#people call her goosey why

[winterswake]

why is she goosey, not gucy? i mean if the overseer of vault 4 misread her name it would be gucy

[greenthena]

Metatron's Tie

**Update: check the reblogs. There's a clear picture that shows the tie pattern as flowers. So, there goes my theory. Whomp whomp. Easy come, easy go, as Freddie says. @archangelween @drconstellation

People, I have been trying to get a good look at the Metatron's ding dang neck tie since September to determine what those little blue symbols are. Because, like everything in the Good Omens universe, I believe it's been put there for a reason. I also believe that God has no idea what she's doing, which is why she hired Neil Gaiman to run things for a few decades.

Despite being a so-called agent of Heaven, the Metatron's costume is coded as demonic, from his dark topcoat to the black stripes on his white shirt. The item I find most fascinating, however, is his tie. And this is probably in large part because I've had so much difficulty seeing the subtle blue pattern upon it and that has made my brain itch and made me hyperfixate. As one does.

I think I may have figured out the design, and it complicates all my Metatron theories, but here we go. The Metatron's tie is black, featuring a repeated small bright blue symbol throughout. I've guessed it could be a star or a planet. A cryptic sigil or maybe something to do with the coffee (I'm not a coffee-theory person, though, for the record.) I don't know what it is (well, maybe I do now, and I promise we'll get there in time...I'm a demon of my word), but I do know that it's important.

All the angels have references to their angelic status concealed within their costumes.

Michael is the watcher. She is the one who, in Saturday Morning Funtime, delivers surveillance photos to Gabriel. To reflect this, Michael wears a gold ring featuring several small pearls that symbolize eyes. She is ever-vigilant (hyper-vigilant, ya might say), and even has a contact in Hell (Dagon) to broaden her scope of observation. The placement of the ring in the pinky is also significant. A good watcher mustn't themselves be observed, so Michael, in her role as observer must slip under the radar. This corresponds to the pinky finger being small and quite literally underhanded, as in at the bottom of the hand.

Uriel's ring is a silver star, worn on her/their index finger, the digit associated with authority. (We call it the index finger because we use it to sort and catalog, creating meaning and order.) Uriel certainly commands authority, both in their overall calm and assured demeanor, and also in their actions. It is she who physically confronts Aziraphale prior to the S1 No-pocalypse, easily inspiring fear in the Principality. As for the symbol of the star, I believe it is a reference to modern Angelography (I might have made up that word, but I think you know what I'm talking about) which usually describes Uriel as a sun, star, or the flame of the Almighty.

Sandalphon's symbology is two-fold: a thick gold pinky ring featuring a pair of circles (kind of looks like a lego brick, to be perfectly fair) and that small gold grill he wears on his front teeth. Both these items are the most elaborate pieces of angelic adornment that we see. Sandalphon's overall aesthetic is much warmer than the other angels', leaning toward caramel and tan rather than dove gray. He's a bit of an odd ball in the host of Archangels and stands out based on his wardrobe choices alone. He's also the only Archangel not to return in S2. I don't want to make too much of this, because there are many in-universe reasons why we may not see Sandalphon again. However, in Judeo-Christian scripture, Sandalphon is closely joined with...wait for it...the Metatron, with apocryphal texts describing him as Enoch's (the Metatron's pre-angelic human name) twin brother. I take this with a hefty spoon of salt, though, since Neil definitely plays loosey-goosey with these dogmas and even the scriptures themselves are a veritable soup of contradiction. (The Bible is not a static or universally canonical text, and Hebrew scriptures, outside the Tanakh are a web of activity and debate as to what is accurate. I'm not here for the arguments today; this is not my Bat Mitzvah.)

Finally, we have Gabriel, the only Archangel who doesn't wear a ring. He does, however, wear a watch. I have two thoughts about the watch. First, clocks are thematically relevant in the Good Omens universe. From the grandfather clock in the bookshop to Crowley's elaborate wristwatch (which he has in both show and book) to the opening sequence of S1, which has far too many clock faces to count. So there's that. But holding time in one's hand (or on one's wrist) is a powerful metaphor that illustrates control and higher power. To possess a clock is to command time and space which are essentially inseparable. As the Supreme Archangel, Gabriel is nearly the top-ranking being in the universe (for a time, at least...see what I did there? pathetic laughter) and his wristwatch demonstrates this point.

If you're still with me, you're doing great. Good job.

We've got to see how important the Archangels' symbology is to their characters, I think, to really understand why the sigils on the Metatron's tie matter. So, finally to the point. Dolphins. Thanks for coming to my TED Talk.

To move forward, we'll need to call upon my old friend, the Tarot deck. Cards, in general, and Tarot, in particular, play a marked role in the GO universe. The Almighty Herself addresses the viewer in the opening lines of the show, "God does not play dice with the universe; I play an ineffable game of my own devising. For everyone else, it's like playing poker in a pitch-dark room, for infinite stakes, with a Dealer who won't tell you the rules, and who smiles all the time." As God speaks, cards appear on screen, and some of those are from the Rider Waite Tarot deck. One specific card that caught my eye in this montage is "Judgement."

This card features an angel blasting a trumpet and waking the dead from their graves on the Day of Judgement. The angel on the card is not named, as such. It's usually assumed to be Raphael, as he is the angel who is prophesied to call and raise all souls on this day. However, I've found other references naming the angel as either Gabriel or the Metatron. Now, I don't want to get overly carried away here, but in the context of Good Omens, reading the Judgement card with the Metatron as the angel pictured may actually make a lot of sense, and clarify the sigils on the Metabutt's tie. The Metatron postures himself as the Voice of God--the Mouthpiece of the Almighty. Kinda like a trumpet, yes?

Now look at the flag on the angel's trumpet. That's called St. George's Cross and it's a very prevalent European Christian symbol dating back to the Middle Ages. Like many images in the Tarot, it's a heraldic emblem that has meaning outside the deck, often associated with bravery and military might. It continues to be used in military iconography into the present day. The Judgement that the angel heralds is not peaceful. It's a call to war. The righteous will be gathered to Heaven and the wicked will be destroyed--a repeat of the first Great War in which Satan and the demons were cast into Hell. In the narrative of Good Omens, this war will bring about the end of time, the end of the world, and the beginning of eternity (hope ya'll like The Sound of Music.)

Kids (human and goat, alike) I think those little blue sigils on the Metatron's tie are Saint George's Cross. (I'm so sorry this is so small and hard to see. Now you know my pain.)

In the Final Fifteen, the Metatron speaks briefly about the Second Coming, which is a reference to Saint John of Patmos' prophecies--you might know them as the Book of Revelation. Some Christians interpret Revelation as an upcoming final judgement for humanity. And it seems, based on in-universe exposition, certain characters view these prophecies in a similar light. In the reverse body-swap at the end of S1, Crowley suggests that the averted Apocalypse was not the end of the conflict. "If you ask me," he says, "Both sides are gonna' use this as breathing space before the Big One. [...] For my money, the really Big One is all of us against all of them." And with the Metatron acting as the Mouthpiece of God, that "Big One," that Day of Judgement, if you will, may well be nigh.

I think the Metatron sees himself as the angel who rings out the Final Judgement. He is the Voice of God, after all. But here is a worrying thought. How little he would need to shift perspective to view himself as the Word of God, as well. The Gospel of John opens, "In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God. The Same was in the beginning with God." The Word of God is an epithet for Jesus. The same Jesus whose Second Coming the angel of judgement is meant to announce. So what if the Metatron just plans to consolidate these roles for himself: the heralding angel and the Second Coming rolled into one. He would become Judgement Incarnate, supplanting the Almighty once and for all. And for my money, that sounds just like what a demon would like to do.

***I'm updating because several readers have pointed out that it seems like I'm saying Metatron=Demon because Demon=Bad. Thank you for bringing this to my attention--it makes me a better communicator. I can see where it's coming from. It's not my intention. Consider this meta sort of an extension of my "Metatron is the Murder Hornet" meta, which I'll link with the tags if you're interested.

Just wanted to clarify that I think at its heart, Good Omens is thematically about rejecting the dichotomy of good and evil and embracing the messy gray space that is reality.

When I call Metaboob a demon, it's not because I think demons are evil, it's because I think he's the hornet in the beehive and we've seen that demons need an angelic escort (Crowley and Muriel) to access Heaven.

TL;DR Angels are not the good guys. Demons are not the bad guys. Good Omens is NOT about that at all.

[odbuoyjemmity]

Nevermoor Dashboard

Wundrous-Society-Official

Golder's Night is next week! Don't forget to take part with a chance of winning a favour from the Wundrous Society! A night of fun for everyone.

gigi-stan

does anyone know if holliday wu is looking for a seventh girlfriend

blue-suit-4ever

its chanda kali with the six boyfriends. how do you know she's even gay?

gigi-stan

barty, she has an undercut and like. six piercings. if she's not into women i will cry for a week

blue-suit-4ever

isn't that stereotyping?

gigi-stan

bitch

blue-suit-4ever

blocked

gigi-stan

wait unblock me. i have to tell you something

blue-suit-4ever

what?

gigi-stan

bitch

i-miss-jemmity-park

okay but why is lsj so obsessed with a thirteen year old. isnt that kinda sus

eldritch

she is a wundersmith. it's a serious risk and we're all in danger

i-miss-jemmity-park

she literally has food on her face in that one photo. also dont you make edits of The Wundersmith with flower crowns

eldritch

they're ironic

i-miss-jemmity-park

you called him daddy

i-miss-jemmity-park

guys they blocked me

gigi-stan

i can't believe gigi is making another album and going on tour with st nicholas. so hyped

blue-suit-4ever

typical sellout. wonder how much she's getting off of underpaid elvish labour

gigi-stan

actually! the elves have a union now source

blue-suit-4ever

they're going to go on strike. they're not in a union yet. don't you see how this is going to distract everyone from their strike anyway?

offical-concerned-citizens-of-nevermoor

The Wundrous Society controls our governments and aren't accountable to anyone. Their cover-ups of hollowpox attacks only prevents the victims seeking justice from their assailants!

burns-with-the-fire-etc

K

murder-of-crows

U

no-retreat

N

polylingual

T

murder-of-crows

mahir. no

burns-with-the-fire-etc

mahir keep going

foxlore

it's actually really disheartening to see the rise in anti-wunimal sentiment since the beginning of the hollowpox. my aunt was spat on in the supermarket two days ago and no one said anything about it

king-louis

actually i don't care if crow and squall take over nevermoor. steed is so bad at his job i kinda want to see him get deposed

no-retreat

squall killed a bunch of people just fyi. crow probably wouldn't. i think

murder-of-crows

thanks, thaddea

foxlore

oh my god i hate the brolly rail so much

goosey-goosey-gander

what happened

foxlore

mmh. fuckin leg

murder-of-crows

in courage square doing 'it'. and by 'it' i mean. arson

[gorbalsvampire]

𝖃𝕴𝕴𝕴 𝕿𝖆𝖑𝖊𝖘 𝖋𝖗𝖔𝖒 𝕱𝖊𝖚𝖉𝖆𝖑 𝕭𝖔𝖍𝖊𝖒𝖎𝖆

𝔄𝔠𝔱 ℑℑℑ, 𝔰𝔠𝔢𝔫𝔢 𝔦𝔦

Our story continues with 'alf a coterie, as player availability is becoming a Factor. There are only two or three nights to go until Kupala's Eve (ol' relleytrots is keeping this both loosey and goosey in case we get caught in a "no more time for things to happen but we need a filler session" bind), and the coterie has several Problems ahead of them.

Tonight, Theodericus and Alzbeta deal with one of those problems: or rather, it deals with them. They awake to find the Knights Hospitaller activated - Libussa is under armed guard, and the Cainites are escorted post-haste to meet her. In the cloister garden, they are met by said Libussa, clearly exhausted beyond endurance (she's hanging on to her guards' halberds just to stand up), and Prince Brandl, along with some mortal hangers-on - the constable of the Old Town, and some minor courtiers.

Prince Brandl wished to know why his dictat concerning Vysehrad had been ignored - when he said forbidden to all Cainites he was not speaking in jest. Theodericus tried to claim that a lady - a queen, even! - was in danger, and the rules of chivalry could not be gainsaid, and that Libussa's masters and descendants were trying to take the city from Brandl -

Oh no. He knew. That doesn't wash. Of course the Fiends were trying to take the city; they had been trying to take the city for three hundred years.

Theodericus also committed his first ever act of deceit - although he can't actively lie he can omit elements from his report, and he simply didn't mention that any other Cainites had been there. A heroic effort on the part of this simple soul. Pity Alzbeta blew it out of the water immediately by asking permission to share the details of her visions, as further cause and evidence to disobey the Prince.

The Prince, sighing, explained that not all visions and callings are necessarily divine in origin: that he, in fact, can summon Cainites and mortals alike into his presence, and if he can do it, does it not follow that others can do it also? Alzbeta had not considered this, and neither had Theodericus, and they felt like right twits.

Turning to Libussa, the Prince demanded she explain herself, exerting his Presence to that effect, and -

*record scratch* Let's talk about my storytelling style for a moment here. I've always struggled with SPC Willpower - when they should and shouldn't spend it - as it's easy to fall into an adversarial mindset here. Recently, I've taken to asking questions like "how badly do we want this to go?" or, as I did tonight, "whose side are we on here?" - this establishes what the players want out of a scene and gives me guidance on how hard I need to go to avoid disappointing them. It's not about giving them what they want - if I have ever given a player what they want it has come at a cost - so much as avoiding them feeling like they had no say or agency in what happened, which can happen when their characters confront an SPC who's an order of magnitude more powerful than them.

Anyway, the crew were more pro-Brandl than before! Alzbeta wanted to help Libussa without putting anyone else in danger; Theodericus now understood the Prince was more competent than he'd thought, and that he might have backed the wrong horse, considering how Libussa was still acting like a woman possessed.

The Prince thus pushed on Libussa, getting the truth out of her; that she was indeed the Queen of the Goths, sworn to serve the patron goddess of her people, entombed beneath Vyserhad. Brandl, moved to pity or perhaps sensing an advantage, made her - and the coterie - an offer. He would take Libussa under his protection, free her from her Blood Oath to Shaagra one way or another, and they would owe him a boon for their defiance, but he would keep schtum about their transgression as long as they did.

Libussa accepted this offer.

*record scratch* So this is another thing that occasionally gives me hives: something that I think is cool as shit, but the players have no way of knowing because it's tied to details about the SPCs that they don't even know to look for. I want to communicate those things because they're cool as shit beats on which a story can turn, but short of roleplaying with myself or writing flash fiction very quickly I don't quite know how to manage that.

Anyway, Alzbeta wasn't sure she was doing the right thing, and so she attempted to force a premonition - INSTEAD activating her new Aura Perception. The splashes and blurs of colour around the Hospitallers; the dark bodies and deep ruddy cores of the Cainites with their Beasts; the hollowness of Libussa, eaten inside out, dark and dead as a Cainite but without that inner bloodlust's light; and a spectral presence, white and evanescent. Octavio. Octavio standing before her, awaiting judgment. She wondered if, perhaps, he was a Prophet by choice, or if he had been compelled to this by some outside force as well - and in that moment of compassion, the presence of Octavio walked through her, and she felt her heart beat, just once.

Prince Brandl accepted her subsequent apology, and left Libussa in the care of the Hospitallers; the coterie had to bring him Octavio to earn their forgiveness in his sight.

Alzbeta took the moment to comfort Theodericus, offering to pray for him - he hoped merely that she could forgive herself. Libussa, at this moment, broke down weeping, and Theodericus rushed to her and asked what she wanted. Really. Truthfully. To die? To be free? To be normal, just for a few days, before the end?

Through her tears Libussa answered that it didn't really matter. Having betrayed her goddess, her defilement was complete. It was better that the Cainites watch over Agnes, her descendant in the convent, who they're collectively sure is destined to be a sacrifice to awaken Shaagra. Libussa could live another three hundred years as a traitor, if it meant another could be spared what she has endured.

