn't the focus of the program, but still, these things matter. There's always a convenience to it. Like, oh, you need to infiltrate the Russian mafia or some shit? Don't worry, I know a guy - and poof, problem gone. That's not even to mention the universe bending out of shape all around Lucifer, everyone (Chloe especially) putting up with his humiliating bullshit, the fact that he would be kicked out the police in anything even remotely resembling real life, that the mc's get away with almost everything, the unrealistic dialogue that no human irl ever speaks, the second-hand embarrassment, the cheesy "morale" speeches, the dull, predictable cases that are all done by the same formula... and more. So okay, there's a lot, a lot, of problems with this show. Which is why no one really takes it that seriously, we all know it's kind of trashy. But "kind of trashy" is one thing. Now, when season 5 introduces a genuine "evil twin" that we're meant to take with even a bit of seriousness, in the footsteps of such chef d'oeuvres as Dispicable Me 3, when that twin is the most caricature-like villain in recent history, when the allmighty is a buffoon with half a brain, forget omniscient, and isn't even in-line with the stuff he's done before, when one of the main cast is offed as though mid-sentense, with no lead-up, no foreshadowing, no preamble, like a toss of a dice, when the main character is on a race to become God himself, and his love interested Mrs God, and when, oh, Jesus fucking Christ, just stop already! I truly wonder if the writer's room a big dart board with all these drunk-ass ideas stuck onto it, and they blind throw to make the next season. It's finally hitting me now, as I'm writing this, what on god's green earth I watched yesterday.

Why does Lucifer need to become God? Why does a war in Heaven even have to be introduced? Why not focus of the more intricate inter-personal conflicts on Earth, on the characters and their mentalities, on those meaningful arcs that hold actual importance, and emotion, and down-to-earth (lol), well, meaning again. Why do we need a heavenly war? Why does Lucifer need the approval of the angels, when the moral seems to be that he makes himself who he is, not his status, not his people, not his past and not the Silver City (an excellent moral, by the way, so credit where it's due. This self-actualisation business is the second best thing in the whole show)? I get that this is why the majority vote doesn't work, but then what does work? Are they ment to self-actualise into becoming God? Now, I'm aware it's left uncertain whether Luci really is God, so I won't go there for now, but then we have the issue of his resurrection. Was it a reward for self-sacrifice? That wouldn't fit so well, considering all the previous sacrifices that were much more impressive than this one. And what's the philosophy behind that - he's acting out of love? But to what end, if by dying he practically fucked all the other people on Earth, including the very same Chloe he just brough back down? Are these really the qualities for a God to have?

Or did he once again self-actualise, but this time he actualised himself to life? That would truly be a stake-killer. I saw a theory that he finally saw himself as worthy of Heaven, which doesn't quite link to coming back to life. Well, these are perhaps, once again, speculations, and maybe this will be cleared up next season. As for Lucifer's God status, it's a shitty move on the writers' part. Not only was the execution rushed, but thematically, again, Lucifer becoming God to feel worthy of Chloe is nonsense. From a plot and theme standpoint, why does this need to happen? This Godly status holds no meaning, no emotional worth, it's not fullfilling, not symbolic of anything fitting other than that same old "bad to good" and I guess the irony of the Devil becoming God, but the irony is an empty one if it has no real meaning. Which is the case. The whole thing is empty of substance, and I don't know why they went there. You know, it's hollow anyway, not least because Lucifer really doesn't deserve it. Even this season, he is nothing but a child - he acts and thinks like a child, he unchangeably does the same "projecting" bs from season to season to season with no actual sign of emotional maturity other than that in the words of other characters. But you can say he's different all you want, it's not gonna work if the subtle signs of his change aren't there. Say, imagine if Endeavor kept running his mouth about atonement, but kept dutifully abusing his kids - this is that. And yeah, Lucifer loves Chloe in his own way, cares about her, and even comes out of his self-absorbed little world for her, which by the way bugged me about their uneven relationship since season 1 (you know, treating her like shit with a flimsy excuse and then "making up" for it with a grand gesture of sacrifice or a round of angsty suffering. Time after time, every time.)

