#of all of these i think lucy's and kate's is the most ?????? up in the air

[nellasbookplanet]

Book recs: Queer horror, part 1

We all like a good horror story, right? You know what's even better? A queer horror story!

A note: queer here does not necessarily mean “guarantee of an f/f or m/m ship with a happy ending”, but rather simply a significant presence of queerness. Some of the books feature no romance but has a same gender attracted/trans/ace spectrum lead, or features an m/f relationship with bisexual, trans or aro/ace characters, or simply features a world-building which is heavily queer inclusive in ways that don’t always compare to our own ideas of sexuality and gender. I have however disqualified works where the only queer presence is along the lines of “gay best friend” or a blink and you’ll miss it confirmation that never comes up again.

For more details on the books, continue under the readmore. Titles marked with * are my personal favorites. And as always, feel free to share your own recs in the notes!

If you want more book recs, check out my masterpost of rec lists!

Camp Damascus by Chuck Tingle*

Rose, like her parents, believes strongly that homosexuality is a sin, and holds great pride that her home town hosts Camp Damascus, a successful conversion camp for young teens. But Rose is also experiencing strange and terrifying things: memories of a beautiful girl, a demonic figure that shows up if her thoughts stray, flies crawling out her mouth. Something has happened in Rose's past that her parents won't speak of and that she herself can't remember, and Camp Damascus is at the center of it all. Sapphic, autistic main character, as well as a really cool take on demonic lore that is both inspired by and a subversion of christianity.

House of Hollow by Krystal Sutherland*

Young adult. Something happened to Iris Hollow and her two older sisters when they were little; after having gone missing, they were all returned with no memory of what happened and identical scars on their throats. Years have passed since then, and though seen as strange the girls still lead mostly normal lives - that is, until the oldest, Grey, goes missing, leaving strange clues in her path. As Iris searches for her, a strange man with horns starts stalking her and memories start to rise to the forefront in her mind. To save Grey, Iris will have to find out the truth of what happened all those years ago. Features wonderfully morally grey characters. Bisexual lead, but little to no romance.

Winter Tide (The Innsmouth Legacy) by Ruthanna Emrys*

Aphra and her brother are the only survivors after the government raided their home, Innsmouth. Their only living family are the amphibian people of the deep, whom they will one day join, but until then they are bound to land where they struggle to build new lives for themselves after the great loss of their home and loved ones. Then rumors start to spread of a russian agent seeking dangerous and ancient magic, forcing Aphra to involve herself as they try to stop it. Does contain horror elements but is generally a much more optimistic look on cosmic horror than most lovecraftian stories, told from the perspective of one of his monsters. Lots of focus on found family and rebuilding of community. Asexual main character (however I don’t think that becomes in-text confirmed until the sequel) and multiple queer characters in the supporting cast.

Rules for Vanishing by Kate Alice Marshall

Young adult. One year ago, Sara's sister went missing. Since then, Sara has drifted away from her friends, but when she receives a mysterious text inviting her to "play the game" - the same game that supposedly stole her sister away - Sara and her estranged friends all come back together to find her. Together they set off on a path that legend says appears only once a year, leading them toward the ghost Lucy Gallows and, hopefully, Sara's sister. Bisexual main character, told in a faux documentary style.

Sorrowland by Rivers Solomon

A young pregnant woman flees a cult that left her body strange and changing in terrifying ways. Hiding from both a world wanting to oppress her and the cult seeking to force her back, she does her best to raise her children while trying to find out the truth of the cult and being pursued by a hunter in a dangerous game of cat and mouse. Bleak and scary, Sorrowland is a book that will creep under your skin with horrors both fantastical and very, very real.

Otherside Picnic (Otherside Picninc lightnovel series) by Iori Miyazawa

Sapphic light novel with a surreal and episodic horror vibe. Following the directions of an urban legend, university student Sorawo finds her way to a reality populated by horrifying creatures from ghost stories and modern urban legends (of which I’m sure you’ll recognize many). Here she teams up with fellow explorer Toriko, both to find out more about this strange world and to help Toriko find a missing loved one. Also available as a manga and (one season of) an anime. Sapphic.

Our Wives Under the Sea by Julia Amrfield

Miri thought she lost her wife Leah when her deep-sea mission ended in a catastrophe. But Leah was miraculously returned to her - or so it seems. Because something happened down there, deep in the ocean, and whatever it was, Leah has brought it back with her. Surreal and strange, Our Wives Under the Sea will not answer all your questions, but it will give you a unique experience.

What Moves the Dead by T. Kingfisher

Novella. Alex Easton, retired soldier, travels to visit their childhood friends, siblings Madeline and Roderick Usher, after finding out that Madeline is dying. In the siblings’ rural, ancestral home, Madeline walks in her sleep and looks to be fading away, while around it wildlife seems to be possessed by a strange force. With the help of a mycologist and an American doctor, Alex attempts to save Madeline and reveal the truth of her illness. Nonbinary main character.

Alien: Echo by Mira Grant

Young adult. Twin sisters Olivia and Viola’s parents are both xenobiologists, bringing them all over the galaxy. Most recently they’ve settled on a new colony world to study its wildlife, but it proves more dangerous than they could’ve ever imagined. Under attack from alien monsters, the sisters must keep each other alive while also coming to terms with a dark family secret. Sapphic horror. Part of the Alien franchise but stands well on its own.

Into the Drowning Deep by Mira Grant*

A research vessel heads towards the Mariana Trench in search of answers of what happened to a ship which mysteriously lost all its crew some time earlier. In the deep dark, something intelligent and hungry awaits them. Very much mermaids of the horror variety. Sequel to a novella, can be read as a standalone. Also contains a sapphic romance, however that is a pretty small part of the plot as a whole.

Alice Isn't Dead by Joseph Fink

Based on the podcast by the same name. Keisha Taylor thought she had lost her wife. She even held a funeral and attempted to move on with her life. But then Alice started to appear, all over America, in the background of every single major tragedy in the country. To find her missing wife, Keisha gets a job as a trucker and sets out on a roadtrip, not knowing what horrors awaits her.

Wilder Girls by Rory Power

Young adult. Over a year ago, the Raxter School for Girls was hit by the Tox, a strange disease that killed off many and left the survivors’ bodies slowly changing in terrifying ways. The island the school is on has been in quarantine since then, and the girls dare not leave the school grounds lest they become victims of wild animals changed by the Tox. But as they wait for the promised cure, one of the girls goes missing, and her friends are willing to do anything to find her. Unsettling, spooky, and sapphic, this is a unique read featuring body horror and messy, dangerous girls.

Meddling Kids by Edgar Cantero

Once, Andy, Kerri, Nate, Peter and their faithful dog were known as the Blyton Summer Detective Club, until they hit their fateful final case in 1977. Now, the year is 1990, and the group hasn't gathered in years. Tomboy Andy is wanted in at least two states; Kerri, former kid genius, is tending bar; and horror nerd Nate is in a mental institution in Arkham. At least he still has the company of jock-turned-movie star Peter - except Peter has been dead for years. Now they must all come together to find out the truth of what happened all those years ago. Lovecraftian horror with a sometimes absurdist vibe and adult scooby do inspiration. Sapphic romance.

Contagion by Erin Bowman*

Young adult. After receiving an SOS, a small crew is sent on a standard search-and-rescue mission. But what they find are not survivors awaiting help, but an abandoned site, full of dead bodies and crawling with something… monstrous. No romance, but features one sapphic co-lead and one who can easily be read as demisexual (however this doesn’t show up until book two, which has more romance).

Sawkill Girls by Claire Legrand*

Young adult. The isolated island of Sawkill Rock has secrets. It hosts the legend of a local monster, and the very stark reality of decades of girls going missing, never to be found again. Now, three girls stand at the center of the horrific mystery - if only they can come together, perhaps they can save future generations of girls from a monster that may very well be real. Asexual and sapphic main characters, including a sapphic romance.

Salvation Day by Kali Wallace

A decade ago, the massive ship House of Wisdom was abandoned in orbit after its entire crew was killed in an outbreak in a matter of hours. Now, Zahra and her family of outcasts hope to claim the ship as their own by kidnapping the sole survivor to gain access. But the danger of the House of Wisdom is far from gone. Horror, no major romance but one of the main characters is gay.

The Luminous Dead by Caitlin Starling*

Possibly one of the most unstintingly claustrophobic books I’ve ever read, and definitely the most claustrophobic. Gyre, a caver on an alien planet, ventures into the dark and dangerous underground, guided only by a woman who has no compunctions on using and manipulating Gyre as she sees fit to obtain her secretive goals down in the caves. Sapphic in the most messy of ways.

Gideon the Ninth (The Locked Tomb series) by Tamsyn Muir*

Gideon, raised as a swordswoman by unfriendly nuns, would rather run away and make her own life, but her services are needed. The Reverend Daughter, Gideon’s childhood nemesis, has been invited to a trial to win a place as an immortal by the Emperor’s side, and she’s in need of a bodyguard. Listen, if you’re on tumblr I probably don’t need to explain this book to you. Trust me when I say it’s exactly as good as people claim. Humorous and spooky but also absolutely gut wrenching and clever with a lot of political commentary. There are also, indeed, lesbian necromancers in space.

Family Business by Jonathan Sims

By the author behind the Magnus Archives. When Diya's childhood best friend and roommate unexpectedly passes away, Diya falls apart and, among other things, loses her job. When she's offered a position at Slough & Sons to clean up after the deceased, she sees no other recourse but to accept. Her new job is grisly but important, and Diya starts to get back on her feet - until strange visions of a terrifying man and the dead's last moments start to haunt her. Slough & Sons are hiding something, and it's up to Diya to find out the truth. No romance, bisexual main character and trans woman side character.

Sodom Road Exit by Amber Dawn

Starla didn't want to return to her childhood home of Crystal Beach, Canada, but growing debt has forced her to move back in with her mother, despite the trauma hidden in her old home. But Starla is haunted by more than trauma; she is, in fact, literally haunted, by a ghost that may understand her, but may also consume her. Not overly scary, but handles dark subjects such as childhood sexual assault. Lesbian main character and romance.

House of Hunger by Alexis Henderson*

In a world where the rich drink blood to preserve their health, Marion applies to a position as bloodmaid in a notorious noble house far from home. Suddenly showered with luxuries and debauchery, Marion soon gains the interest and favor of Lisavet, countess of the house. A fresh take on the idea of vampires and deliciously dark sapphic romance inspired by the horrific real-life Elisabet Báthory.

A Dowry of Blood by S.T. Gibson

Dracula inspired novella, following Constanta, who’s turned from a medieval peasant to an undead bride. As time passes the relationship between Dracula and Constanta grows all the more strained and potentially dangerous. Teaming up with his two other consorts, she seeks to unravel her husband’s secrets. Sapphic and polyamorous.

Dread Nation (Dread Nation duology) by Justina Ireland

Young adult, alternate history. In this world, the war between the American states is interrupted when the dead start walking the earth and hunting the living. Jane McKeene has been trained at Miss Preston’s School of Combat to become an attendant, skilled in combat as well as etiquette to protect the wealthy. But Jane wants a different life, and in her search for it stumbles headfirst into a conspiracy. Bisexual main character, aroace side character (who becomes a POV character in the sequel).

Manhunt by Gretchen Felker-Martin

In a future where those with high testosterone are afflicted by a zombie-like disease, bloodthirsty men have become the enemy. Trans women Beth and Fran and trans man Robbie do their best to survive in this brutal world, where TERF movements seek to exterminate them and monstrous men hunt in the wilds. VERY gruesome and bleak, but also very timely in the present political climate.