Here endeth the session - but I wonder what Mariam and Marsillius were up to?

[dollsonmain]

Why the hell am I waking up an hour or more before wakeup time when I'm so damned exhausted???

I NEED SLEEP.

That Guy is still dumping all of the service phone calls and stuff on me even though we're now both at work during normal phone call hours and both can't receive/make personal phone calls while at work. How does that make sense? It doesn't.

Anyway, hopefully the hvac repair office phone is on right at 9 so I can call them since I don't have much time between then and needing to leave for work.

I haven't been down to the salon all week other than an "OH SHIT!" moment when I remembered there were ponies in the SunBox. They're fine.

I'm not fine. I don't have the energy for the stairs. Even when I wasn't working there were many days where just going up and down the stairs was too much.

I WAS going to suggest we go get yard stuff to make those stumps look nicer but we may have to replace our HVAC again. That Guy won't pay for the yearly maintenance so it's no surprise it's broken already.

Getting frustrated at work again.

It's partly just not knowing how things go, partly forgetting things, and partly still just not ever feeling like I'm getting anything done. That persistent feeling of "Task Incomplete" is stressful.

-

There were lots of vendors yesterday because, for some reason, almost all of them come in on Thursday, and I'm not completely "there" on how vendors work, yet.

I have to stand there and read off the printout while they point to the product, then some of them put the stuff away and some don't, some need a check and some don't, some of them need a check sometimes and some need one every time, and some of them need to give an invoice RIGHT THEN to get a check cut while they wait and others give an invoice and pick up the payment the next time and I have no control over the checks and have to go hunt down a manager, and the whole time I'm trying to do the thing with vendors there are customers coming in.

Everyone is frustrated: The vendors because they have to wait for the customers to be dealt with, the customers because they have to wait for me to run over to the register, and me because I'm constantly being interrupted by people who are waiting for me and I am not fast.

Two vendors started chatting and both were like "She over-orders and there's nowhere to put things...." and the Red Bull vendor was like "Hey, so... There's SO much product from us back there that I'm skipping you guys next week."

And he's right, there is SO much back there but it's all buried under other things so it goes unnoticed, gets missed, we decide it's not worth the effort to dig back to get it, whatever....

And it's...... It's partly because of their very loosey goosey inventory keeping system BUT those products all do scan into the register, so I'd blame that actually on how the storage situation hides things and it's difficult for her to know what to order.

We've been out of buns for a couple weeks, now, both the ones for the deli and the ones for customers.

-

I keep being asked to make the deli sandwiches and usually I'm let to do that while the manager is on the register but today I was trying to do sandwiches and register at the same time and the customers like to come in at the most inconvenient times, so my sandwich ingredients are all sitting out, getting warm, I'm taking off my gloves to deal with customers then having to put them back on to start on sandwiches but no, there's another customer as soon as I get them on again and my hands sweat so getting the gloves on and off is DIFFICULT so they're sitting there, waiting, watching me struggle to get the gloves off, usually destroying them in the process.

Multiple times I would get as far as picking up the gloves and another customer would come in and make a bee-line for the register.

Also frustrating that she'll get out lots of ingredients and there's no bread. The bread is kept in the cooler, which is a place where I can't see customers or hear the door, so I have to rush in there, search frantically, pop my head out, of course someone is waiting at the register, run across the store to the register, take care of them, rush back to the cooler, oh someone just came in, back to the register, back to the cooler, oh either we're all out of that kind of bread or it's buried under the dinner rolls but I do. not. have time to dig them out if they are even in there because I can't hear the door.....

Manager says take the hamburger buns from the shelves but there aren't any there, either. I used them all up week before last.

Then she's like "Use this pack of buns." and I'm like "Those hit their sell by date 10 days ago and are completely stale." "Oh..."

Then also "Why are all these tuna salad sandwiches out of place?" "They expired three days ago [and you told me to move expired sandwiches to this spot]." "...... Oh."

There are WAY TOO MANY of the tiny dinner rolls, though. Way too many. So many that the manager can't see that there aren't any of the buns that we do need, so she's not ordering them.

Then not realizing I'd 100% forgotten to clean up after until hours later because I'd gotten distracted by a 30 TOTE delivery, many of which were covered in Mystery Goo, and some had items that needed priced, dated, and put into the cooler ASAP because they're getting warm and oh it's time to go!!!! Shit! I have to count my drawer!!!

And some of those totes had like...2 things in them. Many of them had more of the snack cakes I'd rearranged on Monday and there wasn't any room for that.

Then the next guy comes in and starts doing his normal thing which is stocking the beer cooler and I have to be like "Hey, so, this BIGASS TUB of cold stuff came in like an hour ago and I wasn't able to finish dating, pricing, and putting it out so you're going to have to get that please...."

I feel like my brain is running in circles about it all because it is all just a cyclical mess...

Better inventory management and storage would help a lot, but it's not like they can add storage unless CitGo wanted to provide them with a secure trailer out back or something. There's just not that much room in that building, though they COULD have blocked off a large section to one side and used that for storage instead of selling a bunch of random stuff no one buys, there.

It's so dusty over there.

-

There was a big meeting yesterday and I'm speculating that it might have been the CitGo rep both because he seemed really kind of.... Predatory?? Aggressive? but trying to hide it? and after he left, Manager brought me a store-themed shirt and said we're supposed to wear uniforms but she personally refuses and since she refuses, no one under her has to, either, but she needs me to wear it at least one time.

I don't care either way.

-

Anyway, still no gripes about the manager as a person, she's amicable, patient, and friendly without being a pushover but oof... She very much needs more employees and a second manager wouldn't hurt. I kind of feel like they're hoping I'll be that but um... Probably not happening I'm too scatter brained AND looking for other work, still. Theoretically. I haven't applied to anything new.

[naradivision]

“Happy Birthday!

I don’t know if this present will get to you in time, but I think it’s only fair I return the favor after the presents I got from you for my birthday a while back! I was told you wanted to speak with me but I haven’t gotten to meet with you since then! Do stop by my office, we can meet up and have a talk if you’re still up for it! Hope you had a great birthday!

Regards,

Anika Kiyozaki from Akihabara Division”

With a smile, Yuuya Kanata closed the letter that had been taped to the outside of the package that had just been delivered on his front doorstep.

Last he remembered, he had been curious about the uncanny similarity of his and Kiyozaki-san’s eyes. The package that was now sitting in his living room brought it back to his attention.

Shaking his head with a smile, he peered into the package that was delivered to him.

Inside was a—

…

What the heck?

Inside were multiple goose statues, the beaks being magnetic and able to hold various items such as keys, knives for the kitchen, and several more.

Let it be known that if there was anything the hypnotherapist of Akihabara loved, it was gag or prank gifts.

“Woah, look at what got here human! Are you going to adopt these lovely goosey goosey ganders?!”

Exclaiming excitedly at Anika’s presents was ANGE the high-definition digital girl who was now floating on Yuuya’s television screen.

And as if the previous awkward moment between them had never happened, she let out an airy giggle, drawing a soft smile from the birthday boy who was now busy bringing stuffs he got from townspeople into his living room.

“Goosey, you say? At first I thought they were ducks. But welp, these two birdies are way too similar. I can’t really differentiate them from one another.”

Joking a bit about the goose vs duck paradox, Yuuya was just returning home from his personal errand to deliver presents to other divisions.

Because much to one’s surprise, there were few acquaintances who were coincidentally sharing the same birthday with him. However, he didn’t expect the townsfolk to give him this many gifts during his way back home. It was always very nice of them; his hometown’s people, their hospitality had never failed to make him feel touched ever since he was a lot younger. And that was one of the reasons why he had tried so hard to keep his hometown unscathed from whoever’s exploitation.

Hot and humid, the first summer draft was slipping through the balcony and bringing along the warm and woody scent from his father’s room to his senses.

And even if today was meant to be the longest day of the year, now looked like the sun had been shifting lower and lower toward the horizon.

Suddenly swarmed by emotions, the birthday boy gazed at the distant evening sky that bore the same shade as his eyes.

…That’s right, his birthday used to be so lonely since he usually spent it alone mourning. But somehow this year was shaping up to be a bit different.

His smile softened as he could hear his chatty companion explored each of his presents with sparkling enthusiasm.

“Tee-hee, couldn’t believe that the meme ANGE stumbled upon on the internet one day would be actually brought to life! This lady you called Kiyozaki-san has got a great taste! Humans sure are being creative~”

—And well, he was glad to see her being back to her energetic self again.

Earlier she seemed to be oddly quiet that he felt somewhat frustrated she might be mad at him. Together with Ojou-chan, she had always been the liveliest voice in his home.

“Oh. And to think about it, Kiyozaki-san did tell me to give her a visit sometimes too. Hmmm, perhaps I should drop by her clinic whenever I get a chance to go around Akihabara…”

From what extent he knew about this Kiyozaki-san beside her being the leader of Pixel Syndicate was that she had been once a high-rise racer but now turning over to become a specific type of professional therapist after suffering grave injuries from a certain accident in her past. What’s more? She was also the current guardian figure to Setsukura-san, one of his underclassmen at his old school! So, that was probably why he could feel the mature-ish comforting vibe to her despite her rather mischievous streak judging from her choice of gifts.

And while there might be some barrier of communication in between them according to her partial loss of hearing, this couldn’t make him less interested in learning more about sign language.

Still, Kiyozaki-san’s motive in joining the D.R.B. remained quite unclear to him.

Though her background sounded like she was a fame seeker in the past, some part of him believed she was also exhausted with all that stuff as she had changed into her new career to help people, hence she might as well have another reason to sign in this suspicious tournament aside from seeking either its prize or glory… Actually, it would be a blatant lie that the majority of participants did join it without some kind of hidden agenda —He himself even had one of his own.

But if you ask him what about her that caught on his curiosity the most, the answer was undoubtedly her eyes: the sunset color, the unique scheme he had never seen anyone with this same shade so far except…

His sister, his nice and kind nee-san whom he had never seen in years

And damn it, before he could grasp a hold of his emotions, his sickening nostalgia began to striked up. He was well aware that Kiyozaki-san was obviously different person from his sister, yet she strongly reminded him of her.

His nice and kind nee-san… Just where are you now?

There were too many things he was always yearning to hear from her but sadly never got a chance to.

…How has she been up to this present? Is her new family being nice to her? Is city life that great compared to here? Is there anything she wants to tell him, her only little brother? Any story she would love to tell like she always does when they were young? Or literally, any, anything. Or at very least, he wanted to ask her if she perhaps got bored of his calls… Also, what about mom? Has she… even smiled more than when she was still with him?

A stream of feelings stirring up inside his chest, the sunset gleam in his eyes wavered like a fickle light dancing on the ripples. But before he got more indulged into his own turmoil, Yuuya sharply inhaled.

…Nah, just kidding, there was no time for him to be sad.

Thinking as such, the boy who had now grown older as a young man wiped the evidence of his emotions off the corner of his eyes and stood up.

…His clubmates had just called him that they were gonna throw a karaoke party for him this dinner. Hi-chan was also attending. That old man was probably not coming, but he was already grateful for him to keep his promise on sponsoring his education up to this present. And on top of everything, he was finally graduated and now was one step closer to his dream. Therefore, he should be happy. He had got to be. There was no way he wasn’t… He wasn’t a lonely little brother who was in need of some pampering anymore.

Suppressing his pathetic self deep down the bottom of his heart, Yuuya let out a long sigh. He still had a project needed to be done anyway, and yeah —This must be the best way to keep himself distracted for a while.

However, unbeknownst to him,

A pair of bright red eyes were kept watching after his back with a bewildered look…

—Thanks for the gifts! And sorry for getting late lmao

[psychedelic-ink]

Spanish tutor Javi is very loosey goosey about grammar very much “no it’s ___ not ___. Why? Well, I mean say it the first way. Doesn’t that sound weird?” “No no no you do NOT “amo” pride and prejudice” also if reader is hispanic but doesn’t speak Spanish the light teasing he would do 😭 “did you just call a popote “estraw”?”

I think it would be very easy for me to write javi being loosely goosey with the grammar because I struggle with the same dvdfvd here people expect me to know all the tenses etc etc and ask me to teach them and I'm always like "uhhhhhh idk grammar" dfvdfg

I can see him definitely teasing the hell out of reader though, especially if they have that. . . certain chemistry 👀

now all i can think about is javi edging reader until she gets an answer right and only after that he allows her to come dfvfdfdvd

[transarsonist]

I've been having thots and feelings about my gender the past few months. Today's thot: I feel femme but in a masc way. I don't feel like a cis woman, but I don't feel like a man, but I'm not comfortable calling myself nonbinary. I like being called mommy and daddy equally by my sexual partners. Either way, I take care of what's mine. I don't understand femmes but in a very autistic way in that lots of "femme" shit like shaving and makeup and cute shoes are absolutely horrible sensory experiences for me.

Gender is weird and finally letting myself relax my ideas that "I have to be a cis woman cause I'm not super uncomfortable with people perceiving me that way" doesn't actually make me cis. I can be loosey goosey and figuring it out and that's just fine! Still woman adjacent enough to be super into lesbians and hopefully them into me tho

-🍷🐱

Yesssssss!!! you're allowed to be genderweird without calling yourself non-binary!! but also it sounds like, if you wanted to you Could call yourself nonbinary! you Are qualified!

at the end of the day though? there are no rules!!! i know of he/him cis women who dress femme and get called daddy! i know of trans people who are on testosterone, have top surgery, use she/her pronouns, and identify as femme lesbians! there are no rules at all! you can just vibe with what feels good and worry about putting names on it later or even never

thats what "queer" means to me, thats why i love the word "queer", if you dont have a clear answer to a question, you can just say "well im queer" and it explains everything and nothing at the same time <3<3<3

[kael-writ]

I love Beetlejuice stories but the canon lore (for both film and musical separately) is so inconsistent (if that's the word) it bothers me when Im thinking too hard about it. Especially if you included deleted material.

I'm not gonna include the show, gotta rewatch it. I feel like the show is more loosey goosey, he's just a cartoon demon in the netherworld who can come into our world as I recall.

(CW for stuff that's in the show like suicide, parent death, and child marriage).

Beetlejuice is an expert scarer, who loves to scare, but he's mostly invisible and doesn't actually seem to get many opportunities to scare. In both the film but especially the musical.

In the musical, he needs the dead to get the living to say his name in order to be visible to the living. With the exception (as in the movie) of the strange and unusual Lydia.

In the musical he is stuck in the house, and in a demo song he's literally been there since it was a cave.

(but also is at Emily's funeral in the cemetery so...)

(... also it is a fourth wall break but he kinda knows the future, the Maitlands are gonna die)

In the movie, by contrast it says he travels and lived the Black Plague (I had a pretty good time during that!), that implies that was when he was actually alive.

In both movie and musical he calls himself a dead guy.

In the musical he also calls himself a demon straight from hell and his Mom a demon. It seems ambiguous. His mom, who is a Boss in the netherworld, is also eaten by a sand worm that "eats ghosts". Could he be half-Demon?

In the movie, btw, the realm of sandworms is referred to as "Saturn". Saturn was a god of time, and Beetlegeuse is a star (just like Beetlejuice is!), the name comes from the Arabic name for it's position in what the West calls the Orion constellation (the hand of the central one). Orion in Greek mythology was a hunter who was a pretty bad guy.

In the movie it seems Beetlegeuse has to be summoned to scare the living, and certainly he can be un-summoned. It seems like he is somehow bound to the model, when he is un-summoned he returns there until summoned.

(Again, In the musical he can't scare the living until the dead make them say his name, he's invisible. In the demo he is still able to scare people sometimes though.)

Movie Juno says he's been "sleezing around your (model) cemetery". It seems like he's chosen that place. Since he is an "illegal alien" he has come from the netherworld, but he isn't supposed to have escaped. Yet Juno doesn't even bother trying to take him back. No reason given why. Despite him having been her assistant she almost seems scared of him. She also says "and you let Beetlegeuse out, and didn't put him back."