And finally, of course, there's the issue of how inconsiderate it is to Chloe for him to become God. I mean, it's dead obvious no relationship will be possible there, not without becoming even more unhealthy than it already seems. Themathic significance and meaning aside, even then, even in-universe, it's a shitty thing Lucifer does, again, for himself. So that he feels worthy of Chloe. What she feels, once he's made it his goal to do something, essentially doesn't matter anymore. And the plot fascilitates this splendidly, I mean, she always forgives him without fault like a well-oiled machine. Always, whatever he does, and it's gotten old a long time ago. We know Lucifer can do anything, anything at all, and he will be forgiven - by Chloe, by Maze, by Dan, by Linda, by Amenadiel, by anyone that he needs to forgive him. You'll be lucky if they don't do it the same episode, and extraordinarily lucky if it takes them three or four.

There are many other things to discuss this season, like Dan's ridiculously badly written death, Chloe's whole character stagnation, the, khm, the musical episode, the saturaday morning cartoon villain problem, the fact that Michael manages to descieve an omniscient being, and God himself. I might do those separately, might not, we'll see, as those aren't nearly as interesting to dissect as the above.

Aaaand, anyway, if he is now God, I strongly suspect they'll play the angle of "even though he's God, he stills feels shitty, as true self-love/worth comes from elsewhere" and the usual thing.

[lilyginnyblackv2]

Yashahime - Ep. 8 - Thoughts

Where do I start with how bad the writing was this episode?

First, there was way too much Takechiyo. Second, we learn that Takechiyo was brought to Jyubei by Miroku...for some reason. And Miroku was, once again, alone. I know that Miroku has a connection to tanuki youkai through Hachi, we also see Hachi make an appearance in Moroha’s “memory” (which I’ll rant about a bit below), and Hachi has impersonated Miroku before...so a part of me is wondering if this “Miroku” is actually Hachi. But then why disguise himself as Miroku? It just doesn’t make sense. 

That’s the issue that I have with this and many other aspects of Yashahime so far. It seems to be that all of these mysteries are mysteries simpy for the sake of mystery, rather than mysteries because the plot and story actually calls for them. You know what I mean. They feel forced and not a natural mystery of the story. But rather a mystery because “you can’t know stuff yet and have to be stringed along.” It’s the difference between having a story with mystery elements vs. the mystery making up the entire story. The latter is happening here, with the mystery making up the entire story, and that is leading to a story that is just mystery upon mystery with no solid foundation.

Second, the memory that we do see of Kagome and Inuyasha really was like...baby Moroha’s memory. Like, you expect me to believe that Moroha has memories from when she was a baby...Even if they were to explain that away with something like it being a buried and forgotten memory...that’s just not how the human brain works. Once we get older, our brains begin to forget early childhood memories, and newborn even having memories is...more than a stretch. It’s unbelievable.

Third, Moroha legit just freezes in mid attack and let’s herself get hit by Yotsume’s attack. It was bad.

Four, Moroha wasn’t able to use her Beniyasha attack(?), power booster (?) - I don’t quite know how I should refer to it, because Kyuki stated that she made it so that her rainbow pearl will absorb their demonic powers. Yet...a few moments later Moroha uses an attack (on Towa, so that Towa could absorb it, since in Episode 6 we saw how Towa was able to absorb demonic power). It just...was very sloppily written all around. It was like the writers realized that the made the girls too overpowered, but then also realized that they need the girls to defeat the enemy (because shonen - and this is most definitely a shonen manga/anime issue), so we ended up with this fight that just had me scratching my head.

Five, this is an issue with shonen series in general. It’s just boring af knowing that the girls were going to beat Kyuki. There are no real stakes raised, because you just know the girls will win in the end against the opponent.