Leech by Hiron Ennes*

Unbeknownst to humanity, a sentient hive mind has taken over the entire medical profession to ensure the health of their host species. One of their doctors is sent off to an isolated location where they’re cut off from the rest of the hive mind, only to realize they’re faced with a rivaling parasitic entity. Leech hands you only just enough information to get by, and whether its historical fantasy, an alternate timeline, or futuristic post apocalypse is hard to determine. It’s spooky and a bit weird and wildly creative, and does some neat things with gender.

The Outside by Ada Hoffman*

AKA the book the put me in an existential crisis. Souls are real, and they are used to feed AI gods in this lovecraftian inspired sci-fi where reality is warped and artificial gods stand against real, unfathomable ones. Autistic scientist Yasira is accused of heresy and, to save her eternal soul, is recruited by cybernetic ‘angels’ to help hunt down her own former mentor, who is threatening to tear reality itself apart. Sapphic main character.

The Gilded Abyss by Rebecca Thorne

Nix Marr is a soldier and damned good at it, but that doesn’t prepare her for her next mission: bodyguard for Subarch Kessandra, beloved royal and Nix’s bitter ex. The two venture toward the underwater city of Fall to seek the cause of a bloody murder spree and a possible deadly contagion. But Kessandra has enemies, the answers she seeks marking her as a possible threat for the nation’s rulers. On their way in an isolated and enclosed underwater ship toward Fall, the contagion catches up, and Nix will have to put her hurt feelings aside if the two are to arrive alive. Sci-fi with flavors of horror and the supernatural and a sapphic romance.

[jaegeraether]

Sunsets and footballers (Part 34)

Lucy Bronze x Reader (32)

Masterlist (other parts here)

That was not what she’d expected at all. YFN had done her research and put her own puzzle pieces together, though her theory had missed the mark by a significant amount.

“I know what you’re thinking.”

YFN couldn’t even close her mouth.

She walked closer, lightly treading with elegance as if to not scare her away. When she was close, her eyes lingered on the scar cutting her eyebrow with empathy.

YFN managed to find herself and cleared her throat. “Your misdirection was very believable.”

“I was worried the voice would give it away.” She said almost shyly. Her voice was more regal now, less…common? Clever.

YFN’s relief must have been clear, and she didn’t realise herself just how worried she’d been. “And my misdirection was not entirely untrue…” She gestured around her. “This is her house.”

They were standing in the house of JK Rowling. The woman she’d assumed she was meeting. It all made sense, didn’t it? Joe. Lumos. When she’d originally started researching the company, she’d come across the other Lumos, the charity founded by Joe. Though, she made sure to not hold any assumptions going into their meeting.

“Why her?” She asked, knowing it was a little rude to do so. “Why hide behind someone the public hates so vehemently?”

“I needed someone with power, someone rich, someone people could believe had the capabilities of doing so.”

“So Lumos is a branch of her company?”

“No…it’s my company, my money. I spoke to Joe about the idea of using her as a bit of an alias, as well as using the same name as her charity.”

“But…why hide at all?” She really didn’t understand. She was wealthy, powerful and beyond all else… “People adore you.”

“I thought about it, trust me. But how would that look, having me try to lift the women’s game? It would look like a publicity stunt, like they needed me when they don’t. I need them to show that they can do it themselves. They have the motivation, the will, the support and now they have you. At least, I still hope they do?”

YFN was fully aware now that up until this point, she’d been disillusioned as to the identity of ‘Joe’, right down to the reason that she’d chosen her. She was a writer. Exactly what Joe herself would have done. This was a better scenario, though the fact that her guise was the infamous author would not be well received. She didn’t try to understand the complexities of it all. Looking beyond all of that, she knew that the person she’d spoken to on the phone was genuinely passionate. Caring. Hard-working. She understood that she had been a victim of her title and knew deep down that they could accomplish incredible things together.

“They still do...”

“Tea is prepared in the estate room, ma’am.” Benjamin interrupted politely.

“There’s hot chocolate too, YFN.” She promised with a lovely smile that begged to be photographed.

How did she know?

“Thanks, Kate.”

“Cath, please. Only the media calls me Kate.”

“Did you ever have any intention of meeting me?”

To her credit, Catherine was very similar the person she was presented as in public, however the more time they spent together, the more liberated she became with her thoughts. YFN realised how much of a burden it must have been, stuck under the thumb of royal obligation and public expectation, though in this room, there were just the two of them.

“No,” she allowed herself a little smirk as she took a sip of tea. “No, my intention was most definitely to stay invisible in this. And besides you, I plan to keep it that way.”

“You’re not worried about Mark?”

“I knew that hiding behind Joe would mean the possibility of people assuming she was directing this, and furthermore that she would have enemies try to pull her down. She did warn me about Mark. He’s…persistent.”

“A business rival I’m assuming?”

“I believe Joe managed to ruffle his feathers a little with a business deal a few years back. She said he’s forever since been adamant to undermine her achievements, and to make matters worse, he doesn’t care that Lumos is a charity. See, I originally assumed we’d be safe if I created a company with the same name, because who would attack a charity? As it turns out, Mark would.”

“And I’m guessing the idea of you having a personal conversation with him to quietly nip this in the bud is out of the question?”

“Indubitably.”

YFN bit her lip as she thought about the situation she found herself in. She wanted to ask if her husband knew, but knew it was the wrong question for the conversation. What Catherine was doing was separate from that. Separate from her life as a royal, as a mother, as a leader.

“No, William doesn’t know.”

YFN’s eyes shot up to find Catherine’s. David wasn’t wrong, she was intelligent. She had those rare gifts of intrapersonal and interpersonal intelligence, the types that YFN felt she also had; the ability to truly understand herself and other people. It was perfect for Catherine’s main role, really.

“A personal project then?”

“Of sorts.”

“With…very high ambitions?”

“Yes.”

The conversation was quick witted and much more was being said in the words they didn’t vocalise.

“I’m Australian, so forgive my lack of knowledge…but I wasn’t aware you were so passionate about football?”

“It does tend to be William’s passion more than mine, however I do love sport. And while football may not be my favourite, it is England’s favourite, and it’s where the change needs to happen first.”

First? Her eyebrows raised. “You plan on expanding Lumos to other sports?”

“Gradually, yes. The focus begins on all things football and will grow to encapsulate all female sport.”

“Not male sports?”

“Potentially in the future, if we ever reach equivalence, however that is not my intention. My main goal is to focus on the female perspective. I find sport to be one of the largest places of gender inequality and male dominance. It’s going to be a tough field to make change.”

YFN couldn't help but feel that her choice of JK Rowling as a hidden alias was detrimental to her success. Catherine read her thoughts again, she seemed to be good at that.

“Joe…is a friend. I’m unsure of your opinion in the matter but I don’t agree with her opinions and I did think that using her would only be of benefit to her if people had dug deep enough to assume she was behind it. “

She wanted the best for Joe, even at the sacrifice of a little face. Even after her controversial opinions. The admiration must have been written on her face from Catherine’s returning look.

“And Joe did also help me choose you.”

“That explains a query of mine. I’m a writer, first and foremost.”

“Please don’t think that I only chose you because it’s what Joe would have done. It’s not. I looked into you and your work meticulously. It took me a long time to find you, and it wasn’t just for your work as a writer. It was the way you interviewed people, the way you approach questioning, your ability to be both affable and determined. You know exactly what you want, and how to get it without sacrificing the comfortability of the people you speak to.”

It was the nicest compliment she’d ever received, and she felt herself blushing a little. Catherine put down her tea.

“Also, I found some of your photography. I understand you moved away from it and over to the publication side of your previous workplace. Photography happens to be a passion of mine. I believe it to be an important artform, and it did motivate me towards pursuing this project. Without it, I wouldn’t be here with you. I’d be off with the other duties that are required of me.”

Catherine had studied Art History, if YFN remembered correctly. It began making even more sense.

“What…is the timeline you had in mind?”

“The only timeline I’ve considered so far is that of football. I want us to have coverage of all of it by the end of next year. I hope that it’s a fully run operation by then, and we can expand into tennis and cricket.”

The hot chocolate did its job then and YFN yawned so hard, she worried she was being rude.

Catherine gave a polite chuckle.

“It’s getting late. We have a few days to talk this over more, Joe is in the US for another week, and I’ve managed to wriggle out of some royal engagements for the next few days. Shall we pick it up tomorrow?”

Things had begun to come even more into focus the next day after they’d spoken a little more. It was her passion project, and one that YFN felt honoured to be a part of. The only people who were aware of it were her Lumos management, Joe, several staff, and now YFN. Catherine’s management team for Lumos was kept small and tight, and their main jobs were not limited to networking throughout the sports, optimising their business and even planning for the future of the company.

In the early morning, they’d all taken a meeting together in the conference room on Zoom. As the meeting began, YFN was surprised to see a few of the individuals had been people she’d met at the charity event. Catherine really did have people everywhere.

“It’s a good thing that it became a necessity to meet.” Catherine admitted. “I think now that we know each other better and you can fully see our goals, we’re going to benefit from it.”

YFN agreed with that. And now that she realised just how much influence, wealth and power were behind the company, her confidence grew as well as her appetite for more.

The meeting went for hours with so many points of business that YFN didn’t really understand. Luckily, they hadn’t expected her to, as her focus was primarily on the actual product they were providing. She hadn’t realised just how much effort went into the secrecy of a company, or the background decisions, compromises, and discussions that she’d previously thought of as trivialities.

The money of course would be noticed by William who knew his wife had a passion project, but didn’t know what. It was her baby. The way she led her group made that very, very clear, and although she wasn’t used to running a company, she was so well-read and had educated herself so well that she wasn’t just a figurehead, she was leading them and not afraid to ask questions to the more experienced businesspeople.

The meeting became interesting when the team unanimously agreed on the expansion of the employees after their successful first round and had already had many candidates lined up which they filtered through together. Catherine encouraged YFN to get involved in that as she actually worked on the ground with them and managed them.

Following that, management went back onto other business details and Catherine used the opportunity to give YFN a phone very similar to her own, and it was purely set up to work with her and the management team. No wonder why she’d always been so quick at replying and holding that boundary between Lumos and her other duties, she’d had an entirely separate phone for it.

With the need for more people, came the eventual agreement for an office space. London made sense as it was central, and most games would be there. They’d already acquired the space and were just waiting for the final go-ahead which Catherine gave that approval for. YFN was grateful that the discussions moved onto design and architecture, furniture and parking which gave her the perfect opportunity to decide how to use the multiple sets of cutlery with her different lunch dishes.

Catherine had laughed at that, and it was warming to see her so relaxed outside of the public eye.

Listening to them talk about the office, she was pleased to see that it wasn’t too far from Lucy’s apartment, knowing it would be convenient, though she knew it would be best for her to stay central in Birmingham for the meantime, just until they became a lot busier. She could deal with the drive until then. Besides, she wondered if Leah and Jordan would be back together anyways. Thinking of that, she messaged Jordan.

YFN: Where's my update??

She was at training so didn’t expect a response until that night, however.

“…background checks.”

YFN’s head shot up. They were talking about background checks for the employees they were deciding on. She wondered how in depth they would be and didn’t have to wonder for long as they began to discuss them in depth. Her eyes widened knowing that they must have done the exact same for her. Catherine noticed that.

“It’s standard procedure, I’m sure you can understand.”

She nodded. Of course, she could understand. They wouldn’t let anyone sit next to or run a business with the future Queen of England.

The day dragged on, though Catherine had made sure they all had several breaks and took the time to show YFN around Joe’s property. It truly was beautiful, yet she couldn’t miss the amount of security who were wandering around the estate, a few with their eyes on the pair.

“Can you…understand why I’m wanting to stay a silent figure in all of this?” She asked gently as they wandered through the garden. It was actually a day of decent weather, the sun poking through the clouds.

“I can, and I respect it. I’m also glad we’ve met. Everything makes much more sense now.”