He's actually shown in his first scene in the film as being in the dirt below the house when he sees the obituary, looking for some newly deads to trick. So it seems like he's been running this racket for a while. Juno says he caused trouble as her assistant, went out on his own, got in more trouble... aand here we are.

The nature of the afterlife is bleak and kind of mysterious. In the movie, it's run by a terrible social service department with no hint of gods or heaven/hell. Death looks different for everyone, and the Maitlands are sentenced to stay in their house for 120 years. Exorcised ghosts stay in a horrifying void.

In the musical, it's even bleaker but less mysterious. You are supposed to go to the netherworld, haunting is a fluke (like not getting your book) or rebellion. Everyone is alone in a numb void, and they wish they were still alive. There are also no gods shown, though there are references to God/Satan but no confirmation BJ knows they exist.

The marriage pact makes some sense to me as old fairytale stuff. (Like the name 3 times does. Note also the knock 3 times).

In the musical getting married to a mortal makes him come back alive, in the movie it means he can stay on Earth.

Why god why couldnt Musical Beetlejuice propose to marry Delia or even one of the dudes? Possibly because Lydia "can see him" in a way others can't, or because Delia is engaged, or maybe he just didn't really think about it. Or maybe for the same reason a real man would marry a kid, because he knows he can easily manipulate her (as he has). It's "a green card thing" and "strictly business" but acknowledged as fucked up in a way that is meant to keep Mr. Juice at least a little potentially still sympathetic as we need him to be in the realm of a musical character like him. I think the way they handled it works, personally. The song "Creepy Old Guy" really works for me because it makes me feel, well, seen. It does suck to grow up being leered at from puberty and a lot of people don't acknowledge that. I like that it mocks the presumed mentality of creepy old guys who think girls are "secretly just shy". And it all turns into a trick on him, I just think it works surprisingly well for a really difficult tightrope act there. Helps that the show asks the audience to not worry too much about analyzing if something is problematic, "I know you're woke but you can take a joke". Sometimes it's ok to be like, "yea some of the jokes are problematic but Beetlejuice isnt supposed to be a good guy who is PC." So all that, ok But STILL. It's kinda a plothole that no one considers he could marry someone who isnt lydia and is an adult, like Delia (or again in 2023 one of the guys). It's not like they don't depart from the source material, but in the movie Delia and Charles are married.

Why did Delia keep the wedding clothes for over 3 months? That seems inconsistent with her character and behavior of finding them "ugh" (love the noise she makes) and tossing everything.

It also seems dissonant to me why movie Lydia is a gothy teen who likes the boring old house.

Were the musical Maitlands locked in the attic by BJ later or choosing to stay there?

I think I would prefer a beetlejuice who isnt trapped in a house for centuries unable to be seen, I like the idea of him having more power.

How did he gain and lose power over his undeath, anyway, especially the movie one? Being able to scare so well and physically effect people and yet having to be stubborn?

Random Thoughts:

- I ship Musical Adam and BJ and that's a problematic ship bc BJ is just sexually harassing and assaulting Adam, which is supposed to make it less bad that he does it to Babs I guess? I frankly did laugh about his behavior in this regard, and I acknowledge some people would be rightfully upset about it, I get like that with those jokes too, not sure why it works for me and Im not a paragon of virtue.

- Honestly part of why villains like BJ are compelling is because we all can have a bit of villain in us, as BJ tells the Maitlands. Im kinda a huge goody two shoes but Ive also been drawn to Bad Boys and shit.

- Musical BJ (lol BJ tho) is a story about toxic relationships. He's so lonely and needy and he will hurt anyone who rejects him even a little. And when people like me have been in toxic relationships, we liked and loved that person. Fantasies are not always virtuous or portraying smart decisions, often they're not. I don't actually think murder is good, but I like action movies and violent video games. It has to be done the right way for me, but I can enjoy the character of Beetlejuice the way I can enjoy the Always Sunny gang when in real life they would be condemned.

- Beetle has not been laid in 600 years. That means he got laid after his death.

- BJ being a civil servant implies suicide. There were some early drafts specifying this, but it's unknown in the film.

- I really love the "power of names" theme a lot.

- There's something about the jokes - a lot of them could be called "not funny" in both the sense that they're cliche/cheesy/corny, lowbrow, and also often offensive but I, we, enjoy it so much. I think it has a lot to do with the delivery.

- the larger than life cartoony clownishness of it, which made it such a natural for both a kid's show (with obvious changes needed) and musical, is just so delightful to me. The very hammy performances, chef's kiss. And BJ breaking the fourth wall in the musical is awesome and provides awesome audience interaction which is so great in theater.

- the teenagerness of Lydia, especially in the musical, is great. It's great that she can be "I was an asshole - no, you were a teenager" as the demo says. Scaring people with a demon, for example.

- the anti-suicide messages get me every time as someone who had chronic suicide ideation and attempts for decades. Death doesn't make it any easier. No, you'll just be dead. It might not have reached me at the time because I just wanted to end the pain and not exist but in retrospect Im nodding along and tearing up.

- The addition of the Dead Mom in the musical is great and genuinely made me cry. I like movie Lydia as a mostly dark comedy (imo) character but musical Lydia is so emotionally compelling.

- I am a movie Delia apologist, her art is good and she's a fun decent person.

I could probably go on but dude this is soooo long. Id also interested to see what others found inconsistent or confusing or whatever. And other thoughts and stuff you disagree with respectfully.

[rejectory]

Sandwiching god into this and expecting to get away with her crimes because she’s peach fuzz-fine and he reduced by it? Creature. Perhaps. Then how kind of her to have even the highest loser guest-star from his busy people-watching cloud.

Whatever his and god’s prime differences, He’d have but to appreciate Lestat’s attention to detail of familial images: Lestat nailing her hard—all out of crosses, he’s afraid!—a divine delight like his son was.

‘Was.’ May he lie in rest. Their contiguous family affair, their band of bothers, breaks up here.

Hara’s hair, through the loosey-goosey in his pleased mouth, fakes a strawberry pink at the crown, and his tongue simply won’t fuss to recollect. Whatever juices out of him — in her, on her, it has a blood base. A color. It’s what they’re both made of, if she could believe.

But his needs more scrubbing. His has a magic charge. Half of his suit is old news now and its art lost to a pant lemniscate around his ankles. His chest presses her down flower-flat into her forever pages, her breasts into a coy overspill at either side. The picture she is under his supervision.

The wings of the door that there is between them here and them there are wide open.

The report may say another filthy pull out, stick in, yes, and another after it to worsen his tension. Lestat, With love. In a stroke of genius, he stops fucking.

Let him feel why; about what went where, wrong not quite, by hand like any worldly man. His wrist crawls over. Hara has a taut pelvis and shrapneled hipbones on which to cut. He pets what’s left of his cock, her rooted stretch.

Attraction toxicity, they call this, the extent to which he does only as her lovely cunt says. His wettest, most mannered finger he slows in alongside and luxuriates in searching for her pit.

Who does she call for now?

He's an overwhelming swallow, to the faces that have accepted him. To the bellies, too. And yet, she feels she's the pour into him. He's eating her wholly.

Holy, holy... holy; To her, solely, one and only.

He appetites on a little Capezzoli di Venere before he goes. Sweeter for him than her ⸺ there's a “Come Back, Miel” beg motion of her fluttering palm after he unlatches his jaw — that is his body from her body, poor-her — for a herbaceous float circling her into a repose. She heartaches on empty pain — the cry that’s not a cry but a chartered sound for this: no longer being filled by him.

And then, the crude swan dive back inside, a feeding back in.

One leg pops when he makes their laps kiss — she opens extra stretch wide, initials her heart up with his sighs, all on Briseis' Drinking plate.

Biblical loophole? Before christ. ❛ Oh, god. ❜

The edge of his nail graze a feel to the hem scoop of her low back dress. Her spine gets treated in a new shiver, teething down before the teeth. Both from the new air and the sensation of his framing. Sun lines, tan lines, lestat lines replacements.

She supposes she can forgive the lack of princely diadem. With nothing to feast her eyes on — because something stubborn and ridiculous insists if its not him, what else is there to see — she closes them. And there goes another sense. Even her cheek-melt to marble-top is Cordate.

Messy inosculation or companion planting; a maker's decision. Messier even, the welkin wet weeping off his cocktip. Come to pre. A what’s to come still. Near-distinct-future. Dissolving her into a lightheaded (hearted) needing thing is just another way of saying dissolving into him. He hips in fine lapidary quality in sessile pinning and sex-binding and gut deeps. It works like a love charm. All of it.

And She's dew-fall for his natural art.

She hooks fingers into the counter's edge farthest from them. To go steady. Her hair a spill in any direction.

In feeling him at their closest ever — and ever — she feels closer to herself. She won’t dare the flow. Surrendering to him feels good, a birthright connector.

Her mouth. The halo.

[dork-empress]

Singing In The Dead Of Night Ch 2

Harley and Barman set up a playdate for their wards.

forgive the long post, i'll edit and clean it up when im home. chapter can also be found on my ao3, url in the description.

Harley made it back home, which was actually the manor of some billionaire who only really used the house for tax purposes. Harley had taken it over when Lucy came to live with her, deciding she needed more room, and they quickly changed it to suit their needs.

“Luuuucyyyy, I’m hooooome,” Harley called out to the manor, heading through the living room/gymnasium.

Lucy was balancing on the beam by her hands. “Never heard that one before.” She went into the splits and stayed on one hand.

Harley looked over her form. “Point your toes more...there ya go.” Lucy did as recommended. “I got candy for dinner!” She dumped her stolen lollipops on the table.

“I already ate, Aunt Harley,” she said, “I made extra pasta if you want.” She pointed over to the kitchen, before switching hands and flipping herself over.

“Oh,” Harley said, going over to make a plate, but feeling like ants were crawling in her skin. “You know, you don’t have to call me your aunt when it’s just the two of us,” She said, swirling her fork through the noodles.

Lucy shrugged, “Force of habit. Plus it’s a good idea in general, ya know, in case someone’s secretly listening in or we mess up some other time.”

Harley shrugged her shoulders. “Makes sense,” and it did, but it still kind of hurt. “You can have the lollipops for dessert though. You like cherry?” She tossed her the red candy.

Lucy looked down at the wrapper a second. “Can’t, I’m allergic to the red dye.”

“Oh,” Harley said, silently cursing herself. That was something that mothers should know about their kids, allergies and crap. “Well. Lemon then?”

“Sure!” They traded the lollipops, and Harley sucked on hers between bites of the pasta. Sweet and savory combined, delicious.

Lucy swung her legs as she sat on the beam. “Does...my father have any allergies?”

Harley blinked at her. Did Joker have any allergies? It was hard to say. Even now, Harley didn’t know a lot about the Joker. That’s how he liked it. “Best not to talk about it,” she said instead, “In case of those listening things or whatever.”

Lucy hummed, but didn’t seem satisfied. “Hey,” Harley said, trying to distract her from the ‘dad’ talk, “You wanna go out with me tomorrow?”

Lucy brightened, jumping a bit, “Where are you gonna go?”

“I dunno,” she said, “Go lookin’ for trouble. Let the trouble find me. Punch out a couple people but only if they REALLY deserve it!” And maybe if they only kinda deserved it, Harley thought.

Lucy hummed again, thinking. “I dunno. I think violence often begets further violence, and while it is occasionally necessary, efforts should focus more on the community building and personal improvement area.”

Harley blinked at her. Right, she was a reader, Delia had mentioned that. Not unlike Harley at her age, really, although Harley had focused on psychoanalysis instead of philosophy. “Ah, of course,” she said, “Well, what do you wanna do?”

Lucy thought for a second. “Well, there was this girl I wanted to go inspire to fight her eating disorder.”

“Oh,” Harley said nodding. It was a noble cause, really, but...also seemed really, really boring. “I...sure!” she smiled.

The truth was, when Lucy came out to live with Harley full time, she had really thought they would be a lady dynamic duo, a proper partnership mother/daughter team. But Lucy wasn’t much like Harley. Or, she was but, she was different, a goody two-shoes. Or, a goody tutu. Ha.

More than that, she followed a strange sense of logic that was oddly reminiscent of...Harley didn’t even finish the thought.

“You don’t want to go, do you?” Lucy asked.

“Hmm? Of course I do!” Harley said, “I’d do anything with you sweetheart,” she gave Lucy a wink, then went to the kitchen to hide her facial expression.

She didn’t see that Lucy had followed her until she was directly behind her. “Oh, Jesus!” She said, clutching her heart, “Gotta look out there, sweetie. Almost brained ya!”

“Is Dad like me at all?” she asked, head tilted to the side.

Harley blinked at her. She felt like her bones were shaking inside her skin. “Why would you ask a thing like that?”

Lucy spun a little in place making her tutu swish. “I’ve been reading about him. People think he’s crazy. I mean, he says it. But that’s not what your records say.”

Harley frowned, backing away as though physical distance would get her out of the conversation. “What’re you goin through my records for? What, are you a snoop?”

“They got published after one of your arrests,” Lucy said, “Other people were more interested in the little notes you left in the margins, but--”

“Alright, stop.” Harley said, hand clutching her lollipop stick so tight it might break. “Look, Mr...your father is mean and cruel and manipulative, and nothing like you! He wants to drive other people crazy, and for some people, self included, he succeded. But I grew out of it as best I could and now...you don’t need to worry about him, ok? He ain’t ever gonna know about ya, and he ain’t ever gonna find ya. Got it?”

Lucy hesitated a second and there was something strange in her eyes. Something familiar. “Got it,” she finally said.

Harley lightened, smiling at her. “Why don’t we play a game or somethin? You like Monopoly? I make up my own rules!”

Lucy smiled, “That sounds nice,” she said, all bright again. As they set up the game, Lucy said, “You don’t have to come with me tomorrow, by the way. I can take care of myself.”

“You sure?” Harley asked. Lucy nodded. For the rest of the evening, Harley felt like something was…off.

She slipped the burner phone out of her pocket. She typed, ‘Wanna set up a playdate?’

“She called it a WHAT?!” Damian said, nose wrinkled in disgust.

“Aww,” Tim said, over by the batcave computer, “Little Damian’s got a plaaayydaaate.”

“I will end you, Drake.” Damian snarled, fingers twitching for his sword.

“Enough,” Bruce interrupted the both of them. “Damian, if it helps you can think of it as a mission.”

“I thought I was forbidden from Robin duties for the next two months.” Damian said, arms crossed.

Bruce groaned. “Harley has taken in a ward, her niece Lucy. She has some petty crime charges, but from my recon, she’s not a villain. Harley wants her to spend time with someone her age, and I need someone who will watch over her.”

“Watch out for her, or watch out because of her?” Damian asked, scowling.

“Oooh, good question,” Tim said, still at the computer. “Hey, how come you didn’t set me up with vigilante kids?”

“Because you found them on your own,” Bruce shot back, “Look. Damian, you just have to spend the day with her. Follow her around, help her out as long as it’s not hurting anyone. Don’t let her get killed. Invite Jon if you want.”

“Uggh, Jon’s off world with his Dad,” Damian said.

“Oh right,” Bruce said, massaging his temple. “Why do interdimensional crises have to happen at the worst times?”

“Why is it we need a plural for interdimensional crisis?” Tim asked.

Bruce gave him a side glance to let him know he was coming up on the line that breached from ‘annoying’ to ‘problem Bruce will deal with.’ “Damian…”

“Fine, I’ll do it,” he said, “But I won’t be her friend by you forcing us.”

“Fine.”

They met up with Harley at a neutral location downtown on top of a party goods store. “Hiya Batsy, Hey Bird Boy!”

Despite himself, Damian liked Harley. She was usually of a like mind about which villains did or didn’t deserve to live, but he didn’t tell Batman that. “Harley,” Batman said, “Where’s your niece?”

“Just doin some high-wire practice.” Harley said, “Lucy-goosey!”

From the side of the building, a girl faulted up from where she was hanging on the flagpole. A girl wearing a tutu and white paint. “Nice to meet you, Batman,” Lucy said, “Aunt Harley’s told me….a lot of mixed things.”