Six, while we get some plot progression this episode, we don’t get enough, and next week’s episode looks like yet another filler episode. They are raising too many questions (and continuing to raise questions) without providing any solid answers and we are edging ever closer to the half-way point of the series. Unless they are absolutely relying on their being a second season, then the pacing for this series is terrible. Hisui is still barely in the series and hasn’t even traveled with them once. We get glacial plot progression in ways that simply bring about more questions, there is still no solid timeline, and the OG characters and the status of them are still being kept vague and mysterious.

I like Setsuna and Towa. I don’t care much for Moroha, but I also like Riku, and I like Kohaku. Hisui is okay, I guess? We barely even know him. We know more about Riku and his personality at this point, then about Hisui, which is...odd. But the writing for these new characters just isn’t as good or as solid as Inuyasha (and Inuyasha’s writing wasn’t that amazing overall either, I mean, it is still a shonen series and most of them have “meh” writing to begin with). But the character writing was better than this.

Now, onto the two things that I did like this episode: Riku and some slight plot progression concerning the Dream Butterflies, Setsuna, and Rin. Let’s start with Riku:

Riku being connected to Jyubei and his business makes sense. Not only is Riku shown in the OP together with Jyubei and Takeyochi (I believe) he is also shown to have a dark blue rainbow pearl and on the Relationship Chart we see that Jyubei and Takechiyo’s square is dark blue colored. I expect, when they update the Relationship Chart at some point, that Riku will be placed in their square. 

Then we have the fact that Kyuki knows Riku and Riku knows Kyuki and appears to dislike her (and the perils in general). This furthers a possible connection between him and Kirinmaru, especially because Riku is also referred to as “Lord Riku” or more accurately Riku-sama. So he holds some high ranking/position.

Lastly with Riku, his way of talking became far less polite when he was talking with Jyubei. This makes sense. It’s hard to tell at this point if his politeness is purely a cover, or if he talks more politely to Towa because he likes her and respects her, etc. I feel it could go either way at this point.

As for the Rin and Setsuna and Dream Butterfly stuff. Yes, Rin was referred to as “woman” by Towa. I still think that this can place her in an older teen age range, which isn’t that different from where I had her before. Though, I do find the usage of onna or onna na hito for a teen character to be unusual, though Kagura, who had the physical appearance of 17, was referred to as onna from what I’ve been told (I mostly watched and read the OG series in English, so I don’t really know off hand, but I’ve heard this. If anyone can provide an example/source of this, that would be great!). 

So Rin is probably around the 16 -18 year old age range, imo. Especially because Towa (someone who is young herself) is referring to Rin as onna. And Kohaku had referred to Setsuna in Episode 3 as onago, the same term used by the Tree of Ages for Rin. If Rin is meant to be older than 20 though...she really doesn’t look it.

But, regardless of that. In the episode we have The Tree of Ages literally talking to Towa as she sees the Dream Butterfly give Rin Setsuna’s dreams and sleep. Towa wonders who Rin is, but is not given an answer - it was asked internally, I believe, but you would still think that, if Rin is the twins’ mother, then The Tree of Ages would mention that to them. Especially because the Tree of Ages wants the girls to defeat Kirinmaru. But it doesn’t mention this, and I still find that to be odd.

Once again, if Rin is the mother and it is so obvious, why even bother building up a “who’s the mother!?” type mystery. It just doesn’t make any sense. That’s how I feel about this entire series. In the Da Vinci interview, Towa’s VA states that she believes that the series will answer all of these questions (including the “who’s the mother” one) in the end, she has faith in the series...but I just don’t. The theory making is fun, but the writing and execution of so many things just continues to be bad. The best episode of the series so far was episode 1...and the vast majority of that was taken from material written by Takahashi-sensei...

The pacing for this series is just horrid so far. If we don’t know who the mother is or don’t have some sort of significant plot progression + answers being given by Episode 14...I’m dropping the series. You can’t make most of the mysteries in the series surround the OG cast and then have the series mostly focus on the new generation. It just leads to this mess. - sigh - 

I do want to talk about the flowers and Setsuna. But this post is already long enough as it is. So I’ll just end this here and make a separate post for that. As always, if you have any thoughts you would like to add to this, please feel free to! :D