“Fantastic. Now I know we’ve already agreed to keep this between just us, however there’s Lucy, correct?”

YFN nodded. She didn’t like the idea of keeping anything from her.

Catherine stopped and turned to her, taking her hands gently. She was taller than the little Australian of course, even more so with heels. “YFN…I know what it’s like to have to keep secrets. It’s not fun. I’ve seen it tear relationships and families apart…”

They way she held her eyes and spoke was so… motherly. So royal-like. Beyond that, she could see the pain in her eyes and she wondered just how much this woman had been through.

“I’m okay with you telling Lucy. I don't want your relationship to be affected, and I trust your judgement, but please stress to her to importance of secrecy. One leak and all that we’re trying to accomplish disappears.”

YFN relaxed a little. She could tell Lucy.

“Thank you, Cath. I really appreciate that.”

They were just settling down to dinner when Catherine was pulled aside for a phone call. Their meeting had ended shortly before that, YFN full up on information and motivation for the upcoming work she had to do. She worried a little about Barcelona.

Dory: We may have had sex. Then I cried and kicked her out at 10pm.

YFN choked on mashed potato. How had she managed to choke on the least chokeable form of potato?

YFN: What?!

Dory: When are you home?

Catherine walked back in then looking a little stressed and apologetic.

“I’m so sorry, duty calls back in London. I’m afraid we’ll have to cut this trip short. You’re more than welcome to stay here another day...”

“That’s okay, I can leave tomorrow if that works.”

It did work. Catherine finished her dinner and left apologetically and this time, with a gentle, motherly hug and promises of a bright future working together. It was strange being left in the large house alone with just Benjamin and a few staff wandering around. Her phone buzzed and it was her flight change being emailed, a change to tomorrow morning. YFN checked in and then replied to Jordan.

YFN: I’ll be home midday tomorrow.

She pocketed her phone. Another buzz. She pulled it back out.

Lucy: Hi, little one. Can I call?

[gimmiesophiebaek]

Let Sophie be Sophie

I need to put this to words because it’s all over my favorite tags. But first, an obligatory Benedict gif because I can’t wait for him to lead S4.

First to clear things up: Benedict is not bi. He’s pansexual. Even Luke T. said that in his interview. Personally, it fits his vibe. He just attracts on people’s vibes. I do find the throuple scene to be tastefully done. In the end, it was all about him exploring his pleasures with two: one he’s familiar with and one he’s intrigued with. Sadly, the editing made it look like they had a weekend screwfest when it all happened in one night.

But this post isn’t about the threesome and whatever Benedict wants to label himself after this. This is about Sophie and how people already demanding to switch Sophie into a man or MTF trans. Sophie’s gender is a major point of her storyline. She’s a bastard (whether she’s an Earl’s bastard or not remains to be seen) and a maid. She doesn’t want to repeat her mother’s mistake of bringing another bastard child into the world and suffer the same she did. If you have a ween, you have more power than one with a vagina back in the day, even if you’re a bastard. So it’s not going to work.

In addition, Sophie is probably the emotionally strongest of the Bridgerton wives. This woman had hard life and was handed nothing but scraps. But she never lost her soul and steadfast values when the world turned against her. With due respect to Kate and Penelope (and Lucy if we ever get to Greg’s season), Sophie is tough as nails. I want to see a strong street smart female go head to head with the “community bicycle”, especially a certain offer comes to play.

Most of all, people forget that sodomy was a crime in England at the time. Yeah you can be discreet about it, but for it to be a happy ending, you can’t go and hide in the shadows. Even if you move to the countryside, you would be caught. And before people throw in the Frannie/Michaela comparison, it’s easier for women to get away with it as they can say they are friends. Plus Frannie will be a widow by then. While I feel for those who love Franchael, I’ve come to accept it. I hope they do this with care.

Now I saw someone thinking of a Mulan plot of crossdressing. I was thinking along the lines of Twelfth Night or As You Like It (if we’re going with the Shakespeare theme). But I doubt Shondaland will pull it off with care and without disrespecting trans actors if they go there.

Benedict’s arc is about being free right now but he’s also internally and emotionally set adrift. It’s the love of and for Sophie that will be his anchor. The love of a bastard daughter turned maid who saved him from illness after he saved her almost rape by her last employer’s son is going to open his heart that not even all the orgies and threesomes can compete with.

So yeah… let Sophie Beckett be Sophie Beckett. I don’t care which race or ethnicity. Just let her be a cis female.

(okay one more Ben gif for good measure)

[performativezippers]

here's some random writing advice that i've found helpful, in no order, that i reserve the right to add to at any time:

no one says everything they're thinking. in dialogue, less is more. people don't speak in paragraphs, they speak in sentences, especially when they're not telling a story. let the dialogue be brief, and use interiority (thoughts) to show the reader all the things they aren't saying.

use physical cues to help the POV character understand what the non-POV character is thinking/feeling/not saying/lying about. For example, if we're in Jane's POV while Maura is talking, and Maura says "I'm fine," Jane can notice that her eyes are darting around like she's anxious, or she's crossed and uncrossed her arms, almost like she's nervous. there's no need to say MAURA SEEMS NERVOUS, let the reader get it from what Jane's picking up.

let the reader be curious—don't info dump—but don't frustrate them by giving so little that they don't know what's going on. this is a very very fine line sometimes, and betas can be really helpful for pointing it out until you've gotten the feel for it.

Use paragraph breaks, for the love of god.

Only italicize things that really and truly cannot be explained any other way. "What are you doing here?" for example doesn't need any italics. If you can't get the reader to understand what you mean without the italics, then, sure, use them. but SPARINGLY. use body language, interiority, other words, and dialogue tags (shouts, yells, whispers, cries, she says as her voice cracks) to get the reader what they need.

"What are you doing here?" could be "what on earth are you doing here?" (aka, i have no fucking idea why you're here, my dude)

"What are you doing here?" could be "i told you to stay out of this, lucy! what are you doing here?" (aka, lucy you specifically should not be here)

"What are you doing here?" could be "jesus, you scared the shit out of me! I thought you were at the front! what are you doing here?" (aka, i'm not surprised to see you, but i'm surprised to see you HERE what the fuck)

Don't head hop. Know who's POV you're in and STAY IN IT until the chapter break, scene change that's clearly indicated by ***, whatever. if this is challenge, try writing in first person to get in the habit of only knowing what your POV character knows. There is, of course, 3rd person omniscient narration, but it's really fucking hard to pull off and honestly I recommend staying away from it entirely. Most things you'll read are written in first or close 3rd, and that's not an accident.

Let your characters move around in space. let them notice the things around them.

If Kate walks into a room, i'll probably list what she sees in order of importance, unless it's a big reveal. i'll add voice to that so you'll know i did it on purpose.

in order of appearance: "the body lies in the middle of the big, wide room. the ceiling must be twenty feet up, and there are plenty of windows, the way the light catches the falling dust mites looks more like a church than a crime scene."

with reveal/voice: "Kate bursts into the room and immediately skids to a stop. it's too bright, all white walls and high windows. it looks like the kind of room you'd put a WeWork in, or maybe a super expensive soulcycle. normally Kate would be itching for a paint roller and some blueprints, but today she ignores the terrible architectural choices, choosing to focus instead on the dead body congealing in a puddle of dark brown blood in the middle of the floor."

try to have an internal plot/obstacle (alex can't be honest with maggie about their relationship because she hasn't told her that her sister is superhero) and external plot/obstacle (there is a serial killer targeting aliens in national city, and all three women are on his radar). Best practice is for them to intersect and create layered, complex problems (maggie can't understand why alex is so fucking freaked out about this serial killer in the first act; yes, crime is bad, but like, it's their job? why won't alex TALK to her? where does she keep running off to in secret? does alex even actually want to be with her??)

Everything should have: tension, stakes, obstacles. Try not to make all of that hinge on a misunderstanding or one person being too chicken to confess their feelings. that gets boring and frustrating for the reader.

If you need to make a calendar, make one. If you need a cast list, write one. keep yourself on track.

introduce new original characters slowly. give them one name (first and last is usually not necessary at the start). give us one or two things to remember about them. Jenna is the producer of the tv show. Jenna is mean. the next time she comes back, call her "jenna the producer." then the next time you can hint to her role, like "jenna has her big clipboard and is shouting at everyone to get the fucking cameras ready." if jenna doesn't come back again, don't name her. be kind to your readers who forget things, and help them out by limiting the named cast to people who need to be named. if they don't show up until halfway through, don't introduce them until halfway through. for fanfic, obviously this is easier because we know everyone, but still, please. only have the people in the scene who need to be there. huge scenes with 5-8+ characters present are a MESS.

if your character has two best friends who fill the same role, cut one. streamline so i as the reader have less to keep track of.

banter can be fun to write, but dialogue without movement, choreography, internal thoughts, lies, physical cues, and plot movement gets really boring to read. if a scene is skippable, ask yourself what would make it essential, and add that.

every conversation should do at least two things. things can be:

move the plot forward

deepen, change, or complexify an existing relationship

create tension (plot, romance, etc)

explore stakes

attempt to get over the obstacle

FOR EXAMPLE: Helena and Myka almost kissing when they shouldn't because Helena is with Some Dude? yes! that's romantic tension and attempting to get over the obstacle (some dude). Myka rambling to claudia about almost kissing helena for 3 pages: no! That does nothing on this list. the event already happened, and a long debrief about it isn't interesting to the reader. Let Myka ruminate while she's doing one of the other things. and by ruminate, i mean KEEP A LIGHT TOUCH HERE, ruminating is very very easy to make boring and maudlin. trust your reader; be subtle about it.

[newtonsheffield]

Cool cool cool cool but having now brought us to edge of collective tears over author Anthony’s plight could you soothe and delight us with a snippet of one of these lunches once they’re actually together?

Oh they’d be so sweet.

Anthony 100% checking with Kate every morning before she leaves for work and asks her if she has a lunch meeting that day.

Kate leans over the bed, already gone for a run and dressed for work and kisses him “I don’t.”

Anthony looked up a little hopefully. “Can I take you to lunch?”

Kate chuckled, “You took me to lunch 2 days ago.”

“I don’t think there’s a law preventing us from eating lunch together again.”

Kate narrowed her eyes, “You owe me pages then. At least another chapter.”

“More fool you.” Anthony kissed her again, “I have many a page you haven’t gotten to eviscerate yet.”

Kate rolled her eyes, as she tugged her heels on. “I’ll use a fresh red pen and everything.” She deposited Newton on the bed beside Anthony. “Be good for Papa Newton.”

Anthony’s always waiting for her at 12:30 exactly. He still buys a fresh shirt and he’s got Newton straining on his leash beside him as they wait outside her office, chatting with Lucy. Kate’s heart flutters in her chest when he waves at her through the glass walls of her office just like it used to every time she saw him. She makes her way out and kisses his cheek and she loves the way he hums contentedly at her presence. This man who wrote the most romantic book in the world just about, wrote it for her.

“Ready?”

Kate reaches out and plucks the Manila envelope from under his arm that she knows contain his pages before she intertwines their fingers. “You bet. You look Handsome today. Purple was a nice choice.”

They sit on the same side of the booth now at a dog friendly restaurant with Newton napping at their feet and Anthony’s arm around Kate’s shoulders as they eat and kate quickly reads his new pages.

At some point Anthony always clears his throat as they sit there.

“I just um… god, I really love you.”

Kate can hardly breathe with it. “Yeah, I love you too. You’re still my best friend.”

And it’s just like he imagined all those times when she kisses him quickly at her office door.

“I love you, Ant. I’ll see you at home.”

“Yeah, yes. I’ll see you at home.”

Home. They both live there and it’s their home.

[earthpleasures]

RUNNING UP THAT HILL !