“YOU!” Damian said, before he could stop himself, and all three of the others turned to him.

Lucy trotted forward on her tiptoes. “Have we met?” She asked, tilting her head, and looking him up and down.

Damian swallowed. “Uhh….”

“Blackbird!” Lucy said, and swooped him up into a hug, “Oh, I knew you were a Robin, why’d you lie to me?”

“Blackbird, huh?” Batman said, and he couldn’t see, but he knew there was a very pointed eyebrow being raised at him.

Damian, still being swung like a ragdoll by Lucy, tried to gain his balance. “I didn’t...I mean I wasn’t…”

“We’ll talk about this later,” Batman said, “You kids go on, I have something to talk about with Harley.”

“Kids?!” Damian said, offended, especially that he was going to be left out of whatever this conversation was. But in doing so, he left himself vulnerable as Lucy pulled on his cowl to the edge of the building.

“Come on, birdy, whatever color you are. The city awaits!” And she jumped from the roof, grappling on outcroppings to reach the street safely. Damian grumbled, but eventually followed.

Harley looked to Batman, and her face fell. “He’s out there, isn’t he?”

Batman gave one slow nod.

Lucy skipped everywhere. It was very irritating, because it was faster than walking, but slower than running, so hard to keep pace. Also,it was just very perky, which made it hard to sulk.

Lucy claimed she had deliveries to make around town. Something about girls who were bullies in high school and were treating others poorly, but it was only because of the societal pressures that were put on young girls of America and...and thats about where Damian lost interest.

She carried a cartfull of boxes like a damn girlscout, and left them on the girls doors. Damian could have followed in his sleep...except there was something about one of the boxes….

“What’s in that one?” Damian asked as she brought it to the next home.

“Huh?” Lucy said, “Same thing as in all of them, some cookies, a letter, balloons of course and--”

“It’s beeping,” Damian said.

“What?”

Damian didn’t wait any longer, he grabbed the box out of her arms and tossed it as high into the sky as he could, tackling her to the ground. The box then exploded.

Lucy gasped in excitement, clapping her hands together. “Birdy, look at it! It’s fireworks!”

Damian growled, jumping off of her and taking out his sword. “I knew it, I knew you were up to no good.”

Lucy tilted her head. “Whatcha talkin about, Birdy?”

“You--” He pointed to where the box was still smoldering. “You were going to put a BOMB on that girl’s doorstep!”

“I didn’t put that there,” Lucy said, getting up with no care of the sword pointed at her.

“You-” Damian stammered. “What?”

Lucy bent down and picked up a scrap of paper from the ruins. “Change of plans for the evening, Birdy!” Lucy said, “We’re going puzzling!”

She tossed the paper at him and he grabbed it quickly. It read ‘I’ve the tallest of trunks and thickest of stumps, a switch in the breeze, but I’m no tree. What am I?’”

They came quickly to the elephant pasture at the zoo. Damian couldn’t help it, he held out his hand for the elephant. She reached out her trunk and wrapped it around him. He couldn’t help but laugh.

Her baby came forward this time, trotting on new steps. He was already the size of a small horse, but he stole Damian’s heart all the same. He tried to bowl Damian over like a large puppy, and Damian couldn’t help but laugh. “Didn’t know you could laugh, Birdy,” Lucy said, kneeling over a shady patch in the enclosure.

Damian’s scowl returned. “Stop calling me ‘Birdy,’” he said, “You can just say ‘Robin,’ if you want.”

“But aren’t there other Robins?” Lucy said, fiddling with something, “I’d love to call you something unique to you.”

“There’s already a Blackbird, you know.” Damian said, continuing to pet the baby elephant.

“There is?” Lucy asked, “Picking a superhero name is HARD. I’m still trying to get Commedia to stick. You know, like, Commedia del arte? But I’ll end up getting called ‘Tutu girl’ or something if I don’t watch out.”

Damian gently pushed the elephant away, seeing what she was doing. She was hands deep in another box like the one they’d found in her cart. “Careful, it could be another bomb.”

“Fireworks,” Lucy corrected, “and I already diffused it.”

Damian leaned down, looking. She had indeed done so, quite efficiently. “How did you know to do that?”

Lucy smiled, “An uncle of mine taught me. You’ll meet him.” She dug further into the box. “I wouldn’t mind some more fireworks, but I don’t want to scare the elephants.” She pulled out another slip of paper.

“This has all the hallmarks of The Riddler,” Damian said, “We have to be careful. He might have bombs all over the city.”

“Fireworks!” Lucy corrected again, “And, probably. See, we already have the next clue!” She waved the paper and read out “Can you hear me make a sound, only when you are around.”

“Of course you can only hear things when you’re around.” Damian said, frowning.

“But only when someone’s around does it make a...Oh!” Lucy said, jumping to her feet, “An echo! We have to go somewhere there’s an echo!”

Damian sighed, “I have an idea.”

Technically they weren’t IN the Bat cave. They were at a far entrance to it, another end of the cave system. So he wasn’t breaking any rules. “Hey, is that Wayne Manor?” Lucy asked. “I tried to break in there once, but they have some crazy rich person security system.”

“Funny that.” Damian said, trying to seem completely ordinary.

Lucy stood at the edge of the cave and yelled into it. “ECHO!” listening for the echo in return. She skipped into the cave, humming all the way, the sound bouncing off as she went.

“Lucy?” Damian said, following her, “Don’t go too far, there’s all sorts of--” He heard a squeal and rushed forward.

He stopped short, his flashlight falling on Lucy. She waved at him to put it down, squinting. “Look here!” She brushed aside some dirt to find some rusted over metal. “Isn’t it fascinating! This cave system must go on for miles! Maybe people hid treasure there!”

“It’s just the old mining system,” Damian said, truthfully. “It’s all blocked off.”

“That can’t be hard to undo,” Lucy said, intrigued by whatever lay beyond.

Damian grabbed her hand before she could continue. “We have to catch the Riddler. There has to be another package here.”

Lucy sighed, but nodded. She took his arm with the flashlight and swung him around the cave. “Ah! There.”

She took the package and skipped out of the cave. “Careful!” Damian urged. “Come on, just diffuse it.”

“Nope, not these ones.” She tossed the package high in the sky, and Damian saw the fireworks light up.

He felt his phone buzzing, no doubt Tim could hear an explosion out here, not to mention Alfred. They’d come investigating fast enough. He leaped up, grabbing the fallen slip of paper, and grabbed Lucy again to pull her along. He read it quickly and passed it to her as he made his way away. “Even in the city scape, nature comes to take its place.” Lucy read. “It must be the park!”

l,

“No,” Damian said, still pulling her, “I mean, yes, that is the answer to the riddle, but that’s not where we’re going.” He texted the police to inform them of the location of the hidden package so they could diffuse it, and dragged Lucy away.

The original Gotham Ice Cream shop was one of the oldest remaining buildings in Gotham, although was clearly closed for the night.

Damian saw a flash of green from the kitchens and rushed inside, finding none other than the Riddler standing there. “Stand down, Riddler,” Damian said, holding out his sword, “We’ve got you now!”

Riddler snarled, backing into a defensive stance. “Robin! How did you possibly find me?”

Damian smirked, “The beginning of each clue was clearly spelling out your final location. I-C-E. I didn’t need to follow 5 more clues to figure that out.”

Riddler cursed. “Those clues weren’t for you! They were for--!”

Lucy came skipping up to join Damian. “Hi, Uncle Eddy!”

“Lucille!” Riddler said, immediately warming. “I had so many sights around Gotham for you to see, why’d you go skipping to the end?”

Lucy skipped up to him, and Damian was once again left dumbfounded. “My friend Birdy here isn’t much for riddles, I think,” she said, “Although he enjoyed the elephants! And he knew about the mining carts in the caves, I want to explore those later.”

‘Uncle Eddy’ hugged Lucy, and Damian came to his senses, “THIS is your uncle?!”

Lucy shrugged, “I mean, that’s what I call him. I met him when I was visiting Aunt Harley a few years ago.”

“I heard you had moved to Gotham full time,” Riddler said, “I wanted to be sure you saw the sights. But the bat-brats have to ruin everything I suppose.” Riddler glared at him, and he glared right back.

“I don’t-” Damian started, but cut himself off, “You can’t just be leaving BOMBS around the city!”

“Fireworks!” Lucy and Riddler both corrected.

“Whatever! They’re explosive and they’re dangerous!” Damian hated having to be the safety one. It felt wrong.

Riddler rolled his eyes. “He’s just as much a barrel of laughs as the big one.”

“Aw, he’s sweet, really,” Lucy said, coming over to Damian and linking their arms. “Aunt Harley and Batman set us up on our own little playdate.”

“It is NOT!” Damian said, squirming away from her, “It is NOT a playdate.”

“Uncle Eddy, can my friend Birdy have some Ice Cream too?” Lucy asked, ignoring him.

Riddler and Damian glared again. “Fine.” He pushed his own bowl of ice cream towards Damian and went to get his own. “It’s MYSTERY flavor!”

Damian looked at it hesitantly as Lucy sat down to enjoy. Riddler went back to the kitchen. “It’s coconut,” Lucy said, “But Uncle Eddy likes to think it’s a mystery, so I let him.”

Damian frowned at her. “You’re really weird.”

“Thank you!” Lucy said, patting the seat beside her. “Come on, even you had to admit you had fun today.”

Damian thought about the elephants, and skipping around with Lucy, and watching the fireworks at the mouth of the cave, and seeing her all excited about mining carts for some reason. “Fine,” he said, “But it’s NOT a playdate.”

“Alright, alright,” Lucy said, digging into her ice cream. “Just a regular date then.”

“I--” Damian started, his head exploding with so many protests that he ended up just short circuiting. Lucy continued chowing down on ice cream like she didn’t say anything of importance. So, Damian just sat beside her, and ate his own.

[myonechicagoworld]

CHICAGO FIRE – RETALIATION HIT (S01E21)

Commander (Sgt. Halstead): How long was she in your apartment?

Kelly Severide: Half hour. Hour tops.

Commander (Sgt. Halstead): And how many beers did you have?

Kelly Severide: Two.

Commander (Sgt. Halstead): In 30 minutes?

Kelly Severide: First time in history anyone ever drank two beers in

                          half an hour?

Commander( Sgt. Halstead): Ms. Little stated that it was hard to

                                                 keep up with you. She felt buzzed.

Kelly Severide: That’s what happens when you drink beer. She’d

                           know since she brought the six pack over.

Commander (Sgt. Halstead): She said you tried to kiss her, but

                                                  she was uncomfortable and tried to

                                                  leave. You backed her against the

                                                  wall, leaned into her body and put

                                                  your hand on her buttock.

Kelly Severide: Unreal.

Commander (Sgt. Halstead): Care to respond?

Mouch: Lieutenant Severide is not obligated to respond to any of

              these questions, Commander. He came in good faith to

              hear the charges against him.

Kelly Severide: Actually, I faked a yawn and said I was tired and she

                          should probably get going. Because I started

                          thinking she was a little… desperate.

                                           cutscene

                                       [door buzzing]

                                        [door opens]

Police Officer (Officer Blair): You’re up, Voight.

                                   [handcuffs clicking]

                                            cutscene

Hallie Thomas: How’s Dawson?

Matt Casey: Good. Great.

                      Why?

Hallie Thomas: Don’t even pretend.

Matt Casey: Um, she’s dating young Peter Mills.

Hallie Thomas: That sneaky little bastard. Good for him.

Matt Casey: How about yourself? Seeing anybody?

Hallie Thomas: Nah, no one serious.

Matt Casey: You heard about Curtis, right?

Hallie Thomas: Yeah. Um, is Voight behind it?

Matt Casey: I have no idea. I mean, the kid was in a gang, but

                     still…

Hallie Thomas: That doesn’t make any difference in terms of

                           Voight’s case, right?

Matt Casey: Apparently there’s a dismissal hearing today, and his

                      union is pushing hard for entrapment. All I know is I

                      can’t get sucked into it again.

                                               cutscene

Hank Voight: [sighs]

                       I’m hungry. Let’s go.

                                              cutscene

                                [coffee machine steaming]

Christopher Herrmann: Drink coupons?

Otis Zvonecek: It’s called a loss leader, okay? It gets people in the

                          door. Once they’re inside, they keep spending.

Christopher Herrmann: I’m already confused, all right? It’s a bar,

                                         not the New York stock exchange.

Matt Casey: It’s actually not that complicated, Herrmann.

Christopher Herrmann: Well, we have a soft opening in a week,

                                          andwe don’t even have our decorations

                                          up yet.

Otis Zvonecek: Call it a drink special. I don’t care.

                                           [kissing sound]

Leslie Shay: Oh, marry him.

Chief Boden: Okay, everybody listen up. In light of recent events…

                       recent allegations, rather… personnel division has

                       flagged this house for sexual harassment sensitivity

                       training.

Matt Casey: [silently groans]

Joe Cruz: Uh, Chief? I think actually it’s sexual harassment and

                  sensitivity training. ‘Cause the way that you just said it, it

                  makes it sound like we have to be, uh, sensitive toward

                  sexual har…

Christopher Herrmann: All right, what the hell? This house needs it.

                                        All right, listen up everybody. CFD special,

                                        okay? Happy hour prices all night long

                                        when Molly’s opens.

                                   [murmuring and applause]

Otis Zvonecek: [groans]

                                               cutscene

Peter Mills: Lieutenant. What you’re going through ain’t right. So if

                    there’s anything I can do to help, name it. I mean if you

                    just want to grab a beer or put on some gloves…

Kelly Severide: Appreciate it.

                                       [locker door shuts]

Kevin Hadley: Hey Mills.

                                      [locker door closes]

Kevin Hadley: His shoes need shining.

                               [alarm buzzing and blaring]

(Over PA): Truck 81, Squad 3, Engine 51, Ambulance 61. Car

                  accident, 3464 Morgan Street.

Chief Boden: Casey, I just heard from the state’s attorney. Voight’s

                        out.

Matt Casey: All right.

Chief Boden: Yeah.

                                          [sirens blaring]

Chief Boden: What’s the story here?

Police Officer (Officer Sobek): We got two people stuck.

Chief Boden: What happened?

Police Officer (Officer Sobek): Driver got shot and lost control.

                                                    Word is this is the guy that shot

                                                    Curtis. Retaliation hit.

                                      [engine humming]

Kelly Severide: Looks unstable. Be careful.

Matt Casey: He’s pinned in. Foot’s stuck on the gas.

Victim 1: [screams] Oh God! Oh God! Help me, please!

                                         - title screen -

                                      [indistinct chatter]

Kelly Severide: Hey, stand clear of the car! Second victim’s

                          underneath.

                          Hang on, ma’am. We’re gonna get you out, okay?

Victim 1: Hurry, please.

Matt Casey: Driver’s got a head wound. We’ve got to get him out of

                      there.

Kelly Severide: Hey, we budge this car, it’s gonna take off.

Chief Boden: We lift the car. Kelly, you get the woman. We stabilise

                       this on the truck and get the driver at the same time.

                       Go.

Kelly Severide: Capp, Hadley, air bags and halligans!

Matt Casey: Cruz and Mills, we need bottle Jacks and cribbing as

                      much as we have. Mouch, take the center punch.

                      Herrmann, sawzall. Let’s move.

Christopher Herrmann: Got it.

Gabby Dawson: What do we got?

Matt Casey: Looks like a perforating head injury. The driver’s still

                     alive. You’re gonna have to move fast.

Gabby Dawson: We’re on it.

Victim 1: [whimpers]

Kelly Severide: Okay, help me out with this. We gotta lift it.

                          Don’t worry, ma’am. We’re right here with you.

Chief Boden: Don’t let it touch that wheel!

Victim 1: [whimpers]

Kelly Severide: Hang in there. Hang in there.

                          Watch your back.

                          All right, let’s get that board in!

Victim 1: [cries out]

Kelly Severide: Easy, easy.

                           Watch it.

Victim 1: [whimpers]

Kelly Severide: You got it?

Chief Boden: Keep her away from that wheel.