Lucy Gray Baird x fem!reader

Summary: On the faithful day of Reaping Ceremony, you finally became aware of what you've been lacking in your life. Lucy Gray Baird's love. Your one and only childhood friend. You were ready to throw yourself in front of starved wolves for her sake, and you decided to prove it.

Warnings: ANGST / swearing

Word Count: 2.2k

A/n: me trying to write something happy, result:

"and if I only could

i'd make a deal with God

and I'd get Him to swap our places"

- running up that hill by kate bush.

Streets of District 12 was filthy as ever as Y/n and Lucy Gray dragged their feet to The Hub. Tomorrow was the day Reaping was going to happen. Neither of the girls felt any excitement over fourth of july, just like rest of whole twelve districts that were about sacrifice their children to Capitol's psychopathy.

“Lucy Gray, you're unusually quite today.” Y/n spoke as she fixed the fruit basket pressed against her side. They were planning to ask Hub if they would let Covey do one last show before reaping, and then make their way to flea market. Maybe they could exchange a piece of clothing for a few strawberries Y/n farmed.

Lucy Gray's face lit up with a smile, Y/n could never differentiate if these smiles were true or not.

“I was thinking of this night's show. I have a song I wish to sing.” That thought made other girl smile. She always loved the infamous Songbird’s voice and songs.

She ate one of the strawberries from the brown basket. “Oh well, I will wait for your song with all ears. However, how do you plan to sing it? You haven't teach us anything about its melody.” Lucy Gray chuckled at her friend's worried tone.

“No worries, love. I've wrote it over one of our songs’ melody. I think tonight's lyrics fit to it better anyway.”

“I… if you say so.”

She could never disobey or say something against her songbird’s statements. And finally Hub became visible from the distance. Old walls were ready to crumble on its residents but all two girls saw was a roof to gain a few coins.

Lucy Gray held the door open for her since she was clinging into the basket, making sure no strawberries fell out. She nodded her head to her to thank her. Inside was stinking as usual. Smell of mold, poverty and cheap gin. It wasn't like Y/n lived in a clean or new home. However she could never prevent the nausea from rising in her throat every time they entered this place.

Disease and death traveled through the whole Panem without knowing any borders, she didn't have a reason to act wary against The Hub.

Besides the disgusting smell, the place was almost empty. Most of the audience were peacekeepers and they seemed nowhere to be found at this time of day. They were on ‘duty’. More like haunting the poor folk of 12. Y/n thought of it.

Conversations were always made by Lucy Gray, no one could resist the sweet way of the words spilling from her lips. “Hi! How have you been, Ben?” She spring on her heels while talking, her alluring personality ready to charm its flies.

Bartender's tense shoulders relaxed when her image entered his vision. “Hi, Lucy Gray. I assume you are here to ask if Covey can perform tonight.” Lucy Gray nodded slowly, she jumped to sit on a chair, her legs swung around since they couldn't reach to sub board of the wooden chair.

“Always a smart one. Yes, I was going to ask if we can perform one last time before Reaping.” Ben sighed while rubbing the dirty cloth to an old striated glass. “I guess you can do it, tomorrow ain’ the brightest day for us after all.” She added a hint of sorrow to her smile.

“But we must make the most of the lifes we have, mustn't we?” He nodded to approve her statement. “As much as we can in this shitty district.”

After some chit-chat talk, they left Hub with the guarantee of a few coins to throw in their pockets that night. Y/n watched Lucy Gray's happy expression, the way she spinned around herself, her colorful dress’ long skirt flying around. She loved to admire anything Songbird did.

Flea market wasn't too crowded either. Mourn of unknown loses was already hunting people of District 12. Two or three stalls of clothing seemed to be present. A woman from last week was absent. Poor lady, perhaps she died because God knows what kind of disease or she fell in hands of a peacekeeper.

Y/n intertwined her fingers with Lucy Gray's, moving as close as possible was safer in a place like this. To be honest, staying together was the best choice in all places of 12.

A man with a women's clothing stall caught her eyes. His face was tired and sick, probably had the flu. “Look, maybe we can exchange these strawberries with a pair of shoes. Maude Ivory was sad about Peacekeepers tearing her sandals.” Lucy Gray nodded and followed her lead.

Y/n harshly put the basket in front of the man, leaving a tough first impression was important if they wanted to have a fair exchange.

“Ah, famous doves of Covey. What do you have for me?” She could smell of starvation from his breath even at this distance. All she needed to do was to push him a bit.

“A basket of fresh, clean strawberries.” She arched her eyebrow in a daring manner. “Do you really think a basket of fruit can buy clothes?” Man raised his chin. He was stubborn, but could never be as much as Y/n.

“Okay, listen the deal old man. You give us these shoes.” She pointed to an old, worn pair of shoes. “And I leave all of these tasty things at your stall. ‘kay? And if you don't, I can go to another stall.” He looked at the basket then at her face. His mouth was salivating for a taste of anything, and giving away the shoes seemed to be a good option.

“Take the shoes.”

Y/n took a deep breath as relief filled her veins. She emptied the whole basket to an old bag man owned and placed the shoes inside it. Exchange was fair, he wasn't going to die from starvation and Maude Ivory was going to get a pair of wearable shoes.

“Don’t you think you've been hard on him?” Lucy Gray mumbled while her index finger lovingly caressed the fabric of the shoe. They would fit the little girl just fine. “Being nice doesn't grant us any living in District 12.” Y/n shrugged and dismissed her question.

All members of Covey were exhausted from last night’ performance, which led them to hardly wake up for Reaping. Their house was already hot from weather outside, shattering walls were making it worse by letting the fresh sunlight in.

Y/n, as always, was first to wake up. Even on an effing day like this. A few more hours of sleep wasn't even a choice given the fact Peacekeepers would drag them out to watch Reaping or, to be reaped.

She groaned with ache coursing through her bones, makeshift bed cracked under her weight. Slipping her shoes to her feet, she looked around to check other Covey members. None seemed to have a peaceful slumber, Lucy Gray was sweating, Maude Ivory was panting heavily, Barb Azure's eyebrows were furrowed. The expected disaster made everyone uneasy inside.

She took off her pajamas, her hands extending to the shirt and skirt she wore yesterday. “Why don't you wear something colorful, love?” Her head practically snapped to the direction the voice came from. Lucy Gray's eyes were closed, yet a subtle smile sat on her sweaty features.

“Good morning.” Y/n murmured as she stood up from her bed. She considered her options. The most fancy thing she owned outside of a few stage clothes was a faded purple dress with flower-covered frills on its skirts. Her hand hesitated when it reached the folded fabric. She got this at the insistence of Lucy Gray and Barb Azure for three coins in the flea market last year. For special days.

What could be more special than the day she would be presumably sent to death in her life?

Accompanied by an ache in her heart for dirting the dress with memories of such a melancholic day, she pulled it over her head, messing up her already disheveled hair more. Stained mirror was reflecting a seventeen year old girl's ruined beauty, face worn by living difficulties.

Two lean arms sneaked around her waist, securing her against the girl behind her. Lucy Gray pressed her chin to her shoulder, observing their imagines from mirror. “You're beautiful.” She whispered, as if possibility of anyone else stealing her compliment to Y/n scared her.

“So are you.” She whispered back, unconsciously closing her eyes and leaning to her touch. Silence was comforting, almost like an inaudible lullaby singing to two awake girls’ ears. “I have a dreadful feeling about this day inside me, something is gnawing at me.” Lucy Gray chuckled and tucked a strand of hair behind the ear of the girl in front of her.

“Now don't make such a long face, be positive. Death isn't an end, remember?” At her light words, Y/n turned around with her arms still wrapped around her waist. She cupped her face, looking at her beautiful brown eyes. Maybe they could swallow her, so she would never leave her.

“No, Lu. You don't get it. Something bad is about to happen. I feel it, you know I always feel it.” Lucy Gray's eyes widened at her hurried sentences. The worst case in a Reaping day would be reaped as their district's tribute. Everyday was a survival struggle in District 12, but being thrown to arena? Now that would be a different story.

With their fingers locked to each other, Y/n dragged her after herself to the little place where they grew strawberries to exchange or sell. “I know that you have no will to trust anyone after Billy Taupe, but just… just hear me out.” Brunette furrowed her eyebrows, she wasn't stupid, guessing where the conversation was about to go wasn't hard. But did it matter at this point?

“I am listening, Y/n.”

“What are you two doing there?” Maude Ivory's childish voice interrupted her before she can speak. And that killed her last piece of courage to confess her feelings for Lucy Gray.

“Nothing, honey. We were just chatting.” She quickly smiled and turned her attention to little girl, she was wearing the pair of shoes they got for her yesterday. “Are they comfortable?” Little girl stared down at her shoes. “Yeap. They're so easy to wear! Thank you.”

Her lips pulled themselves into a forced smile. The girl was as naive as a child in districts could be. Perhaps it was because rest of the Covey sought their best to raise their youngest as pure as possible.

People were gathering in front of the stage one by one. Between age 12-18, kids were separated to groups. Covey made their way to their groups. As always, Reaping day was hot and everyone was sweating under cruel sun and stress.

First to go was female tribute. For male tribute, she wasn't worried at all. Clerk Clementine was old enough to be excluded from Reaping.

But what about us?

“Lucy Gray Baird!”

She could swear her heart missed a beat, maybe a few beats, when she heard the name. Out of instinct her eyes found Lucy Gray. It looked like she was ready to put on a show one last time.

Lucy Gray began to walk towards the stage.

“I volunteer!”

A desperate voice erupted from between waiting kids. Y/n threw herself in front of Lucy Gray, eyes filled with terror and tears. “I volunteer as tribute!” Brunette extended to hold her hand with shock. “Love, what the hell are you doing?” Girl in front of her turned to look at her with guilt.

Before any word being shared, a peacekeeper caught Y/n's arm, dragging the girl to stage. Lucy Gray tried to run, only to be thrown to ground by another peacekeeper. Even while walking to death, they couldn't take their eyes from each other.

“No, no, no. I am chosen. You chose me! Give her back!” Maude Ivory wrapped her arms around her as Barb Azure pressed her head to her chest so she couldn't see Y/n.

She stepped on the stage in front of pitying eyes. After all, what kind of moron would throw herself into a lion's den for whatever reason?

Mayor looked at her with grand disgust, as if girl interrupted something she wasn’t supposed to. “District 12's female tribute, Y/n L/n.”

She didn't even bother to listen who was chosen as male tribute. Whoever it was, he was going to walk to death with twenty two other tributes.

Whole time she watched the rest of the Covey. They all looked disheveled with one of them being sent to Games.

She didn't even get to confess to her, kiss her, embrace her one last time. Like all District 12 kids before her, she was going to turn into a drop of blood to write Capitol's pages of history. She remembered the hide and seek game the played when they were children.

“You can't catch me, Lucy Gray!”

She kept her head high, this wasn't a display of pitiful love. That was a worthy sacrifice to keep her darling alive. Everything was worth it to Lucy Gray.

“You can't catch me anymore, Lucy Gray.”

She whispered, knowing Lucy Gray won't ever hear her again.

©2024 earthpleasures do not repost, copy, translate, modify

[aprill-99]

EACH BRIDGERTON COUPLE AS JOHN MULANEY QUOTES:

Daphne & Simon:

Daphne: “A friend of mine asked me if I’d ever been given the sex talk, and the answer is yes… I think.”

Simon: “My father was COOOLD BLOODED.” + “Does my best friend hate me or do I just need to go to sleep?”

Kate & Anthony:

Anthony: “I’ll keep all my emotions right here and then one day, I’ll die.”

Kate: “Get out of here with your facts. Just because you’re accurate does not make you interesting.” + “I’m new in town, and it gets worse.”

Benedict & Sophie:

Benedict: “This is a healthy twenty-eight year old man trying his best.”

Sophie: “I was a maid for a while. I was treated well in my day. I worked for a variety of sirs.”

Colin & Penelope:

Colin: “My wife is a bitch and I like her soooooo much.”

Penelope: “We spend most of our time proving to people that we are who we say we are. Think about that for 10 seconds and tell me you don’t want to walk into the ocean.” + “People say crazy things all the time. And those things mean nothing to them, but they mean everything to me.”

Phillip & Eloise:

Eloise: “Thirteen year olds will make fun of you, but in an accurate way.”

Philip: “It was like, you know one of those days where you just go ‘this might as well happen.’”

Michael & Francesca:

Francesca: “I try to stay optimistic, but I will admit, things are getting pretty sticky.”

Michael: “We don’t get better than this. It’s just going to be worse versions of me from here on out.” + “And if you think I seem unlikable or out of control in that story, then just remember, that’s one I was willing to tell you.”

Hyacinth & Gareth:

Hyacinth: “Well none of us ever really know our fathers…… Anyway-”

Gareth: “I am very small. And I have no money. So you can imagine the kind of stress I am under.”

Lucy & Gregory:

Gregory: “I do hear you, and I also don’t want to be doing what I’m doing.”

Lucy: “In terms of instant relief, canceling plans is like heroine.”

Lady Danbury & Lord Ledger:

Lady Danbury: “Shut up you’re all going to die! Street smarts!” + “It’s wrong to make fun of people, but it’s just so fun sometimes.”

Lord Ledger: “My vibe is like ‘hey you could pour soup in my lap and I’d probably apologize to you.’”

George & Charlotte:

King George: “it seems like everyone, everywhere, is super mad about everything, all the time.”

Queen Charlotte: “I simply do not give a shit what anybody thinks of me in any situation.”

Bonus:

Violet: “Putting a thirteen year old in charge of your younger kids is like getting a dog to babysit your horse. If something goes wrong, they can just maybe get help a little more quickly.”

[suzieloveships]

Jegulus Batman au

So last week I wrote post about how Bruce and Harley are Regulus and Pandora variants and now I can't stop thinking about Jegulus Batman au

Regulus as Bruce Wayne, but more like Battinson!Bruce instead of comics!Bruce. In the day time he is Regulus Black, awkward rich orphan who looks like he wants to kill himself everytime he steps outside. By night time he becomes Batman, a mask vigilante, who fights criminals of Godric's Hollow, the most corrupt city in all of England. It's his way to repay for his parents' sin, part of Hollow's corruption. His only help is a family butler, Kreacher, who really wishes Regulus finished the med school instead of running around in bat suit

James as the Cat, a professional thief with a heart of gold whom Regulus keep failing to catch. He won't admit it but there were few times when he let James escape. Mostly because James often steal from people that deserve it but also because he loves the thrill of a chase. Overtime the two of them start working together on few cases and slowly fall in love

Pandora as Harley Quinn, once a young psychologist turn a henchwoman of Regulus's biggest villain, Tom Riddle, turn an anti-hero who help Regulus, James and their allies fight evil. Her biggest strength is psychoanalyzing her enemy and getting inside their heads. She and Reg went to med school together before he dropped out, years later while working together she conected the dots and realised that this grumpy bat and that grumpy boy from med school are the same person. Arguably Reg best friend

Lily as Poison Ivy, an ecoterrorist with a power to control plants and Pandora girlfriend. Regulus often lets her and Pandora escape as they most attack factories that pollute the environment

Sirius is both Dick, Jason and Kate. Regulus older brother that after a death of their parents abdicated from a role of a Black family heir and started a life for himself outside of Hollow. He came back to Hollow after seeing Batman on the news an immediately recognising his little brother. Was killed by Tom Riddle, but resurrected but whoever is Al Ghul in this au, I haven't decided yet. He return to Hollow as Red Hood, mad at Reg for "replacing" him and not killind Riddle. It took a while but eventually they startes working together again because at the end of the day they are family

Emmeline as Red Robin, Sirius "replacement", a smart girl that figured out Regulus secret identity and girlbossed her way into becoming his new sidekick (not my joke)

Remus as both Barbara and Renee, the only good cop in an all of Hollow. Later he ends up resigning from the force and starts working for Regulus but hacking into city cameras and becoming his eyes and ears

Mary as Spoiler, daughter of a minor villain name Cluemaster. He was a terrible father so Mary decided to help Batman take him down. Now a member of the batfamily, Emmeline's girlfriend and Regulus's biggest bully (affectionately)

Barty as the Riddler, arguably the smartest man in all of Hollow who loves creating chaos and asking people riddles. Luckly for Regulus Barty is also an attention whore that needs everyone to know that he is the smartest person in the room so he often leaves clues for Regulus to follow

Evan as Penguin, the biggest kingpin, started out as a son of a poor housemaid and climp his way into becoming the most powerful mobster in all of Hollow. For some reason Barty is the only person he really trust in this world (he has a massive crush on him)

Dorcas as Scarecrow, a scientist fascinated by fear and the only person in the world with enough brain power to keep up with both Pandora and Barty

Marlene as Firefly, purely because I think Marlene deserves a flamethrower

Peter as Two-face, Reg's best friend turn enemy with half of his face burned

And Narcissa and Alice as Green Arrow and Black Canary

Harry as Helena and Luna as Lucy

Also Xeno as Rick Flag because I love both of them so much <3

[mostowa]

Castle's Charm

So finally, after almost 4 months (The Olympic Games and an enormous life change) I finished binging Castle. And well, yeah, I'm late to the party like 7 to 10 years or something, but I was still hype'ing and loving the journey. And now I think this is one of the best series I've ever watched. Here is the list of reasons. It's gonna be tl;dr, as always!

Thanks @makeitastrength for making me do this ;)

Castle/Beckett dynamic is absolutely timeless. It has Darcy/Lizzy's initial disdain turning into respect and trust, it has Sherlock/John-level crime solving and mutual understanding, it has Meredith/Derek's drama and my beloved Chenford's level undercurrent emotions. And so much more!

There is something unique about them, too. This is one of the most important things that I learned from the series. It's the simple fact, that one can make annoyance a love language. I absolutely love how much childish Castle can be and how much Kate just... lets him be one, without giving up her own boundaries. You can be annoyed at your partner and secretely love that about him/her. Kate Beckett, thank you for showing me how to stand my partner's dad jokes. Or just really really bad jokes.

There is no doubt that the series is about those two (and it's a little bit of a shame for me, I'll explain further). And what made it very enjoyable for me was the fact that I've never doubted they are endgame. Their love and fact that they like each other very much was never in doubt on my side (except for the beginning of course). Even at their worst moments I was sure they will find a way to each other. I kind of wish it was the same with Lucy and Tim. Because, well, that made me continue to wanting to watch Castle, despite Rick being an absolute 5-year-old ass sometimes ;)

Someone here on Tumblr wrote that great series is not about will they do it as it's always about "how they do it" - without breaking major relationships apart etc. Castle is a great example for that and I had that in almost every episode. Pretty much no MCD and it still kept me on edge of my seat for most of the drama!

Castle will be my ultimate reason for the fact that I love watching series in which characters like each other. Be it The Good Place or The Rookie or Castle, I always love exploring relationships and different kind of -ships, where there is very little cheap miscommunication drama and where characters grow without sacrifacing each other. This is one of the best examples. Both for Castle/Becket, Castle/Alexis, Castle/Mom, Ryan/Esposito, Esposito/Lanie, name any relationship there, honestly.

I wish Kevin Ryan had more storylines. Because this Irish undercover episode was one of the best in the whole series with Kevin taking unexpected (but very much in-character) risks and used relationship he created to strengthen himself. I think Kevin is my favorite character, despite being underwritten for like 95% of the time. :D

I wish all Ryan and Esposito and Alexis and Lanie got more storylines. They were wonderful characters ready to be explored and while I understand the characteristics of the show was to explore Castle/Beckett, but sometimes it was just tiring :)

I absolutely loved the concept of the show with repetitive episodes and funny episodes and serious episodes and then (mid)season finales blowing our minds off. The Rookie kind of repeats the same pattern, but short seasons don't really work with that.

It was great how they made the series set in New York by different problems and storylines. I loved all mentions of Broadway, all cases connected to sometimes very crazy things connected to this one-of-a-kind city. And let me just say at the end that my favorite episode was the Old Haunt one. It made me realise how sentiment is a strong part of my husband's personality and how it can be a really lovable and charming thing.

Well yeah. Kudos if you made it that far. And if you did, let me know if you agree :)

[sea-owl]

I LOVE THE OTOME AU SO MUCH I swear, the sound of excitement that came out of me when I saw the new post 🙈🤭 Already love seeing Colin fall for Penelope, they’re my faves

Aw thank you!

For this au I was thinking that things really kick off for the Bridgertons during the first night the spouses play the game. Everything starts out as normal. The Bridgertons get the screen in front of them that the game is loading and oh it's multiplayer! They haven't had that in a while, and eight players? Even more of a rare occurrence for them.

As the eight friends go through their character quizzes and building their avatars for the game the Bridgertons take time to study them. Something felt different about this group and they didn't know why.

Then the prologue before routes are chosen starts up, and each Bridgerton gets into place. As the group of friends continue to play the Bridgertons find themselves genuinely laughing and having fun after who knows how long. The real reactions that the Bridgertons can see through their screens are joys to watch, as are watching them choose which dialogue options.

Anthony can't help the smile on his face when Kate once again chooses the option that supposed to take away his love points.

"Kate you know you're supposed to romance the characters?" One of her friends will ask her.

"Yeah but this one," Kate would point at Anthony on the tv, "is aggravating and I will take him down a peg!"

Benedict knows he should be conversing with all the avatars in the prologue, but he finds he can't tear himself away from Sophie. He even went off script a little bit, which earned him a glare from Anthony, but seeing the real Sophie pause with a small blush made it worth it.

Colin was so thankful that Penelope got childhood friend with his family because now he doesn't have to make up an excuse to hang around her more than the others like his siblings would. It helps that real Penelope doesn't seem to be moving her avatar away either.

Daphne is having so much fun with Simon. Most players find Daphne to be the boring one of the sisters so her route isn't played as often and she finds herself being a support more often than not.

Eloise likes listening to Phillip when he tries to pick the academic options and then she gets to hear the real him go off on how that wasn't the real science. It's nice to have a player with a brain.

Francesca also doesn't get her route played much. Second chance loves aren't usually a route players want but the options that Michael picks when he's playing, that flirty style like he's unafraid has her blushing. Especially with how sincere he seems about it to.

Hyacinth and Gregory both found themselves laughing watching the team up between Gareth and Lucy. Oh were they fun! Nothing like the other players from before!

By the time the group of friends finished the prologue it was late and they agreed to pick the game back up in the morning. But first they lock in their routes.

The Bridgertons were ecstatic about the choices. They were even more when the friends fell asleep with the TV on. These players feel different, they make the Bridgertons excited to be a part of the game again. Could this lead to love?

They were going to find out.

When the group of friends woke up they were surprised to find themselves separated and in completely different style of bedrooms. As they went looking for one another, they realized they were in the world of the game they were playing the night before.

Uh oh.

[bridgertonbabe]

I hope you can answer this question,

How would the family group chat pop off when Araminta suffers an unfortunate accident?

BSSG Group Chat

Michael: Hey @ Sophie Franny's just told me after Greg told her that Hy told him that Daph told her that El told her that Ben told her that Arabitcha's in hospital? Is it true? 👀

Gareth: please be true 🙏

Gareth: even if it's a sprained ankle or something weak like that

Simon: Yeah so long as she's suffering ✨✨✨

Phillip: Last El heard they're still at the hospital with Posy and Hugh

Lucy: omg she went to the hospital????