Victim 1: [whimpers]

Chief Boden: Good job, guys. Good job.

                                    [glass shattering]

Matt Casey: [grunts]

                              [engine stops humming]

Chief Boden: Pop those hinges.

Firefighter: I got it.

                                         [grinding]

Chief Boden: There you go! Get the board in now.

Leslie Shay: He’s got a pulse. Barely.

Kelly Severide: Watch his head.

                           Okay.

                           Watch it.

                           You got it?

Leslie Shay: Got it, yeah.

Gabby Dawson: Did I hear right? Voight’s out?

Matt Casey: Yeah.

Gabby Dawson: Let’s go.

                                           [siren blaring]

Mouch: You’re not doing what I think you’re doing, are you?

Kelly Severide: [sighs] What if I just meet her face-to-face and…

Mouch: Do not contact this woman, you hear me? We have a

              follow-up interview tomorrow, and we have the upper hand

              right now. Okay?

                                               cutscene

Gabby Dawson: Single gunshot to the head through and through.

                            Entrance is at the cheek.

ER Doctor: Pressure?

Gabby Dawson: 50 over 30.

ER Doctor: Get him into six.

Leslie Shay: I told you that Tara chick was bad news. Now look.

Gabby Dawson: So there’s no way that Severide could have gotten

                            a little too frisky with her?

Leslie Shay: Against her will? No way.

Gabby Dawson: Well, what’s Severide saying?

Leslie Shay: Not much. Whenever he gets this look on his face, I

                     just steer clear and let him figure it out. ‘Cause me

                     trying to fix it never does any good. She’s not gonna

                     get away with this, is she?

Gabby Dawson: Well, that’s what they said about Voight.

Leslie Shay: Ugh, crazy town. I mean, how does that guy walk?

Gabby Dawson: I don’t know. It reminds me of this joke my dad

                            once told me. Why is Chicago style pizza so

                            thick?

Leslie Shay: Why?

Gabby Dawson: Don’t worry about it.

Leslie Shay: She’s not here.

Gabby Dawson: Who?

Leslie Shay: Hallie.

Gabby Dawson: I’m not looking for Hallie.

                                      [cell phone vibrating]

Leslie Shay: Who is it?

Gabby Dawson: Blocked. Who blocks their phones anymore other

                            than drug dealers.

                                               cutscene

                                   [tapping on whiteboard]

Man 1 (Trainer): Nice slacks! Acceptable compliment? Yes, no or

                            depends?

Christopher Herrmann: I don’t think people call them slacks

                                        anymore.

Man 1 (Trainer): Oh come on, come on. No, you know what I mean.

                                              [laughter]

Man 1 (Trainer): Pants, dungarees, whatever.

Joe Cruz: Depends.

Man 1 (Trainer): On?

Joe Cruz: What part of the pants?

Man 1 (Trainer): Exactly. A female co-worker is standing in front of

                           you... ”Nice pants,” is acceptable. Walking away

                           from you, noway, Jose. And why not?

Christopher Herrmann: Isn’t it kind of obvious?

                                              [laughter]

Man 1 (Trainer): Look, I know all this new political correctness-type

                           deal is a head spinner, ‘cause it was a little more

                           loosey-goosey back in the day. I mean, hell, when I

                           first started working for the city you’d-you’d walk

                           into some locker rooms, they’d have Hustler

                           centrefolds taped up. You do that nowadays, ninjas

                           drop from the ceiling and will airlift your ass right

                           out of there.

                                              [laughter]

Christopher Herrmann: Tell me about it. When-when I started there

                                         was this guy, Eric Weinburger…[chuckles]

                                         and if it was somebody’s birthday, he

                                         would walk around with his testicles

                                         hanging out of his fly…

                                               [laughter]

Man 1 (Trainer): Okay. Okay! Look, tap the brakes, pal. That’s what

                            I’m talking about.

Christopher Herrmann: Hey.

                                              cutscene

Antonio Dawson: Voight’s got a condo in Myrtle Beach. And there’s

                              a good shot he threatens to sue the department

                              for wrongful prosecution, settles for a chunk of

                              change and then goes to play golf year round.

                              That’s according to my buddy who used to work

                              for Voight.

                              He’s dirty, but he ain’t stupid. He knows he

                               dodged a bullet on this one. And with his son

                               already doing a year, there’s no way he’s gonna

                               come after you again.

Matt Casey: That’s what they told me right before he tried to have

                      my skull cracked open.

Chief Boden: You’ll keep us apprised, won’t you, Antonio?

Antonio Dawson: Of course.

Chief Boden: Casey. Do not get drawn back into this.

                                          cutscene

Man 2 (Paramedic): Leslie Shay!

Leslie Shay: Hey, Derek.

                     What’s wrong?

Gabby Dawson: That was Voight.

Leslie Shay: What’d he say?

Gabby Dawson: He’s calling in that favour I owe him.

                            [exhales]

                                          cutscene

Matt Casey: You’re gonna call Voight back?

Gabby Dawson: [sighs] I mean I guess I have to.

Matt Casey: Want me to?

Gabby Dawson: No. No, no, no. But… that’s really nice of you to

                            offer.

Matt Casey: You let me know. And we’re cool. No matter what you

                      do. I don’t want us going down the same road we did

                      last time and not talking to each other for a month.

                      You’re too important to me for that.

Gabby Dawson: Thanks. I feel the same way. Which is why I wanted

                            to bring you in the loop. So that you didn’t think I

                            was scheming with Voight or anything behind your

                            back.

Matt Casey: Dawson, I’m serious though. You-you try to deal with

                      Voight on your own, you’ll end up in quicksand.

Gabby Dawson: Okay.

Man 1 (Trainer): Can I borrow you two for a second?

Matt Casey: [clears throat] “You look very nice today.”

Gabby Dawson: “Thank you.”

Matt Casey: “A bunch of us are gonna get some beers after work.

                      Care to join?”

Gabby Dawson: Sure, yeah. That sounds fun.”

Matt Casey: Keep going, or…

Man 1 (Trainer): Please.

Matt Casey: Okay.

Leslie Shay: Oh look, he just groped her. Did everybody see that?

Chief Boden: Shay.

Leslie Shay: I’m just saying. That’s all it takes, right?

Matt Casey: “Have you been going to the gym?”

Gabby Dawson: “Um, yeah, you know, here and there. Not as much

                             as I’d like.”

Matt Casey: “Because your physique looks really good.”

                                            [laughter]

Gabby Dawson: “Well, thank you. That’s really nice of you.”

Man 1 (Trainer): Now freeze it. Freeze it. What did we talk about

                            behavioural modifiers?

Matt Casey: I think he means stop the role-play

Gabby Dawson: Oh.

Man 1 (Trainer): Matt should not be making comments about

                            Gabby’s body. We know that.

                                     [cell phone vibrating]

Man 1 (Trainer): But Gabby should not be accepting compliments

                            about her body from Matt.

Chief Boden: Keep your radio on.

Man 1 (Trainer): Uh why don’t we break for lunch?

All: Yes.

       Sure.

Matt Casey: Thank you.

Harold Capp: Hey, candidate?

Peter Mills: Yeah?

Harold Capp: You park across the street?

Peter Mills: Yeah, why?

                    Oh! Son of a bitch!

Kevin Hadley: Oh, man.

Peter Mills: Man, right in front of the house! God!

Harold Capp: Whoa, wait a second. Wait a second. Isn’t this an

                        ’03?

Peter Mills: Yeah.

Harold Capp: I think this is the model they built with the spare

                       window.

                       Yeah.

Kevin Hadley: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Harold Capp: Hang on a second. Hold on, let me show you.

                                     [engine starting]

Peter Mills: [sighs] Ooh… [chuckles]

                    Yeah funny. Give me my keys.

                                [Capp & Hadley chuckles]

Peter Mills: That was a good one.

                    [groans]

                                             cutscene

Kelly Severide: [exhales] I just wanted to talk, you know. Human

                          being to human being.

Tara Little: I-I-I don’t want to talk about the other night. It’s still so

                   painful.

Kelly Severide: Tara, come on. We were both there. And if I said

                          something that offended you…

Tara Little: Look, IAD is pushing me to file a police report. And

                   despite what happened, I’m not interested in making

                   this a criminal case.

Kelly Severide: For what?

                          Look me in the eye. Tell me what I did.

Tara Little: But there is another option. If you apologise on record,

                   it’s called an Alford plea. You won’t be admitting guilt,

                   but we could both…avoid the embarrassment of

                   reliving this in public.

Kelly Severide: You’re crazy.

Tara Little: I knew I shouldn’t have agreed to meet you.

                                              cutscene

Antonio Dawson: I’ll take care of it.

Gabby Dawson: Look, I don’t have a problem calling him to see

                            what he wants.

Antonio Dawson: No.

Gabby Dawson: Hey. Don’t do anything crazy.

                                [alarm buzzing and blaring]

(Over PA): Truck 81, Engine 51, Squad 3, Ambulance 61.

                  Overturned tanker, Eleanor and Fuller.

                                        [sirens wailing]

Kelly Severide: Squad’s set to pull the driver out. We just need

                           engine to get some water on this fire so we

                           have some clearance.

Chief Boden: This first tank is leaking sodium hydroxide. We have

                        an active chemical spill. That is a negative on the

                        water. That’s going to spread the spill out even

                        further. We need to get foam on this fire… and

                        masks on!

Victim 2 (Truck Driver): Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey, get me out of here!

                                       Get me out!

Chief Boden: (into radio) Squad three, suit up for rescue. Call in

                        Hazmat.

                        Hang on in there! We’re gonna come and get you!

                        (into radio) Battalion 25 to dispatch, we need the

                        closest available foam engine to Bridgeport right

                        now. We are on Eleanor and Fuller.

Dispatch: (over radio) Copy that, 25.

Chief Boden: Let’s dyke off this area right now. If it gets into the

                        river, it’ll spread into Chicago.

Matt Casey: Got it. Shovels and pick axes!

                      Right here. Start digging

                                             [grunting]

Matt Casey: (over radio) Chief, where’s our foam?

Chief Boden: (into radio) We’re working on it, Casey.

Kelly Severide: Chief, if you need us to pull him out now, we’re

                          ready.

Chief Boden: (into radio)That diesel fire’s impinging on that tanker.

                       It’s getting ready to blow! You can’t go in yet.

Matt Casey: (into radio) Driver’s gonna get burned inside and out if

                     he stays in there much longer.

Chief Boden: (into radio) Where the hell is that engine?

                                       [foam spraying]

Chief Boden: Severide.

Kelly Severide: Yeah.

Chief Boden: That foam will cover up the vapors. You ready?

Kelly Severide: Yeah, let’s do it!

                           Hadley!

Kevin Hadley: Yeah!

Kelly Severide: Have the descender ready to send up the aerial.

Kevin Hadley: Uh, it-it’s new. I don’t know the set-up yet. I’ll just,

                         uh, I’ll rig up a rope and pulley.

Kelly Severide: Nah, that’s not enough. We’re gonna need the

                          descender. Ask Mills to do it.

Peter Mills: On it.

                     Let’s go.

                     Hadley, stand by.

                     Here. Take that, run it up

Chief Boden: (into radio) Mouch.

                                          [motor humming]

Chief Boden: Capp, make sure you stay tight to Severide.

Victim 2 (Truck driver): [breathing heavily]

Kelly Severide: Chemicals flooding the cab. Driver’s losing

                           consciousness.

Victim 2 (Truck driver): [groans]

Kelly Severide: Hey buddy, hang in there. We’re gonna get you out!

                          Watch your eyes!

Victim 2 (Truck driver): Okay.

                                         [glass shattering]

Peter Mills: Okay, throw me the rope bag.

Harold Capp: It’s coming down.

Kelly Severide: (over radio) Got the harness attached.

Victim 2 (Truck driver): [groans]

Kelly Severide: (over radio) Okay, pull him up!

Peter Mills: Haul!

Victim 2 (Truck driver): [groans]

Kelly Severide: Keep it going!

                          Okay, Mills, the driver’s clear.

Peter Mills: We’re good!

Kelly Severide: Let’s go, let’s go!

Chief Boden: All right. Bring him over, Mouch.

Joe Cruz: This way!

Peter Mills: Keep it going! Keep it going!

Firefighter: Keep coming!

Victim 2 (Truck driver): [groans]

Gabby Dawson: Let’s go!

Chief Boden: Good job.

Peter Mills: [chuckles]

                                          cutscene

Joe Cruz: Hope we weren’t too much of a pain in the ass.

Man 1 (Trainer): Not at all. Fully aware that you work 24 hour shifts

                           together and you see the things that you see. And

                           there should be consideration for that. You just

                           have to be careful, or you can find yourself in a

                           real predicament.

Chief Boden: Did everybody hear that?

All: We got it.

       Mm-hmm.

Man 1 (Trainer): Still using the Elkhart brass nozzles, I see. Is that a

                            75/100?

Joe Cruz: Yeah, how you know about nozzles?

Man 1 (Trainer): Ah I took the CFD exam. Back when dinosaurs

                           roamed the earth. Made it all the way through,

                           then got dinged on the last day.

Chief Boden: What happened?

Man 1 (Trainer): Colourblind.

                            What are you gonna do? It all worked out.

Christopher Herrmann: Eh, you know what’s gonna work out on

                                         my end? Molly’s bar. This thing takes off

                                         we’re gonna brand it, franchise it. We’re

                                         gonna have Molly’s Kansas City, Molly’s

                                         Des Moines…

Gabby Dawson: Easy, tiger. Let’s get this one off the ground first.

Peter Mills: Ugh…

                    Who put dog food in here?

Kevin Hadley: [chuckles]

Peter Mills: That’s funny to you?

Kevin Hadley: Relax, mutt.

Peter Mills: What did you say to me?

All: Hey! Hey! Hey!

Peter Mills: What did you say?

Chief Boden: Hey! Hey!

Kelly Severide: Take it easy!

                           Mutt? You out of your mind?

Kevin Hadley: When I was a candidate over at 38, they put menthol

                         in my underwear. What is the…

Chief Boden: No, no, no, no, what you did was so far beyond that,

                       that if you can’t tell the difference, you are dumber

                       than you look.

Kevin Hadley: [chuckles] What…

Chief Boden: I mean this house was already under a microscope.

                       You really couldn’t put that together? You are so lucky

                       Mills is not filing an incident report. Not to mention

                       knocking your teeth out.

Kevin Hadley: Did I not apologise?

Peter Mills: You don’t talk to me. I’m serious.

Matt Casey: Everybody shut up. He’s coming in.

Man 1 (Trainer): I told my boss that the course work was complete

                           here but that a follow-up might not hurt. I did not

                           mention the infraction, because it would turn into a

                           major, major deal. I’ve seen folks lose their jobs

                           over less. And in my sense, this was an isolated

                           incident involving otherwise good people.

Chief Boden: First of all, let me say thank you. And second of all, I

                       can assure you that I will deal with all of this in-house.

Man 1 (Trainer): How exactly?

Kevin Hadley: [scoffs]

Chief Boden: Look, anybody asks, I’ll tell them you wanted a

                       change of scenery. A lot of guys like to float from

                       house to house as it is.

Kevin Hadley: You know if I had known that kissing ass was the

                         way to move up in this house, I would have brought

                         some lip balm.

Chief Boden: Good luck, Hadley.

Kevin Hadley: [scoffs]

Chief Boden: Yeah, good luck.

                                             cutscene

                                 [train in the background]

Antonio Dawson: Come on.

                                       [car door shuts]

Antonio Dawson: Why are you calling my sister?

Hank Voight: I got an ethics panel over at the IG’s here in a little bit.

                       I was looking for some character references.

Antonio Dawson: Not her. You helped me out of a jam, I don’t

                              dispute that. But if you got a favour you need

                              done, you come to me man-to-man and leave

                              her out of it.

Hank Voight: I hear you left Vice.

Antonio Dawson: What about it?

Hank Voight: Working in that Intelligence unit here in the district?

                       You got backbone, Antonio. You’ve always been an

                       aggressive cop. I respect that.