Kate: Only for moral support for Posy!

Kate: No way in hell would she be there otherwise.

Penelope: Yeah Ben wouldn't let her step one foot in that hospital if it wasn't for the purposes of being there for Posy.

Gareth: well maybe with ben being there her life support could be "accidentally" pulled out

Simon: Yeah or her LVAD wire being cut.

Gareth: the fuck's an lvad wire?

Simon: You've never watched Greys Anatomy?

Gareth: you watch greys anatomy?

Simon: Daph watches it and tells me all about it.

Michael: Oh really? Is that so?

Michael: Because I definitely seem to recall you having an in-depth discussion with Franny about the show.

Lucy: yeah I remember that!!!!!!

Simon: ...

Simon: Ok fine! Daph got me into it, I didn't want to like it, then I convinced myself I liked it ironically, but now I guess I have to accept that I actually like it unironically. You happy now?

Michael:

Gareth:

Penelope: 🤭

Kate: 😂😂😂

Simon: fuck off @ Gareth don't act like Hy doesn't make you sit and watch drag race with her

Gareth:

Phillip: If it's any consolation I willingly watch Love Island with El

Phillip: There's something so endlessly fascinating about good looking people having to actually make an effort with each other when they're all used to being the ones being pursued in the real world.

Kate: Hang on Eloise watches Love Island?!?!

Kate: I could have sworn she said she hates dating shows like that

Penelope: She very much does but it doesn't stop her from watching them obsessively

Phillip: I could lie and say she hate-watches them or even watches them unironically but deep down she loves them.

Penelope: Very much so

Penelope: But she will absolutely deny it if you bring it up so don't bother

Kate: Believe me I wouldn't dare raise any subject with Eloise that could result in her vehemently getting defensive for 10+ minutes

Phillip: That's fair

Michael: Well I watch Say Yes to the Dress - and I was the one who got Franny into it

Lucy:

Michael: Oh come on I don't mention it that often!

Phillip: Did you completely forget the time you invited us round for a boys night and made us watch back to back episodes of it and nothing else?

Simon: surely you must be aware that your love of Say Yes to the Dress is absolutely no secret whatsoever

Michael:

Sophie: Yeah you've sent me screenshots of dresses you think I might like if Ben and I were ever to renew our vows.

Kate: Same here! You even add suggestions for dresses for a vow renewal on the beach, in a rustic barn

Kate: Omg Sophie

Kate: What's happened?

Michael: What's Arabitcha in hospital for?

Gareth: please be something that inconveniences her the most 🙏

Penelope: yeah please let it be more than a sprained ankle 🤞

Simon: Wishing nothing but the worst for her 🙌

Sophie: Well

Sophie:

Lucy:

Phillip: Wa

Phillip: Wait fr?

Kate: Omfg are you serious

Michael: Say more now

Penelope: @ Sophie WHAT IS TAKING YOU SO LONG TO CONFIRM OR DENY

Simon: CONFIRM OR DENY

Gareth: sophie please istg

Sophie: She's seriously actually dead for real fr.

Gareth: and to think i was worried it would be a sprained ankle at best

Gareth:

Michael: Holy shit

Lucy: how did it happen???

Sophie: I just want to state for the record that Ben didn't pull her life support plug or cut her LVAD wire.

Kate: That's a shame for Ben, he'd have loved to have been given the opportunity.

Gareth: hy too

Sophie: She was actually being her absolutely lovely self and having a go at some poor shop assistant demanding to speak to their manager or whatever and she literally dropped down dead mid-rant.

Penelope: omg

Gareth: she really went

Gareth:

Phillip: So she died the way she lived

Kate: Being a bitch right to the very end

Simon: What I'd give to have been there to witness that

Michael: Maybe if there's CCTV in the shop we can ask the owners if they could be so very kind to send us the footage

Penelope: Is Posy ok? Obvs she was a bitch to her too but is she feeling any sort of way about it?

Sophie: When we were told she did start to cry but then we realised her sobs were actually laughter and she was hysterically cackling with relief and she said "well thank fuck for that"

Phillip: Oh I was the same when my dad died

Simon: Same just minus the tears

Lucy: And how are you feeling about it all @ Sophie ?

Sophie: I don't know really

Sophie: I sort of don't feel anything?

Sophie: Maybe it hasn't sunk in yet, like I haven't properly processed the fact she's actually gone, but yeah right now I'm just of sort like eh, you know?

Michael: I think that's to be expected.

Phillip: She put you through shit and was nothing but awful to you but because of who you are you've naturally always been the bigger person and taken the high road, you haven't let her diminish your self worth and you've gone on to live a wonderful life that she could only dream of having. Whether you process her death and feel any type of way about it or still feel eh, you're always going to be better than her in every possible way; so don't you dare feel bad about yourself for feeling any sort of relief or joy from her passing.

Michael: 👏👏👏

Kate: Exactly what he said ↑

Simon: And like Phil said, don't you dare for a second feel guilty for celebrating her death

Penelope: And even if you want to be the bigger person and not celebrate, we'll all celebrate on your behalf don't you worry

Sophie: I really appreciate it guys 🤗💖💖💖

Sophie: And if you'd all like to go ahead and send your celebratory reaction gifs and memes please be my guest x

Penelope:

Simon:

Phillip:

Kate:

Gareth:

Michael:

Lucy:

Gareth:

Penelope:

Gareth: hy's ecstatic btw

Gareth: and is claiming full responsibility

Gareth sent a photo

Lucy: omg is that voodoo doll????????

Penelope: Why am I not even remotely surprised

Gareth: according to her she threw it down hard on the floor a few hours ago

Gareth: and now that she's dead naturally hy believes it's all down to her

Kate: Just so long as she doesn't start making dolls for every single person who wrongs her or anyone in the family. We don't want her getting any ideas.

Gareth: yeah tell that to the doll she made of my dad and is currently slamming against the wall 💀

[billpottsismygf]

73 Yards

I have slightly mixed feelings on this one, but what it did well it did brilliantly. The episode was beautifully shot with a fantastically creepy atmosphere throughout. The Welsh landscape, the close shots, the out of focus semper distans, the mystery of what was being said. Millie Gibson's performance throughout was stellar and this is the most invested I've felt in her character so far. I did miss Ncuti's presence somewhat, but it says a lot that she was able to carry the episode on her own and I do love when the format gets shaken up occasionally and we get a Doctor-lite episode.

I loved Kate's brief appearance and the way it sold the fact that this was a very serious situation. You think UNIT might be able to help here, but Ruby is once again left alone. The themes of abandonment in this one were incredibly potent and really tie into the themes of the series. Unsurprisingly, one of the most effective and upsetting parts of the episode was Ruby's mum also being affected by the mysterious woman. Her anguished screams for her mum were really quite harrowing, as was that awful comment about her birth mother not wanting her.

It also got far darker than I would expect in a Doctor Who episode. The far-right politician and the threat of nuclear war was plenty, but what was done to Marti was absolutely chilling, as was Ruby's apology for not doing anything. It gets away with it because it's all through implication, but that almost makes it more hard hitting. You don't always need to see the monster in action to know what it's doing. It also reminds me of my much younger self not picking up on the Master beating Lucy Saxon until I was a teenager.

The way time began to speed along was actually quite shocking to begin with - I actually gasped when we saw the 25th birthday cards - and it kept bringing to mind various other episodes where companions have been abandoned either in the real world or another timeline/reality, especially things like The Girl Who Waited, Turn Left, Forest of the Dead, The Lie of the Land, World Enough and Time etc. That things get undone at the end was again a little reminiscent of a few of them, but this is also where we come to my criticisms of the episode, because - while I loved the experience of watching it - the ending feels tacked on in a way that is very unsatisfying.

There were a number of things that just never get explained. For a minor example, why did the Doctor disappear? Disturbing the fairy circle released Mad Jack (I'll come onto him) and also made the Doctor disappear? And also made the TARDIS lock in a way that couldn't be opened with Ruby's key? I'm not as bothered by this as the below, but it feels messy and like an attempt to do a Turn Left without an actual reason for the Doctor to be gone.

A bigger gripe is Ruby being the following lady. That on its own would have been fine, but that combined with other elements just frustrates me. Mainly, if the following lady was Ruby, what is it she says to get people to run away? I don't mind things being left to the imagination - for instance, I quite like that we don't get an explanation for why she has to be 73 yards away; I can infer that that's got something to do with the fairy circle - but it appears that whatever she says specifically makes people think there's something horrifying about Ruby.

What could Old Ruby possibly say to that end and why would she? And why would the same thing make a Prime Minister resign? If we had never found out who she was, I would have been perfectly happy to infer that she was a force of some kind that drives people mad, but it's Ruby! Knowing who she is but not what she does or how or why she does it is the worst way round. I want to know neither or both, or possibly the latter but not the former, but this way round just frustrates me.

On that note, the friend I was watching with pointed out that, as she was dying, elderly Ruby had very short hair and suddenly has long hair when she becomes the semper distans lady. A small detail, perhaps, but one that further muddles the conclusion. Why did her hair change? Where did the coat come from? It's a different actress as well and, even at that distance, you can kind of tell. Did Old Ruby just end up embodying an existing spirit to do with the fairy circle? If so, I would have liked that to be a lot clearer. If not, why does she look so different?

Okay, so, Mad Jack. Who or what is Mad Jack? Is he a spirit of some kind that possesses Roger ap Gwilliam? Was he always Roger ap Gwilliam? Does Roger ap Gwilliam exist without him? If Roger ap Gwilliam does not exist without Mad Jack, how come the Doctor still mentions him? If Roger ap Gwilliam does exist without Mad Jack, what is changed by the Doctor stepping on the fairy circle?

In the version of the timeline we end up on (where the Doctor doesn't step in the fairy circle but Roger ap Gwilliam is still mentioned by him as a dangerous Prime Minister), here are a few possibilities and why they don't work for me:

Does he still become Prime Minister and get taken down another way? Perhaps, but it's not like Turn Left where we know the problems would have been stopped by the Doctor (who's not here). Without Ruby's infiltration and semper distans lady, what stops him? And why was that not able to stop him in the timeline we witnessed?

Is he less dangerous? The second time around of the opening conversation we don't get the line about the brink of nuclear war, though only because Ruby interrupts him to point out the woman, but maybe we can infer that this time he's a dangerous Prime Minister but not that dangerous? That seems quite weak and unclear, though, and seems to disregard the horror of the Marti stuff.

Does the timeline only change after the Doctor's comments about him being a dangerous Prime Minister? He does say that before stepping (or not stepping) in the fairy circle both times. I might be happy to assume that Roger ap Gwilliam never comes to power after that diverging moment has passed, except that things have already changed before the Doctor mentions him because Ruby says she's been to Wales three times. Maybe they've changed a bit but not enough until the moment she stops him from stepping on it, but that is not at all clear.

If it's any of these (or none of them), that's really confusing! It's just so messy and unclear. It would have been a simple fix, too! Keep everything the same and just add in a line as they're walking away at the end along the lines of "thank goodness he never got into power; people never found him that convincing". That would have clarified a) things have changed since a few seconds ago b) that Mad Jack is what allowed him to get to power and c) in this timeline, that won't happen and Ruby won't need to stop him.

Despite all my complaints, I did really love watching this episode. It's just so carelessly wrapped up, as if they didn't think about the implications of the otherwise very well told story. I'll be interested to rewatch it and see if my complaints bother me more or less on second viewing. I really want to love this episode because there were so many fantastic elements, but it just makes all the inconsistencies and loose threads and muddled logic particularly frustrating because they were only another draft or two away from being solved.

Misc small things

No theme tune! I feel robbed! Maybe it was meant to be part of the vibe that we're not in the usual timeline, but come on. It could easily have been slotted in when she left the TARDIS the first time or before she got to the pub!