                                             cutscene

Kelly Severide: And?

Mouch: You may be asked to go back in, so… sit tight.

              I told you not to contact her.

Kelly Severide: Fine. I screwed up.

Mouch: Big time. Now they’re looking into your history.

Kelly Severide: Of?

Mouch: Other women you’ve... banged on the job.

Kelly Severide: What?

Mouch: Remember Nicki Rutkowski?

Kelly Severide: What about her?

Mouch: Her name came up. Did it end bad?

Kelly Severide: No!

                          We slept together a couple times, and she went on

                          her merry way. Ask her.

Mouch: Oh they’re going to.

Kelly Severide: Unreal.

                                          cutscene

Matt Casey: The new place is very, uh… zen.

Hallie Thomas: I’m hardly here.

                                      [liquid pouring]

Matt Casey: Thank you.

Hallie Thomas: Mm-hmm.

                          To new beginnings, I guess. Right?

Matt Casey: I like it.

                                       [glass clinking]

Matt Casey: Well, uh, this is all your stuff. Just some pictures and

                      jewellery.  

Hallie Thomas: And here’s yours. Pictures and Blackhawk

                          memorabilia.

Matt Casey: I was wondering where all that went.

                     Yes!

                                        [kissing sound]

Hallie Thomas: [chuckles] You know, I found this contract that we

                           both signed after we had that argument about

                           where to spend Christmas. Do you remember it?

Matt Casey: I do. Yeah.

Hallie Thomas: [giggles]

Matt Casey: Let’s always keep the fighting clean and the sex dirty.

                                              [laughter]

                                         [kissing sounds]

                                              cutscene

                                          [coins clinking]

Hank Voight: IG office on a Tuesday afternoon, that can’t be good.

                       Just remember, squeakiest wheel always wins around

                       here.

Kelly Severide: Looks like it.

Hank Voight: You’re Benny Severide’s kid, huh?

Kelly Severide: That’s right.

Hank Voight: Ol’ Benny…

                       [chuckles] I’ll be seeing you around.

Kelly Severide: Yeah, I don’t plan on making it out to Myrtle Beach

                           anytime soon.

Hank Voight: Well, neither do I. I just got reinstated.

                                        [door closes]

                                           cutscene

Matt Casey: Where on the job?

Kelly Severide: No, he didn’t say.

Peter Mills: God, has the world gone crazy? What the heck is going

                     on?

Kelly Severide: I know. Tell me about it.

Gabby Dawson: Well, they’ll just park him somewhere behind a

                             desk, right? Let him collect a paycheck for

                             nothing. I mean if I’m CPD, that’s what I would

                             want.

Matt Casey: That’s got nothing to do with it. It’s what Voight wants.

Gabby Dawson: [whispers] Damn it. Maybe I should have just

                            played ball with him.

Peter Mills: No, absolutely not.

Gabby Dawson: But now I’m on his enemy list?

                                       [door opens]

Peter Mills: Who’s that?

Kelly Severide: Nicki’s dad.

                                    [knocks on door]

Chief Boden: Hey! Big Al!

Al Rutkowski: Hey, Wallace.

Chief Boden: [chuckles] What brings you out?

Al Rutkowski: I guess that Severide character’s got himself in a bit

                         of a pickle, huh?

Chief Boden: How’d that get on your radar?

Al Rutkowski: Well, the girl he attacked, her lawyer contacted me.

Chief Boden: Attacked? Since when do you believe everything the

                       lawyers tell you?

Al Rutkowski: [scoffs] Yeah, well, regardless, I guess they want my

                         account of events. They’re looking to establish a

                         pattern of behaviour. And I wanted you to hear it

                         from me first out of respect for our friendship.

Chief Boden: Hear what?

                                          [door closes]

Al Rutkowski: How I came here to pick Nicki up, and I saw him

                         guiding her out of that change out room after doing

                         God knows what. How she came home in tears 

                         after being over at his apartment. How she broke

                         off her engagement with a guy I happened to like.

                         And how Nicki came in and quit her job and ran off

                         to Europe and she hasn’t been able to get her life

                         back on track since.

Chief Boden: Al, I spoke to him. Nothing happened.

Al Rutkowski: No, he was screwing around with a subordinate on

                         the job. My daughter. And shame on me for not

                         having made a bigger stink of it back then,

                         because now it looks like a girl got hurt.

Chief Boden: Al, I know you’re pissed at him, but if you, as a Chief

                       in the department, if you go forward with your beef,

                       you will sink him.

Al Rutkowski: Do you really believe that he didn’t push that girl up

                        against the wall because she didn’t want to be

                        another notch on his belt?

Chief Boden: We go way back. I’m going to vouch for Kelly

                       Severide.

Al Rutkowski: Yeah, well, like I said, I want you to hear it from me.

Chief Boden: Please don’t do this.

Al Rutkowski: I already did. They have my statement.

Chief Boden: Yeah. Nice knowing you, Al.

                                [alarm buzzing and blaring]

(Over PA): Ambulance 61, fallen person. 1610 Kedzie Street.

                                         [siren blaring]

Child 1: Hurry, I think my dad’s sick.

Gabby Dawson: What’s your dad’s name?

Child 1: Terrence. I’m Patrick.

              And that’s Buddy.

Leslie Shay: Oh.

Gabby Dawson: Okay.

                                         [snake hissing]

Victim 3 (Terrence): [groans]

Gabby Dawson: Okay, see ya.

Leslie Shay: Okay, here we go.

Gabby Dawson: What was that, a pet?

Child 1 (Patrick): What about my dad? Something’s wrong with

                              him.

Gabby Dawson: [groans] I don’t believe this!

                            Patrick, how long since that snake bit your dad?

                            Patrick?

Child 1 (Patrick): My dad says not to tell anyone about Buddy.

                             We’re not supposed to have him.

Gabby Dawson: How long, sweetie?

Child 1 (Patrick): Ten minutes?

Gabby Dawson: Okay, I’m gonna call animal control.

Leslie Shay: What kind of snake is it?

Child 1 (Patrick): Rhino Viper. He got out of his cage.

Leslie Shay: We gotta go back in there.

Gabby Dawson: Bitch, are you out of your f… Dear valued

                            colleague, I strongly disagree with your

                            suggested course…

Leslie Shay: Okay, God only knows what Rhino Viper venom does

                      to a person, okay? We can’t wait on animal control.

                      He might not even have 30 minutes.

Gabby Dawson: [groans]

Leslie Shay: Patrick, hi, um, what does your dad use to handle

                     Buddy?

Child 1 (Patrick): The hook.

Leslie Shay: The hook. Come on.

Victim 3 (Terrence): [groans]

Child 1 (Patrick): Here it is.

                                             [snake hissing]

Leslie Shay: That is a longass snake.

                      [heavy breathing]

                      Here.

Gabby Dawson: Whoa! What?

Leslie Shay: You do it. I can’t. I can’t.

Gabby Dawson: [exhales] Okay, Patrick. What do I do?

Child 1 (Patrick): Dad puts the hook under him and grabs his tail.

Gabby Dawson: Mm-hmm. Grabs his tail. Right, of course

                            [exhales]

                            Hey, Buddy.

                            [groans]

                            [snake hisses]

Gabby Dawson: Oh God! Okay.

                                           [metal rod clanging]

Gabby Dawson: [heavy breathing]

Leslie Shay: We’ve got to try again.

Gabby Dawson: Yeah.

Victim 3 (Terrence): [groans & whimpers]

Leslie Shay: Just… try again.

Gabby Dawson: [frustrated groan]

                                             [snake hissing]

Gabby Dawson: [whimpering]

                            Come on. Come on.

Leslie Shay: Yes. Yes. Yes.

                                                  [thud]

Gabby Dawson: [panting] Nightmares. I will have nightmares.

Victim 3 (Terrence): [gasping]

Gabby Dawson: Okay, let’s put him in the chair and get him out of

                            here.

Victim 3 (Terrence): [struggling to breathe]

Leslie Shay: Watch the cabinet.

Gabby Dawson: Let’s go.

Child 1 (Patrick): Is he gonna be okay?

Gabby Dawson: He’ll be okay. Hop in.

                                         [ambo door shuts]

                                                cutscene

                                              [door closes]

Kelly Severide: What’s up?

Mouch: Uh, a couple things. Internally, Tara’s not gonna be acting

              on the charges.

Kelly Severide: What do you mean internally? Are the charges

                           dropped or not?

Mouch: Well, there’s where it gets complicated.

Chief Boden: She’s been reinstated as commander of operations at

                       field division headquarters.

Kelly Severide: Promoted?

Chief Boden: IAD felt an administrative post might be a better fit for

                       her.

Kelly Severide: For a liar?

Mouch: IAD lacked the sufficient amount of confidence needed to

              disprove her claim, so they wanted to move quickly to have

              this go away.

Kelly Severide: Great! Y-You know what? Make her the… Queen of

                          England, I don’t care.

                          Are-are we done?

Mouch: No. Because of Chief Rutkowski’s rather incendiary

              statement, the IG has sustained Tara’s allegations. They’re

              kicking the case up to the State Attorney’s office.

Kelly Severide: Meaning what?

Mouch: Meaning they will review it. And if they feel there’s a case,

              they’ll file charges. Criminal charges.

Kelly Severide: [sighs]

Chief Boden: You need to get an attorney, Kelly. You need to be

                        ready.

Mouch: Listen… this is not coming from me. But it was put out

              there that if you did apologise for what she’s claiming, it

              might go a long way towards…

              [sighs]

                                               cutscene

                                          [water running]

Kelly Severide: I walked her to the door.

Leslie Shay: We’re gonna fight this. We’re gonna be all right.

Kelly Severide: I don’t trust anyone in this world other than you.

Christopher Herrmann: Hey buddy. We heard. No one can believe

                                         it. Look, we’re doing our soft opening

                                         tonight. Maybe you want to come down,

                                         tie one on, be around your friends.

Kelly Severide: I’m not up for it.

Christopher Herrmann: No. Of course. All right.

Joe Cruz: Hang in there, man.

                                               cutscene

Gabby Dawson: This is it, you guys.

Otis Zvonecek: Ready or not.

Christopher Herrmann: I got jitters, I ain’t gonna lie.

Gabby Dawson: This is probably like, the craziest, riskiest, insanest

                            thing any of us has ever done.

Otis Zvonecek: And for Herrmann, that’s saying something.

Christopher Herrmann: [chuckles]

Gabby Dawson: But if nothing else, I have had so much fun

                            spending all those days off and all the wee hours

                            building Molly’s with you guys. And I know that

                            you guys have heart because I saw it when you

                            put it in the business, and I just want you to

                            know that I consider you guys family. You’re my

                            brothers.

Christopher Herrmann: Wow. You’re beautiful. I know it’s been a

                                         tough couple of shifts for everybody. But

                                         that is why this place is gonna rock

                                         tonight. Because we’re gonna put aside

                                         our worries, and we’re just gonna have a

                                         good time.

Otis Zvonecek: Amen.

Gabby Dawson: Amen.

Christopher Herrmann: Amen.

Gabby Dawson: To Molly’s.

Christopher Herrmann: To Molly’s.

Otis Zvonecek: Does it sound like we’re saying “tamales”?

Christopher Herrmann: What? Who cares? This place is gonna

                                         rock!

Otis Zvonecek: I hope so, ‘cause I’m a little concerned about the

                           number of hits we’re getting on Facebook.

Gabby Dawson: Oh my gosh.

Otis Zvonecek: Not as much traffic as I want. Not to mention…

Christopher Herrmann: Will you please celebrate the moment, for

                                        God’s sake.

Otis Zvonecek: To Molly’s.

                                              [glass clinking]

                                                  cutscene

Peter Mills: [grunts]

                     Come on, another one.

                     All right, another one.

Kelly Severide: [grunts]

Peter Mills: Throw it out!

Kelly Severide: Unh! Unh!

Peter Mills: Come on! Come on. Come on man.

Kelly Severide: [grunts]

                          [laboured breathing]

                          [spits]

                                               cutscene

Christopher Herrmann: Are you guys good?

Crowd/Customers: We’re great!

                                  All right.

                                       [chatter & laughter]

Christopher Herrmann: Who is this guy?

Joe Cruz: That’s my Uncle Zoozie!

Leslie Shay: Hey, so I cannot stop thinking about Tara being

                      promoted?

Gabby Dawson: Oh, she is a bureau bitch now. We’re never gonna

                             see her.

Leslie Shay: Oh, if I do, I’m gonna drop her. Not joking.

Joe Cruz: Good to see ya.

Hallie Thomas: Thanks.

Matt Casey: Hey.

Gabby Dawson: [clears throat]

Leslie Shay: When did that happen?

Gabby Dawson: Good for them.

Leslie Shay: [sighs] Oh, yeah…

                                             [door closes]

Christopher Herrmann: [laughs]

                                         Cop walks into a bar…

                                              [chatter dies]

Hank Voight: Wow. It’s a nice place. Congratulations.

                       [chuckles] Chief.

                       [exhales] Listen, there’s…there’s been a lot of bad

                       blood between cops and firemen in this district.

                       Since we’re all gonna be working together, I want

                       to be the first to put it all behind us.

                       This round’s on me.

Gabby Dawson: So what was that about?

Antonio Dawson: You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.

Gabby Dawson: What?

Antonio Dawson: He was promoted to Sergeant, and he’s running

                              the Intelligence Unit.

Gabby Dawson: You’re in the Intelligence Unit.

Antonio Dawson: Don’t I know it.

Hank Voight: I want to apologise. To you both. It got way out of

                       hand. You know, as it turns out my son needed to

                       hit rock bottom. Prison has certainly provided that.

                       I just want to say I’m sorry. And I am looking forward

                       to working with you, Lieutenant.

                       [sighs]

                                                       - end -

Definitions:

Bottle Jacks – Have a capacity of up to 50 tons and may be used to lift a variety of objects

Hustler – Prostitute

IAD – Internal Affairs department

Alford plea – Guilty plea in criminal court, whereby a defendant in a criminal case does not admit to the criminal act and asserts innocence. Defendants usually enter an Alford guilty plea if they want to avoid a possible worse sentence were they to lose the case against them at trial. It affords defendants the ability to accept a plea bargain while maintaining innocence

Dyke – a ditch

Descender – The descender or “descent control device” is another important element of a bailout kit selection. They are used as friction brakes when descending a rope in a rescue situation

IG’s – Office of Inspector General (I believe)

Rhino Viper – Small doses of the snake’s primarily hemotoxic venom can be deadly. This venom attacks the circulatory system of the snake’s victim, destroying tissue and blood vessels. Internal bleeding also occurs. In only a few detailed reports of human envenomation, massive swelling, which may lead to necrosis, had been described.

[snackhobi]

for the pairing ask meme...yoongi x y/n, #25 💚

25 -  things you said in front of other people

I wrote this with the oc and yoongi from strike a chord in mind but it can be read as a standalone! I know some people were wanting a follow up or something similar from that verse so here’s a small one before I make the time to write that bartender!jin story I played a bit loosey-goosey with the interpretation of the prompt but OH WELL. and here’s my forever shout out to @hobi-gif 

pairing: yoongi x reader / word count: 1.1k / genre: fluff, with hinted nsfw elements (but this is sfw) / warnings: none!

It’s the cutest thing you’ve ever seen.

“It’s the cutest thing I’ve ever seen,” you say, and Yoongi lets out a quiet hum of agreement.

To people who don’t know him, Min Yoongi seems elusive and reclusive, cold and distant, unwilling to let people in. You’d thought the same, before, thought he was so far out of reach, too beautiful and talented for you to ever touch. But now you know better. You know of the endless warmth he keeps hidden, the depths of affection he holds for the people close to him, the people he cares about and loves. You feel it every time he looks at you or touches you, hear it every time he lays his fingers to those piano keys, each time he plays his music for you, songs he’s written for you.

“I want to buy it,” you continue, and he squeezes your hand with those lovely, talented fingers, the ones you’d fallen for so many months ago.

“You don’t need it,” he says, and you pout.

“But I want it,” you say, and before Yoongi can reply, your eyes widen. “Oh! I know! I’ll buy it for Holly!”

“You haven’t even met him,” Yoongi points out, though his words are edged with amusement, lips a tender curve as he watches you turn your attention back to the hand-crocheted dinosaur, already reaching for it.

“Listen, I don’t need to have met your dog to know that I love him and want to shower him with gifts.” You clutch the dinosaur toy tight with your free hand, unwilling to let go now that you’ve set your heart on it. “You can mail it back to Daegu for your parents to give to him. He’ll feel my love.”

Yoongi takes a moment to stare at you with his sharp, pretty eyes, and then just smiles. He’s already relented and he knows that you know that, as wrapped around your little finger as he is. “Okay,” he says. “Sure.”

He keeps hold of your hand as you walk to the till, gently but firmly tugging you back each time he sees you waver and long to reach for something else as well. You could fight against that tugging hand, and you know Yoongi would let you win, but you just settle down. You always do, easing back in the face of his judgement, letting him call the shots. (When you want to, anyway.)

At least, you do until you spot another dinosaur on a promotional display, the twin of the one in hands, bright red to its deep blue.

“Oh, oh, Yoongi, look!” You squeeze his hand to draw his attention to it. “Come on, we have to get that one too. Please?”

“Holly doesn’t need both, baby.”

“I’m starting to think I love him more than you do, Yoongi,” you say, a little petulant—even if you know Yoongi is right. “It’s like he’s my son and not yours.”

Before Yoongi can reply, respond to your admittedly playful ribbing, an older woman nearby smiles at you both, having overheard your conversation. “I think your son would appreciate both,” she says.

You latch onto this, even if the woman clearly thinks you’re talking about an actual child and not a dog. “See? Holly deserves both. He’s a good boy and a great son.”

“I think it’s very sweet that you care about him so much, even if he’s not yours,” the woman continues, looking at you, smile spread across her face. “How old is he?”

There’s a brief beat of silence as Yoongi stares at the two of you, and you worry that he’s about to correct this woman’s misunderstanding—that he’s going to tell her that Holly is, in fact, a dog—before he replies. “He’s four.”

The woman coos. “Oh, he’s still so young! Are dinosaurs his favourite?”

“His favourite toy is a ball, actually,” Yoongi replies, completely straight faced. “He loves it when we go to the park and play catch together.”

You swallow down your disbelieving laughter as the woman sighs with delight.

And so the conversation unfolds, and you watch as Yoongi wards off every question without letting onto the fact that Holly walks around on four legs and not two, slowly migrating across the store towards the till. He’s just telling the woman that Holly’s favourite food is peanut butter when you reach the front of the queue, and you tug at Yoongi’s hand to get his attention.

“We have to pay, baby,” you say gently.

“Ah, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to distract you,” the woman apologises. “I just wanted to say that you’re very lucky to have someone who loves your son as much as you do.”

“I know,” Yoongi murmurs, surprisingly soft and sincere, and you have to tamp down the blush that threatens to spill onto your cheeks. “I’m very lucky.”

And when you leave the store, it’s with two dinosaurs secured in your bag; both are gift wrapped, of course (only the best for Min Holly). You can’t help but giggle as you recall the delivery of Yoongi’s words, how he’d been completely inscrutable, speaking about Holly like an actual son—but then Yoongi gives you a look, a touch of his dark eyes, and the laughter dies in your throat. You recognise that look. Anticipation trickles down your spine, liquid quicksilver that rolls under your skin, hot and cold all at once.

So when you step into Yoongi’s apartment, shedding your jacket and shoes, you’re expecting the hands that cup your face. You go still all at once, eyes fluttering shut at the cool touch of Yoongi’s fingers.

“Babygirl.”

You shiver despite yourself, shuddering at the pet name, the deep note in his voice. “Yes, Yoongi?”

“You lied to that poor ajumeoni,” he says, a quiet note of reproach in his voice. “That wasn’t very nice.”

You don’t point out that he was the one that carried the brunt of it, the one that let the lie ride, let her continue to live in her misconception. “I was just joking,” you say—and your voice is already weak, breathless, as you melt under Yoongi’s hands.

“I thought you were a good girl,” he continues, as if you hadn’t spoken at all. It’s a physical effort to swallow down the noise that bubbles in your throat, threatening to slip past your lips. “But I guess I was wrong.”

“I am,” you insist. “I am, I am a good girl.” Your heart rate is already picking up, pulse rising each second you stare back at him, return the gaze that’s laying you bare already, that knows how weak you are for him, always.

And Yoongi’s responding smile is edged with heat as his eyes gleam. “Why don’t you show me what a good girl you are then, hm?”

[vivifrage]

🤥 and 💥 for Judge and 👪 and 🌌 for Haldegard!

Aww heck yeah!

🤥 LYING - are they good liars? do they have tells to show they're lying?

Judge lies with the same straight face and dead tone that she says most everything in. Most bugs, especially mortals, will leave it at that. What the wyrm god says goes, after all.

If you know her better or are more persistent, the tell is usually that she's making shit up on the fly, so watch for inconsistencies, evasiveness, and circling around back to the same few points. However, she'll also often lie by omission, especially if you start trying to pry into her history or anything else she'd rather not talk about.

💥 COLLISON - what emotions do they have trouble dealing with?

Uhh many, by mortal standards. As a wyrm, she's lived a long life, and experienced a whole plethora of emotions so many times over that she's got good ways of handling them. Or, at least, she can hold herself back if need be. However, that's as a wyrm. In her new body she's often dealing with less familiar situations, and her responses don't come across the same way.

The one she's probably worst with is overstimulation. Not quite an emotion, but being surrounded by people just didn't happen as a wyrm, so too much noise, scents, that kind of thing, drives her up the wall.

---

👪 FAMILY - what is their family like? what is your ocs relationship to them? does your oc have any siblings?

(CW for some mentions of homophobia.)

Haldegard does have a sibling, to get that one covered! She's got a twin, her name is Inrai. They're... pretty different. It's kind of a Thing for the culture they grew up in that twins (and sometimes other even numbers of kids) encapsulate duality, which is a big part of spirituality; one will be one way, one will be the opposite. Inrai... I don't know how to describe her personality other than like, 30-something year old Instagram influencer. Which is actually her job; she does social media travel stuff, but unlike Haldegard she sticks to her home planet.

Though, despite the differences, Haldegard still talks with Inrai! They get on each other's nerves sometimes, but Haldegard will pick up if Inrai calls and they'll let each other know any major events. Their parents, however, she will ignore as much as she can and the crew's in on it. See, she realized she was queer growing up, and they found out somehow. In a panic, they hooked her up with a friend's kid, hoping that being in a relationship with the "opposite" sex would make her realize it's not that bad. I forgot my in-universe term but Haldegard's homosexual. So's the kid she got paired with. They became friends and were each other's beard for a while, but it really put Haldegard off. Between that and some other incidents, she doesn't really want to talk to them anymore.

(Her parents have actually learned a lot since then, and may not always be 100% on top of it as allies, but they try to support queer folks when they can now. Haldy won't hear it.)

The rest of the family's pretty extensive. Most also don't talk with her much by extension of the same reasons she won't talk to her parents. At least for her cousins' and parents' generations. The elders keep in touch every once in a while, and I think there's one she's particularly fond of.

🌌 MILKY WAY - what was the inspiration behind your oc? what was the first thing you decided about them?

Longest Johns songs, I believe! That and that one post that goes around sometimes about space shanties. My other SF universe doesn't have rules that let it get into the like, singing to keep time during FTL travel thing, but I really wanted to play around with that sort of idea. So the Merciful Steel's universe was born, with much more loosey-goosey rules about things. (Hence why Hex exists!)

Of course, if I wanted space shanties and the like, I needed a ship, and the ship needed a captain. This happened around the time Warframe put out their Railjack update, and while I was dreaming up what I'd do with my railjack, I thought of naming it the Merciful Steel. The ship and the characters were all originally for a Warframe fic! Haldegard was a Hildryn, Hex was a Limbo, and Lwx was an Ivara who learned engineering from a Vauban. (Yip I never could get a feel for which frame to use, might have ended up being a Volt if I stuck with the Warframe idea.) There's still some callbacks to that in their designs - Haldegard's body shape, Hex's suit, Lwx's single eye.

But of course, it's no longer Warframe fic, though I do still consider my Hildryn to be the "captain" of my railjack, which is indeed called the Merciful Steel.

For extra fun, Haldegard's design also got inspo from Herrah for the spider-y side.

[hankwritten]

Plein Air

Demoman/Soldier, 1k

Part of the DontNeedADiscord Pride Week, Day 7: Pride

“Let’s get this one thing clear, maggot: I am proud of who I am.

I am proud to be an American! I am proud to be BLU! I am proud of my ability to practice law in thirty-eight of the forty-nine states! Never in my life have I bowed to the cowardly condition of self-pity, not when I have so much to feel accomplished about. So then! When I tell you this you will not mistake it for me asking for your blessing, your sympathy, or any of that granny-gumming nonsense that you may want to spit in my direction!”

“I get it Jane,” Tavish insisted. “It’s been eleven minutes. Please just tell me what you wanted to say.”

The sheets, which had somehow gotten tangled around me in my (several minute long) speech, prevented me from kicking him in retaliation. Instead, I tried to take a steadying breath, reminding myself that I didn’t need to gasconade in front of Tavish, that all my posturing was unearned after everything else we’d revealed to each other. But, despite knowing that logically, it did not make this any easier. I didn’t make a habit of talking about it to partners. Not to partners, not to friends, not even to Medic who didn’t care much now that the “fun” part was over.

But Tavish…Tavish was different. Or at least, I wanted what we’d made together to be different.

I cleared my throat. “I…was weird. As a kid. Wanted to play war games, didn’t do well with the other girls.” Immediately, I cringed away from the words I’d been avoiding for decades, and looked to Tavish for the flinch of recognition I was sure was coming. But he still had that mix of concern and confusion muddling his face, so I went on, “was just blissfully unaware of it, until I had to leave home over what was brewing. Joined up.”

At least Tavish already knew that part of the story. “Aye, I remember,” he said. “Don’t get what you mean by ‘unaware’, though?”

“I am getting there, maggot!” I huffed. “I’d get confused. Didn’t even remember why people were calling me a woman in the first place. Just kept roaming through Poland until I ran into Medic, and he dropped all his quack medical terms on me. And then he…fixed me up.”

Cured, was what it always felt like. Like everything in my life up until then had been moving through a fever dream, and after Medic had stepped in, it finally broke.

Tavish raised an eyebrow. “That can mean a lot of things when it comes to Medic.”

“He helped with the body I have.” That I wasn’t ashamed to admit. I’d worked hard on getting to where I was, and I was damn proud of it. “Hormones, surgery, the rest.”

“Oh,” Tavish said, brow furrowing.

“Oh? What does ‘oh’ mean, maggot?” I demanded. “If you’ve got something to say then say it!”

At that moment, I was terrified he would—that after all the time working up the nerve, after deciding I loved him enough to do this, it’d turn out that he didn’t want the truth from me.

He saw my expression flash like steel and immediately reached for my hand. “Not that Jane, nothing like that,” he soothed, squeezing my palm tight. “I love you, and I’m glad you felt good enough to tell me all this.”

My racing heart slowed a few beats, a horse tripping over the finish line and coming to a steady trot. I breathed out, and linked my fingers with his.

“I suppose I am a bit puzzled…” he went on. “Getting Medic involved, surgery…it all sounds like a lot of work. Why didn’t you just ask Merasmus?”

Now, the true answer to that question is I didn’t meet that useless old wizard until years after I’d transitioned, but something about the way Tavish had phrased that question left me flabbergasted.

“Merasmus?” I demanded.

“Aye, he can magic bodies around willy-nilly,” Tavish explained. “That’s what he did for me.”

“…WHAT.”

“Did I never tell you that?” Tavish asked, scratching the back of his head. “Ah, well I met him as a kid, I asked him if he could do that, and he was all ‘DO NOT QUESTION WHAT THE GREAT MERASMUS CAN AND CANNOT DO BLAH BLAH BLAH,’ ‘n long story short, he turned me into a laddie.”

There was a deep pause in the mansion’s master bedroom.

“Tavish DeGroot,” I fumed with mounting indignation. “Did you just let me spout goosey gibberish for nearly twenty minutes just to tell me you are also transgender??”

“Er, sorry,” Tavish said. “I didn’t think it was a big deal? Not that your isn’t, obviously, if you feel it is, but er…I suppose, yeah.”

“You-”

“Keep your voice down, lad,” Tavish hushed. “You know Mum will have our hides if we wake her up fighting again.”

“That was only because we broke the dining room table. Yelling is not nearly as loud as that,” I complained, but lowered my voice anyway. Despite my initial frustration, the wave of anger crested and died, and I was left with a warm sense of relief. Relief, and new camaraderie. “You are full of cheeks, you know that?”

“Are you trying to call me ‘cheeky’?”

“I do not have time for your Britishisms! And stop trying to teach me.”

He smiled, knowing by the playfulness in my voice that I wasn’t truly mad at him, not really. “Fine, on my word, I’ll never try to make you talk properly again.”

“Apology accepted,” I replied.

“If we’re good on confessions for the night, you ready to turn in?”

We slid under the sheets, only halfway into bed when I’d stopped our nightly routine. At the moment, it’d felt like the most important thing in the world, to be authentic with Tavish now that we’d given up so much for each other. Curling against him, I realized I hadn’t even guessed how he’d react—nor known that things could be even better between us.

[panharmonium]

...and damn the consequences

These are just some thinky-thoughts that I suppose could be an addendum to this old piece about Morgana, since I saw a couple of different discussion threads in that general vein in the tag a while back, and you know reading about this show always gets my brain going. :)

Most of what I ran into was written with the intention of shifting the blame for Morgana's issues away from Merlin, which is something I appreciate, personally - I've talked plenty myself about the myriad reasons why Merlin does not owe Morgana his secret and does not deserve "blame" for the things she does.  

But when the blame is shifted (rightly) away from Merlin, it does sometimes end up getting pushed onto others.  And while I do understand where that impulse comes from, I actually tend to approach this from a slightly different perspective, so since I don't think I've ever typed up anything about this particular subject before, I figured I might as well set down a few potential things to consider about a) Morgana (in relation to Gaius, specifically), and b) the more general question of "the blame" (and whether it's really a productive line of discussion, given that the question only has one legitimate answer, for me, at least).

disclaimer, as always: these are just my own thoughts, and nobody is obligated to share them!  If my particular perspective isn't interesting to you, don't worry about it - I'm just hanging out talking to myself on my own blog, so feel free to scroll past and continue interpreting the show in whatever way is most enjoyable for you!

i. my favourite patient is always welcome

So, first of all - some thoughts about Gaius.

I was really surprised at how infrequently Gaius appeared, when I first started poking around in the fandom.  For such a major character, and for someone who is such a huge part of Merlin's life, I definitely thought he would be more prominent, but essentially the sorts of posts I've seen about him are mostly restricted to two things: 1) memes, and 2) call-outs (he's in a very similar position to Kilgharrah, in that way).   

I don't necessarily think those things do him justice, and there’s a lot more we could talk about when it comes to his character, but for now, the only thing I'm really interested in working on is maybe adding some nuance to the perpetual question of Gaius, Morgana, Merlin, and "the blame."  

(For clarity’s sake: nothing that follows necessarily means that Gaius makes the “right” decisions.  The entire point of his character's history is in fact his failure to always do the right thing - see: Kilgharrah's line where he tells Gaius to “do nothing," because “that is, after all, your talent."  What I’m saying in the section that follows is just that there's more to consider about the choices Gaius makes than “he's a coward.")

So - some things to consider, when we think about Gaius and Morgana:  

1) One thing I'm not always sure people realize about this show is that neither Gaius nor Merlin knows that Morgana has magic until 2.03.  