Other episodes I thought of: Extremis with warning other versions of yourself; The Hungry Earth/Cold Blood with waving at future versions of yourself that disappear when things change; Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS with weird timelines and future selves and things being undone; Last Christmas with the companion becoming elderly; Turn Left for the vibes of "there's something on your back"; Under the Lake/Before the Flood with a silent message, since it looked like the woman was trying to sign things to Ruby; and The Sound of Drums/Last of the Timelords with the triple whammy of the companion having to 1) set off on their own to 2) take down a prime minister and 3) have time reverse.

It's also got a good old bootsrap paradox in it, which doesn't bother me in the way of the above complaints, but for the sake of completionism: How was Ruby warned about the future when that future hasn't happened? Would have loved Twelve to briefly pop his head in and explain it for us.

It's interesting that the snow stopped throughout this version of her life. It also seemed to snow while she was on her way to the pub.

Kate's comment about how "this timeline might be suspended along your event" was interesting and I wonder if it connects with the snow stopping.

For the first time I actually recognised Susan Twist when she appeared, but I'm not sure I would have done without Ruby realising she recognised her. I liked that! It felt very Boom Town and recognising Bad Wolf coming up again.

There was a little cameo from Mrs Flood.

[thekatebridgerton]

Eight deadly sins: Bridgerton partners edition

Companion piece to my 8 deadly sins Bridgerton siblings edition. So let's get started

Kate: Wrath

I think I chose her as Wrath because its the driving force behind most of her actions in TVWLM. Take playing pall mall, she doesn't want to win, she just wants Anthony to lose. Anthony pisses her off so much during their book that her almost in perpetual state of annoyance drives most of the actions she takes and also, it is often mentioned in later books, how much Anthony dreads making his wife angry. If you ask me, out of both of them it's Kate who has a tiny bit of an anger management problem. ( She's capable of ruining Maria Rosso whole career in a pique of annoyance, just sayin)

Sophie: Lust

Self explanatory. Sophie spent her entire book acutely aware that her lust for Benedict was a particularly terrible weakness of hers and as such she guarded herself against sleeping with him with all trough thick and thin. So much that when she does fall into bed with Benedict it makes her feel like she betrayed herself and makes her want to immediately run away from the situation.

Penelope: Pride

Penelope's pride was what ultimately led to her downfall. So proud of Lady Whistledown, so happy to have made a name for herself right under the ton's nose, so confident nobody would ever figure it out. Penelope likes being the smartest person in the room, she likes the invisible power her secret gives her. So much that the moment Cressida tried to take credit for LW Penelope's pride wouldn't let her get away with it! And her hurt pride also leads her to lash out at Colin when he discovers her secret. It's her life work! She's not going to let anyone minimize what she's achieved

Simon: Vanity

He does think he's hottest snack in the room and needs protection from matchmaking mamas. No Seriously all jokes aside, for someone that insecure, he does have a very high opinion of himself that borders on vanity. Simon has worked all his life to build his public image, to hide the parts of him that his father deemed undersirable and cultivate an image of aristocratic aloofness. It's Daphne seeing past all that, which makes Simon break character and start liking her

Phillip: Sloth

More like, he was content with the bare minimum, before Eloise came into his life. Most of Phillip's sins in TSPWL can be blamed on inaction, some because he didn't know what to do,(deal with the aftermath of Marina's death) others because he was too passive to actually do what needed to be done (take charge of the raising of his children) Phillip is content with inaction, with isolation and distance. That's all he's ever known. At least until Eloise lights a fire under him and pushes him to make things right

Michael: Gluttony

I guess I put Michael in this category because Gluttony is the sin of overindulgence and he's the merry rake. Michael is an overindulgent person, not just in Francesca's eyes, but also in the eyes of everyone else. Which makes it ironic that the only thing he's had restraint in, has been his desire for Francesca.

Gareth: Greed

His greed comes in good faith okay. We still love him. But truth be told he still has to replenish his family fortune by marrying an heiress and he's still looking for the family diamonds for this reason. Gareth's greed is ultimately channeled into healthy outlets but we all know that had lady Danbury left him to his own devices, he would undoubtedly have married for money

Lucy: Envy

Like Gregory, Lucy ended up getting envy by process of elimination. Which is fitting considering that while she doesn't Envy anyone's life, she does envy the fact that they have a choice in the outcome of said life. Lucy's entire life has been controlled by her uncle while Hermione and Gregory did grow up with families that let them have a choice in how they wanted their lives to be. Even Richard has more choices than she does. And Lucy envies them for this. Not to the point of wishing anyone ill, but yes to the point of trying to make sure the people she loves don't squander the chances they got, because she doesn't get to have those chances

An: honestly this post was hard because I do think all the Bridgerton partners are Angelic beings who have done nothing wrong. Still I did my best with the prompt

[pippytmi]

Hi!! For the Kacy Post Breakup AU stories. Do you still taking promt?? Please can you write "i found the ring when i was moving my stuff out of your apartment and now everything makes sense”?? But Kate found the ring, Kate broke up with Lucy the reason is up to you. Love the ones you already write, thankkk yoouu 🫶🏽

“Theoretically—and I do mean this theoretically, I can’t stress that enough—would you be able to one: procure a pair of bolt cutters, and two: meet me somewhere in twenty minutes? Just think about it. As a purely hypothetical situation.”

Lucy has to stifle a laugh into her fist as she patiently listens to Ernie’s dramatics. “As much as I want to come free you from wherever you’re chained up—”

“I said in theory—”

“—I have a thing,” Lucy says. “Um. With Kate?” To call it “a thing” might be a complete oversimplification, but Ernie gives an understanding hum on the other end of the phone.

“I can be there in five minutes. Okay, like twenty-five minutes. And I can be a buffer, or a distraction, or someone to stare her down all night. Whatever you need.”

Lucy turns the corner and sees Kate Whistler waiting on her doorstep, and the tell-tale pang in her chest briefly makes her falter. “No, it’s fine,” she remembers to answer. “I have to go, though.”

“If you’re sure,” Ernie says, sounding entirely unconvinced. “Good luck.”

“Thanks,” Lucy mumbles, and she shoves her phone into her back pocket as she carefully approaches her apartment. Kate is still standing there—stiffly out of place with suitcases at her side—but she somehow still straightens up even more when she notices Lucy. “Hey,” Lucy calls, a touch confused. “You didn’t let yourself in?”

“I wasn't sure if you wanted me to,” Kate says, awkwardly pulling at the strings of her hoodie the way she does when she is uncomfortable. She takes a step back when Lucy brings out her keys, obviously trying not to hover, and Lucy sighs.

“I don’t care, whatever,” she says, ushering Kate in with a halfhearted flourish when the door clicks open. “Just ignore the mess, I haven’t cleaned or anything.” Work has actually kept her from being home very often beyond to sleep, so she knows her apartment will be a little bit in disarray.

To Kate, it must be a war zone; she has always been a neat freak (in the most endearing way). Lucy has to step over a stack of Amazon packages to even get inside, and she knows that Kate will zero in on everything else Lucy hasn’t cleared out yet: the takeout containers on the coffee table, the jackets strewn over the chairs, the abandoned folders and posters all over the couch. 

Lucy is used to it, though, and she walks right in whereas Kate seems to freeze. “Do you want a drink?”

Kate does a double-take, snapping out of her stupor. “Sorry?”

“A drink,” Lucy repeats. “Do you want one?”

“I…think it would be better to do this sober,” Kate says, brow crinkling, and Lucy has to pause to work out what the hell Kate is talking about.

“What? No, I meant like water. Or Gatorade,” Lucy amends. “Actually, I might only have Gatorade.” It’s a whole thing—some new sponsorship her agent had set up which led to a whole crate of the stuff being shipped—and now Lucy has way more than she can drink.

“I'm okay. But thank you,” Kate says, formal to a fault, and Lucy resists the urge to roll her eyes.

“Okay, well, you can…get started. I’m going to be doing some work in the kitchen if you need anything,” Lucy says.

Kate rapidly nods. “Right. Of course,” she says. “I’ll be as quick as I can. I’m sure you’re busy.”

“Yeah. No, totally.” Lucy has actually cleared her entire day just for this, but she doesn't say as much. It is much easier to hide away and pretend she's reading a script instead of, you know, waiting for her ex-girlfriend to pack up all remnants of their relationship.

Even without watching her do it, Lucy knows Kate is probably working efficiently and effectively to erase all traces of happiness from this apartment—their apartment. Kate had never officially moved in, but it was still theirs, and Lucy sees her in everything: in the framed print of The Great Wave off Kanagawa, in the uneven coffee table they picked out from a flea market because it was so beautifully hideous, in the old, torn couch where they had exchanged I love yous for the first time.

(That fact may have also influenced Lucy’s choice to spend as much time as possible at work. Maybe.)

Speaking of work…Lucy begrudgingly takes a seat at the kitchen table to pretend she is doing some. At the very least, she can do the boring task of clearing emails from her agent. Also, she should probably check and make sure Ernie is alive.

About an hour into rewatching Gilmore Girls, Kate shows up in the doorway, wringing her fingers together anxiously. “Sorry to bother you,” she says, as if she can’t hear Lorelai Gilmore’s voice from Lucy’s laptop, “but do you know where my backpack is? The one I use for hiking?”

Lucy blinks. “Uh, I’m not sure.” Kate is the person who normally knows where everything is. Even in Lucy’s apartment, she has an uncanny ability to find stuff Lucy never can.

“I had it the weekend before…” Kate doesn’t have to finish with before I broke up with you, but Lucy hears it anyway. ���You know what? It doesn’t matter. If you find it later I can just come back for it.”

“No, I can help you look.” Lucy pauses her show to clarify, “Just so you don’t have to make two trips.”

Kate’s cautious expression slowly morphs into a slightly crestfallen one. “Right. No, of course,” she says.

“Where did you look?” Lucy follows Kate outside to retrace her steps, and all the while, she curiously takes note of the absence of things Kate has chosen to select as purely hers: the cozy throw blanket off the couch, the snow globe which Kate’s mom had sent over for Christmas, the paper flower which Lucy had folded for Kate and previously was displayed in their only vase.

“Both closets—I don’t remember putting it anywhere else. Did you let someone borrow it, maybe?” Kate heads into the bedroom, zeroing in on their closet, but Lucy is focused solely on Kate’s question.

“Why would I let someone borrow your backpack? It’s not mine,” Lucy says, with admittedly a bit of indignation in her tone, but. Who the hell is Kate to suggest that Lucy would be so petty as to lose Kate’s lame hiking backpack?

Kate glances at her sideways, brow crinkling ever-so-slightly. “I don’t know. I just thought—”

“That I’m going to be that ex who trashes your stuff?” Lucy knowingly fills in.

“No, that’s not at all what I’m saying.” Kate says, and she even looks quite alarmed at the suggestion. “I’m not trying to accuse you of anything.”

“Okay, then, don’t look at me like that!”

“Like what?”

“Like I’ve kicked your puppy or something!” Lucy presses her fingertips against her temples.

Kate opens her mouth, then dejectedly shuts it. After a beat she mumbles, “I wasn’t trying to.”

“Well you are.” Lucy has to turn away, and she busies herself with digging through the pile of clothes at the bottom of the closet to see if somehow Kate’s backpack is buried underneath. It isn’t, but Lucy does find the script she had been searching for since last month, so it’s still a win-win. 

“I can get another one,” Kate says suddenly. “It’s not a big deal.”

“Sure, whatever you want,” Lucy says, kicking a parka out of the way as she wanders into the adjoining bathroom. “Is that the last thing you need to pack?” Already, all of Kate’s toiletries are missing. Lucy has to bite her lip to keep from doing something stupid like tearing up at the sight of her toothbrush all alone; the absolute last thing she needs to do is start breaking down when Kate is right outside.