And I definitely can see why people don’t necessarily realize it, because as we all know this show can be a little haphazard/loosey-goosey with its worldbuilding, but just to help clarify: until 2.03, Gaius does not know that Morgana has magic.  He knows that "some of the things she dreamt" have indicated certain future events (NOT all of them, importantly - more on that later), but her dream-visions are also specifically stated to be a separate gift from sorcery - dream-visions and magic are clearly established to be different things in this show, and prior to 2.03, Morgana has only ever demonstrated one of these abilities.  

At the end of 1.07, Merlin asks, "Is she like me?  Does she have the gift?" and Gaius's response is, "I hope not, for her sake."  Earlier, he also says, "The gift of prophecy is too close to the work of magic," indicating that the two things are, in fact, different abilities (if equally dangerous ones, in Uther's eyes).  “It's said to be an innate ability.  Those who have it are born that way.”  Whereas magic, in the Merlin-verse, is a learned skill.  We spend so much time around Merlin that we tend to transfer his experience to all other magic-users, but we have to remember that Merlin, in this world, is directly stated to be unique.  He uses magic without spells, without study; he tells Gaius he was born doing it.  But when Gaius hears Merlin say this, his response is, "That's impossible."  It's not something that happens.  

In the Merlin BBC-verse, people can be born with the "gift" - the ability to use magic - but their magic doesn't just manifest on its own.  What happens to Merlin (being able to use magic "before he could talk," with no training and no spells) and Morgana (starting a fire accidentally) is NOT something that is indicated to ever happen to other magic-possessors.  We aren't being introduced to a world where magical children will automatically start manifesting their magic in dangerous ways unless they're trained to use their abilities (ie, the X-Men model, or the Force-sensitive child model, where choosing not to teach someone is automatically irresponsible ).  Magic, as presented to us in this show, is something that cannot be used without training or specific spells/power-amplifying artifacts.  Merlin (and, later, Morgana) are exceptions to a universal rule.

And this is just something to keep in mind, because it does provide some context for Gaius's decisions.  It doesn't mean people have to agree with the choices he makes - it doesn't even mean *I* always agree with the choices he makes, to be honest - but I do think it's worthwhile to at least remember that Gaius doesn't make his decisions thoughtlessly.  As far as Gaius knows, even if Morgana did have magic, there is no way that it could ever manifest and become an issue for her without her being trained.  If she doesn't learn how to use magic, she can't use it, period.  And if she can't use it, no one will ever know she has it.  And if no one ever knows she has it, no one can ever kill her for it.  

(Once we hit 2.03, the conversation changes, obviously.  It becomes clear that Morgana is some kind of anomaly as well, and at that point, the only appropriate path forward is to tell her she has magic.)

(Which is, of course, precisely what Merlin does.)

2) According to the show, only "some of" Morgana's dreams have actually played out in real life; others have just been regular nightmares (and we see later on that even some of her prophetic dreams are vague to the point of incomprehensibility - eg, she dreams about a raven in 2.01, but how would she ever know what that meant, or if it meant anything at all, barring external context?)  Some of the risk/benefit analysis on Gaius's part has to take this problem into account - what if he did tell her that some of her dreams might be prophecies?  There would be no way for anyone to sort out which ones were real and which ones were just nightmares.  And Gaius has known Morgana all her life - he knows what she's like; he knows how headstrong she is.  She would assume all of her dreams were real, and she would act on all of them, because what if the one time she ignored a dream, something bad happened to someone she cares about?  

Gaius is familiar enough with Morgana to know with absolute certainty that this is what she would do.  And he knows that this could SO easily end up getting her killed, either by Uther, who would quickly figure out that something was going on, or by the sheer dangers associated with Morgana throwing herself into confrontations based only on uncertain visions (or worse, regular old dreams).

3) We also have to think about what this show tells us about prophecy in general.  Trying to act on prophetic information, in this world, is firmly established as a dangerous game, one which, more often than not, ends up directly causing the outcomes one was trying to prevent.  Trying to change the future, in the BBC Merlin universe, backfires on people every single time.  In 2.10, the Crystal of Neahtid is framed as holding "a terrible power," and Merlin knows instinctively that "no good [will] come of it," even as he feels compelled to look into it.  In 3.05, Gaius himself says of the Crystal Cave that "the crystals are treacherous," and Kilgharrah says that "to change the future is no simple matter, Merlin.  To do so is fraught with danger."  In Season 5, of course, we all know what happens with Merlin's attempts to prevent Mordred from killing Arthur - it ensures Arthur's death!  And that's not even mentioning all the collateral damage it causes - Kara's execution, Mordred and Morgana’s eventual deaths, etc.

I thought I could alter the future, but instead, I caused it.  I made it happen.

What you did was dangerous, even for someone as gifted as you.

These are truths about the universe in the BBC Merlin world, not Gaius's personal opinions.  Gaius had been brought up steeped in the rules of the Old Religion; he knows how that world works.  The risk posed by Morgana interpreting all of her dreams as prophecies (and the absolute certainty that she would constantly attempt to alter their outcomes) is not a trivial concern or something he should ignore.  It is real, significant, and extremely dangerous, for both Morgana and the people around her.

So in general, I do think there's a broader context to what Gaius does than we typically look at.  I'm not saying that it isn't a sticky situation, and I'm not even saying that Gaius makes the right calls.  All I'm saying is that I think it's worth acknowledging that the decisions he makes are a) always sincerely intended to protect Morgana from a number of very real dangers, not just Uther, and b) founded on more than simple cowardice or carelessness.

ii. of course what really matters is the blame / someone you can blame

More generally -

Whenever I see discussion circulating about Morgana’s descent into villainy, occasionally the conversation can start to feel to me a little bit like that scene in Into the Woods where all the characters start going "so it's HER fault/HIS fault/YOUR fault" as they backtrack further and further along the chain of events and tear apart every single character's innocuous decisions (the consequences of which could not possibly have been foreseen) in order to escape any scrap of personal responsibility, until the Witch interrupts their bickering and rips them a new one for worrying so much about who to blame when they have a real problem to solve.

These blame-placing conversations about Morgana, much like this scene, are interesting and enjoyable to think about in their own ways, but they rarely get quite where I want them to go.  I definitely love seeing people articulate the "we shouldn't blame Merlin for what Morgana does" angle, but things often then slide into "we should blame X person instead", where X person is Kilgharrah or Morgause or Gaius or Uther or whoever.  

And for me, that analysis doesn’t quite hit the mark.  The correct endpoint of "we shouldn't hold Merlin responsible for Morgana's actions" isn't "we should hold X person responsible instead."  The correct endpoint is "the only person responsible for Morgana's actions is Morgana."

The last time I wrote about Morgana like this, I mentioned that ultimately, the difference between Merlin and Morgana for me is that Merlin owns his choices.  He feels guilt, he expresses regret, he apologizes for his mistakes, and he blames himself for his missteps (as well as for other things that aren't remotely his fault).  Morgana, on the other hand, never apologizes for anything (despite the fact that she's made plenty of mistakes worth regretting), and sometimes it feels like in fandom we don't necessarily expect her to do so, as if it's a benchmark we don't need her to meet.

So because I really do have strong feelings about the double standard we use when it comes to Merlin and Morgana, I want to talk for a minute here about Merlin and Gaius’s relationship, to provide a comparison.

Morgana isn't the only person who's had important information about her parentage and potential abilities withheld from her.  Gaius hides both Merlin's dragonlord heritage and the identity of Merlin's father all the way until the end of Season 2, when necessity forces him to reveal the information.  Merlin's mother, for her own part, has been hiding this information from Merlin all his life - out of valid fears for Merlin's own safety, of course, the same way Gaius is trying to protect Morgana.  But still, from Merlin's point of view, in the moment when the information is revealed to him, the justification offered by his guardians is unacceptable.  He is angry and upset, and he feels cheated out of knowledge he deserved to have, the absence of which has negatively affected him all his life.  “I had a right to know,” he keeps saying, on the verge of tears.

Has Merlin been harmed by the choices his guardians made for him, even if said choices were made to protect him?  Yes.  Does he have a right to feel hurt, betrayed, and angry?  Yes.  Is he entitled to every ounce of his righteous rage?  Absolutely.  

Is he also responsible for how he reacts, now that the information has been revealed?  YES.

Merlin has no say in what his parental figures do to him in the name of protecting him, and he has no choice about how it makes him feel.  He does, however, have a choice about what actions he will now take in response.  He can react in a way that hurts others, or he can choose a path of lesser harm.  And there's plenty we can say to justify both options, certainly, but either way, the decision he makes is on him.  

What that means, in short, is this: Merlin is not responsible for what was done to him.  But he is responsible for what he himself does next.  

The same goes for Morgana.  In absolutely no universe would we classify Merlin's behavior as acceptable if he'd reacted to the revelation of his Dragonlord heritage by assassinating Uther, claiming the throne for himself in the name of his murdered kin, and then shooting innocent civilians in the street when the knights refused to recognize his legitimacy.  We would never say that was okay.  And we definitely wouldn't then blame Merlin's downfall on Gaius, saying it was Gaius's fault for withholding information about Merlin's powers for so long.  The choice to act in a harmful way would still be Merlin's, in that situation.

The same standard holds true for Morgana - particularly when she has access to resources that Merlin can't even dream about.  She is rich, beyond his wildest fantasies.  One of her dresses costs more than everything Merlin has ever owned in his life - his house, his land, his livestock, every bushel of wheat he's ever harvested.  She isn't the 1% in comparison to Merlin; she's the 0.0000001% - a princess in all but but name, and one who would presumably be heir to her father's entire estate in addition to everything she already has in Camelot.  

Morgana has the wealth to go anywhere she wants, including places where magic is practiced freely (see Helva, as mentioned in S5).  She has the prestige to affiliate herself with powerful people outside of Camelot, if she chooses to do so.  Any person in her position would have a broad, high-status network of friends and allies, and indeed we do see that Morgana has political ties outside Uther's court (see: how easily she's able to go to Cenred, Agravaine, Annis in Seasons 3/4 and be admitted, recognized, and trusted, as well as her repeated ability to recruit and/or take command of external armies).  

She could leave Camelot if she wanted, learn about her abilities, and build a life for herself elsewhere.  She could stay in Camelot and use her considerable resources to work toward her people's liberation, without indiscriminately murdering and enslaving the innocent poor.  She could seek out other magic-users like Alator in the spirit of true solidarity, as opposed to just using them as tools to get what she wants and then turning on them when they decide that they don’t want to use her sort of tactics to achieve their liberation.  She has hundreds of options, none of which necessarily even require her to forgive or reconcile with the people who harmed her, and none of which are even remotely open to Merlin, who (like Morgana) is still learning about his own abilities, and who (unlike Morgana) has no money, no social power, and no connections that he can leverage or lean upon, besides a tiny village of dirt-poor peasant farmers on the other side of the border with Cenred's kingdom.

Morgana has options.  The choices she makes are hers.  Gaius's decision not to tell her about her dreams is not equivalent to her receiving a blank check for harmful behavior.  She has so many resources.  She has so much power.  She could have chosen so many other paths - like Merlin tries to plead with her, in the crypt, after he tells her that he does not believe she deserves to be executed, despite what she's done: “We can find another way.”

She's the one who says, “There is no other way.”  She makes that decision.  She chooses to dismiss the thousand other paths available to her.  

That's on her.  That is always going to be on her.

iii. i'm going to give you one more chance

This last section...it’s more just a muddle of feels-riddled musing as opposed to a real opinion.  It's not something that has a right answer or a solution; it's just something I ponder sometimes.  

When we talk about harm being done in the real world, we talk about how intentions don't matter.  And that is absolutely true, in terms of both the impact of harmful actions and the harm-doer's responsibility to own what they did/make restitution.  If someone knocks you down, and you break your arm, the impact of that event doesn't change depending on whether the person in question did it on purpose or not.  Your arm's still broken, either way.  Intent doesn't matter, in terms of impact and responsibility - the actual harm done is the same, and the person who knocked you down should still be apologizing and making amends, regardless of whether they intended for you to fall or not.  

However - intent does matter when you're considering the future of your relationship with the person who knocked you down.  It affects how you react to what they did.  It changes how you respond to their actions.  If someone threw you to the ground on purpose, you'd (probably) feel differently about that than if a friend knocked you down because they were trying to pull you out of the way of an oncoming vehicle, or because they were carrying too many things in their arms and didn't see you turn the corner.

I think about this sometimes when it comes to Morgana and Merlin.

I don't want to frame this as "Morgana should have forgiven everybody who hurt her," because I don't think that's the case.  I've written before about how I fully understand her reasons for ultimately rejecting Arthur, Gwen, Merlin, Gaius, etc.  She's not required to reconcile with anybody if she doesn't want to.

At the same time, though, I do wonder sometimes about intent.  And sometimes I ask myself how things might have been different if Morgana had considered intent, before things went completely to hell, and whether the story’s ultimate outcome might have changed, if she had given even just one of these people a chance.

Morgana has plenty of reasons extend some degree of understanding to the people who caused her pain.  The vast majority of the people who caused Morgana harm did so either a) out of love, in a sincere attempt to protect her from being killed, b) without any knowledge of the fact that she needed help, or c) after they thought she was attempting to kill everybody in the city.  Everything Gaius ever conceals from her is concealed with the intention of keeping her safe.  Arthur knows absolutely nothing about Morgana's parentage until after Morgana has already violently invaded Camelot, and he knows nothing about her prophecies/magic, either.  Gwen, too, is never told anything about Morgana's parentage or her magic, even though Gwen supports Morgana when Morgana thinks her dreams might be sorcery.  And Morgana never comes to Merlin for help, despite his demonstrated support in 2.03 - what he does later, in 2.11, is a response to him legitimately thinking that she is actively trying to kill everyone in Camelot.  When she comes back a year later, he forgives her for it immediately, and when he realizes she has turned against them again, he STILL tries to talk her around, to offer his hand.  

So I think about that sometimes.  And I wonder what would have happened if Morgana had chosen to recognize things like this.  Merlin, for his own part, always chooses to recognize things like this when it comes to the people who've done him wrong (and by this I do not mean to say that his response is always the best one - I'm not talking about him consistently allowing Arthur to continue oppressing him and his community, here.  I'm talking about him, on an interpersonal level, being able to recognize when the people who've harmed him did so in an attempt to keep him safe, or without fully understanding the potential consequences of their actions.)  

Merlin understands that his mother lied about Balinor and the dragonlords in an attempt to protect him, and he continues to love her in spite of the fact that the deception legitimately hurt him.  He understands when Gaius gives Finna up to Arthur, because he know that Gaius sincerely believed her to be a trap laid by Morgana.  He understands many of the things Morgana does, too, and he gives her all kinds of chances - he knows why she tries to kill Uther in 1.11, and he holds no grudge.  He knows she tried to steal the Crystal of Neahtid in 2.10, and again he holds no grudge - he doesn't even suspect her, at the beginning of the next episode, when the entire city falls asleep.  He forgives her in 3.01 after she (as far as he knows) tried to kill the entire city at the end of the previous season, and even after she reveals herself to be a traitor in 3.02, he tells her he doesn't believe she deserves to be executed for who she is.  He still feels for her.  He still understands.  He wants to connect with her.

And, admittedly, neither Morgana nor Merlin are obligated to extend this kind of understanding to the people who've harmed them.  The impact of the harmful actions is the same, and Morgana doesn't have to give her friends a chance if she doesn’t want to.  She doesn't have to consider their intentions.

But she could have.  And I think that in some of these situations, there are compelling reasons why she should have.  

It's important to me to recognize that Morgana's choice not to ever consider her friends' intentions, particularly when it comes to people like Gwen, who didn't even understand what was going on and who were given no chance to prove their willingness to help Morgana before Morgana attacked first - completely obstructs the possibility of making amends, working things out together, making a connection, or seeking a more positive outcome.  Morgana’s actions come out of nowhere, for most of the people who know her.  She starts trying to kill them before they ever even know anything is wrong.  She doesn’t give them a chance to help her.

And she doesn’t have to, certainly.  But I wonder sometimes what things would have looked like if she had.