“Almost,” Kate’s voice rings out hesitantly from beyond the door. “I have to finish sorting out my clothes.”

Lucy pokes her head out to briefly advise, “Check my drawers, I might have stolen a few of your shirts.” Selfishly, she wants to hang on to anything of Kate’s that she can, but she is making an effort to be practical. If she keeps on wasting her nights getting drunk and crying into that sweater of Kate’s that still smells like her, Lucy will never actually get over Kate. And she has at least promised Ernie that she will try.

Kate starts opening the drawers of the nightstands; Lucy can hear them open and shut. Lucy continues to peek about the bathroom until she has no reason to, and she begrudgingly makes her way back into the bedroom prepared to fake a call and escape back to the kitchen.

But when she walks in, Lucy is immediately immobilized at the sight of Kate standing stock-still in the center of the room—eyes wide, skin eerily pale—and in her hand is the ring box that Lucy forgot she hid in the top drawer of her nightstand.

“Oh fuck,” Lucy breathes out, her mouth forming words before her brain can interject. “That…is not what it looks like.”

Kate rapidly sets the box down on the bed, hand trembling all the while. “I’m sorry,” she says. “It just fell out. It—” She stops, sags backwards until she is leaning against the wall, her usual stoic façade completely melted away into pure disbelief. “You were going to propose?”

This time, there’s no stopping the tears when they spring to her eyes, but Lucy still wipes at them anyway. “I loved you, Kate,” she says thickly, her heart beating fast in an unbelievably painful manner. “What do you think?”

“I thought—” Kate audibly swallows. “You told me you never wanted to get married.”

Lucy shrugs limply. “Well, you do,” she says. “Obviously not with me, but..."

Kate goes silent for a moment. “Why didn’t you tell me?” she asks at last, and her voice quivers like she might cry, which makes absolutely no sense.

“How could I?” Lucy scoffs. “Did you want me to stop your little spiel about ‘not fitting in each other’s lives anymore’ to say ‘hey, Kate, I actually want to propose to you. Can you maybe reconsider breaking up with me?’” 

“It would’ve explained a lot, Lucy,” Kate says, stricken. “This whole time—is this why you were acting so weird?”

“I wasn’t acting weird,” Lucy says defensively.

Kate doesn’t seem to be listening. “I thought it was about your job,” she goes on, almost as if to herself. “I thought you were regretting everything.” Her cheeks glisten with silent tears, and Lucy’s stomach flips in on itself.

She doesn’t know what she’s feeling at first. Initially, Lucy assumes it’s devastation, her chest so tight with it like she might finally burst into sobs. But then she realizes it’s anger, white-hot and all-consuming, and when it explodes it comes out as:

“You didn’t even try to talk to me? If I was acting weird, fine. I don’t agree, but let’s say I was.” Lucy begins to pace, because otherwise, she might actually start crying hysterically. “Why wouldn’t you ask me what was going on?”

“I did,” Kate says softly, too softly. “You said it was work.”

Lucy pauses. “Okay, maybe that one time,” she allows. “I don’t see how that leads to dumping me.”

Kate pushes off the wall, her gaze so sorrowful and pained that Lucy has to cross her arms and pointedly look away. “I was holding you back,” she says plainly. “Your career is taking off, Lucy. You’re so famous now you get recognized every time you leave the house. I’m still a dropout law student with no idea what I’m doing in life.”

“I never cared about that.”

“But I do,” Kate says desperately. “That’s why I…that’s the only reason why I wanted to break up. It was never because I didn’t love you.” Kate has moved closer, maybe inadvertently, but Lucy jerks backwards all the same.

“It’s too late,” Lucy says—realizes. “You can’t tell me that. You’re leaving. You chose this! Kate, you—you decided to break my heart instead of trying to make this work. How do you expect me to feel?”

Kate’s hands go immediately to her hoodie strings. “I know,” she says. Twists the ends between her thumb and forefinger. “If I could take it back—”

“You can’t,” Lucy cuts her off. “You ruined it.” Her frustration is the tipping point: the tears come and they’re not pretty, hot and stinging and absolutely ruining whatever makeup she has worn today. “I’m going to go, okay? I’m going to ask Ernie to pick me up and you can just—just let me know when you’re done.”

“No, I…” Kate shakes her head. “I’ll go. Um. Don’t worry about the rest of my stuff.” She zips up her half-empty suitcase and haphazardly yanks it along, lingering briefly only by the doorway like she wants to say something else before she leaves. Lucy can see her struggle; her jaw clenches and unclenches until finally she says, “I’m sorry.”

Lucy exhales, recognizing at once she only has one chance to ask what has been bugging her this entire time. “Kate,” she says, to stop her just for one second. “Would…would you have said yes?”

Kate gazes at her so sadly that when she smiles, barely there, it is as surprising as it is heartbreaking. “Of course I would have,” she says quietly.

And without even waiting for Lucy to say anything—perhaps realizing that she won’t—Kate is leaving, and Lucy is letting her. If this was a movie, Lucy would chase her out the door; maybe get down on one knee anyway, and wait for Kate to finally accept their happily-ever-after in whatever form it takes.

But this isn’t a movie, and there is no black and white ending which will ever really satisfy them both. So Lucy sinks down onto her bed, cradles the ring box in her palm, and begins to mourn a life that was never hers to begin with.

[lost-inanotherlife]

Lost S1 Rewatch: Destiny&Deception

I've just finished my S1 rewatch (after 20 years, gosh) and I find myself groundlessly surprised.

Surprised because I've just realized how deep the theme of "deceptions&lies&cons" runs through the series.

Groundlessly because it doesn't exactly take a genius to notice it, the writers are absolutely clear in that respect, every episode of S1 features a bunch of lies and some good ol' deception for good measure.

So while I wouldn't deny that "Destiny vs Free Will" is one of S1's major themes... I wouldn't say it's the MAIN theme. I think "Deception" is. Which is possibly even worse because if the main theme of a narrative is "Deception" and the close-to-main-but-not-quite is "Destiny" you kinda know you're in for a hell of a ride.

If we stop and think about it, the vast majority of Losties are not exactly people unwilling to deceive for their personal gain, tell lies and sometimes even straight up con others.

Kate and Sawyer are, of course, professional manipulators and the fact that they are among the main characters is already super telling. Sayid is a "communication officer", an expert in detecting lies and, we'll come to know in "The Greater Good", a good one in telling them too in order to basically con his own friend. Jin and Sun know too well the intricacies and the depths of lying: Jin lies about his own father to his soon-to-be bride and then keeps lying to her about his business with her father (although, it must be noticed, that it's a reluctant lie and something he didn't even know he had gotten himself into in the first place). Sun lied about her English, yes, but, most importantly, she was planning to leave Jin and failed.

Then we have Locke who surely tells some white lies. He seems to portray Helen as his partner but maybe this is less of a lie he tells other people than one he tells himsel. He also lies to the travel agency about his physical condition. Not to mention all the lies he tells on the island. However, Locke is undoubtedly the victim of a vicious con. Anthony Cooper, John's father, is a better confidence man than Sawyer could ever be.

Shannon is also a deceiver and sort of a scammer because she's schemed this convoluted way of getting her hands on the money that she didn't inherit from her father by playing Boone and leaning on his twisted love for her. Conversely, Boone is a victim both of Shannon's deception and of Locke's lies. Boone tries to be stealth when he steals the remaining water because he wants to ration it but fails miserably. On an island inhabited by more or less successful deceivers he was the innocent sacrifice the island demanded.

Walt lies too but, I mean, he's a child, although I bet that burning the raft took some pretty crafty scheming for a 10-year-old. He comes clean to Michael so that's good. Michael also lies to Walt but I've got a hard time classifying it as a "deceiving lie" because he didn't tell his long-lost, grieving-the-death-of-his-mother estranged son that his adoptive father has basically returned him to sender. So, yeah. But hey, still thematically relevant.

Charlie is both deceived by his own brother and a deceiver to Lucy, the rich girl he dated to steal some of her antiques in order to get some money to buy more drugs.

Claire, like John and Boone, is a victim of the deception of both his son's father, Thomas, and of Mr. Makin, the psychic.

Hurley is the proverbial exception to the rule because I think his lie is a rightful omission. All the more so if we think about what happens when he tells the truth (Charlie thinks he's taking the piss, Jack quite vulgarly implies that he's crazy). Which is ironic because his "lie" (not disclosing the info about the curse and the numbers) would actually make A LOT of sense on the island.

Finally, Jack. What about him? I think he's the character that deceives himself the most. He lives by the "Do No Harm" rule and the same name episode tells us exactly this: do no harm to others but you can harm yourself no problem.

And what about Rousseau and Ethan? Ethan literally infiltrated the Losties and deceived them while Rousseau disguised her motives to approach the Losties (i.e. to inform them about the imminent coming of The Others) in order to kidnap Aaron.

So what does this all mean?

Season 1 seems to silently ask: are Destiny and Deception the two sides of the same coin? Is Deception inherently weaved into the fabrics of Destiny or is Destiny at work through Deception? Is Destiny itself a Deception? Or is it lie we tell ourselves so we can pretend to not care about the consequences of our actions, like Jack's father Christian ("That's why the Red Sox will never win the World Series")? Oh, so many questions!

Beautiful, beautiful season! <3

[newtonsheffield]

As tumblrs resident Anthony person, can you explain why folks relate Anthony to Eloise?

Is it because they are super stubborn people?

Am I…? Tumblr’s…? Resident…? Anthony…? Person? Is that me? Is that the reputation I have?

I’m happy to give my opinion on this for whatever that might be worth (Possibly very little)

I have spoken at length that the siblings that Anthony probably has the closest relationship with are Benedict and Daphne. And IO think it’s because Benedict is the closest to him in age and likely never truly looked to him as a father figure and Daphne I think it’s because as the eldest son and eldest daughter they’re both fulfilling importantly roles in their family. Anthony is providing for the family and Daphne needs to marry well to set the precedent for the rest of the girls and also as the first sibling to get married she’s cementing the social sphere for the rest of them in a way.

But the Bridgerton Siblings in general fall into two main groups (and so do their spouses but we’ll leave that for now). There’s the logisticians and the dreamers.

The Logisticians are- Anthony, Eloise, Francesca and Hyacinth

And the Dreamers are- Benedict, Colin, Daphne and Gregory (Gregory is the biggest dreamer of them all which is hilarious because Lucy is the most extreme logistician in the series. Literally polar opposites. She has no idea what to do with him)

Anthony and Eloise I think, both have a quite blunt, no nonsense attitude. Even though in the book Eloise ran away to meet Phillip without telling anyone she still did it for a really practical reason. She felt lonely and her best friend who she thought she’d be a spinster beside got married and Phillip had already suggested through his letters that they should meet and see if they would be suited for marriage. The path was laid out for her. And She went for it.

Anthony feels he should marry Edwina because she’s the diamond. So she must be the best woman™️. She is polite and not stupid and pretty so he decides to pursue her. Then he married Kate because he couldn’t bloody well leave her alone and he had to. So he just got on with it. And he had a conversation with the girl he was about to marry who already felt like a burden about how she shouldn’t expect him to fall in love with her.

That’s how blunt and forthright these two are. That’s what I think it is.

I think as well that Eloise was only… eight? When Edmund died? She was probably one of the first of the siblings to need Anthony so there’s that relationship as well. Really though, Anthony dotes on all his siblings. He can’t even really bring himself to be firm with Gregory when he’s telling him he needs to be productive. He’s more just like

“hey. You upset my wife by not turning up for dinner and now I’m being forced to have this conversation with you. Very not cool!”

So ah… yeah. Thanks for coming to my TED talk.