#pretty sure in season 2 he was knocked unconscious like 7 times

[forthewinn]

I often think about how Winn is a terrified nugget but when someone he cares about is in danger he'll do just about anything to protect them (even threaten someone with a stapler)

[quarktrinity]

quark watches star trek season 2 episode 7

where are scotty and sulu :(

WHERE ARE SCOTTY AND SULU

oh shit

ok that fall was pretty impressive he literally just toppled over like a bowling pin

ghost voice speaks through dead/unconscious dude with a Grim Warning

ok yeah hes dead

was this a halloween episode. its spooky

sure lets send our most valuable personnel to the spooky fog planet

no way in hell scott and sulu are dead

no service on spooky fog planet

Space Ghosts

wow thats terrifying

are these the witches from macbeth

"the Curse"

terrifying and silly. the best combo

/ghosts give poetic warning/ "spock. comment." "very bad poetry, captain." "...a more useful comment, mr spock." i love this show

looks like someone rented a fog machine or two. or fifty

space ghost castle

just realized kirk is back in his normal shirt! yaaaayyyyyyy tummy time

yeah why not lets go in the spooky ghost castle

Spooky Trumpets

is that the cat from buffy the vampire slayer

spock doesnt know about halloween

chekovs bangs are kinda dumb lol

HAHAHAHAH GET PIT-TRAPPED IDIOTS

/checks off the "bondage" and "kirk is sexualized by the plot" boxes in my bingo card/

yeah this was probably a halloween episode

obviously possessed scotty and sulu

comically large key

did they just teleport somewhere

welcome to the campy ghost throne room featuring campy ghost king

campy ghost king says can you guys suspend your fucking disbelief

cat from buffy the vampire slayer my beloved

"mumbo jumbo"

this cat is so cute

campy ghost king insists on providing sustenance

what is with people in this show and refusing to explain anything

cat is obviously a shapeshifter

crystal on her necklace is obviously magic

casually sets ur ship on fire

kirk leaves you on read

"tele-KEH-ne-sis"

freezes ur ship in a block of ice

ok nevermind its like a force field or something

these two are absurdly powerful

bondage again

kirk is tellingly comfortable in these restraints

nooooo mccoys possessed toooooo :(

mccoy pushes kirk around

campy ghost king and cat shapeshifter bicker

"the Old Ones"

weirdly horny death threats

cat shapeshifter is vaguely transgender

kirk is incapable of not having sexual tension with everyone he speaks to even antagonists

"why do i find it so difficult to dispose of you?" because hes hot, next question

battle between two characters with maxed out charisma

cat shapeshifter is horny as shit

yea they can make out ill allow it

unsure if kirk is genuinely into this or if hes taking advantage of her being hot for him to try and get info out of her. its probably both. either way its working

oh ok hes not actually into it. damn kirk, stone cold.

why did he even try to manipulate the telepath though. and why did it work for so long

campy ghost king hates cat shapeshifter so much that hes helping kirk now

campy ghost king says cat shapeshifters horniness is a Problem

"the cat is the most ruthless, the most terrifying of animals" idk about that spock

oh my gosh. thats amazing. theyre using shadow puppetry and miniaturized sets to make the cat look humongous. i love the 60s

kirk lets spock stand on his shoulders

obvious green screen moment

rip campy ghost king ur campiness delighted me

its the same cat as before. like a domestic black cat. how scary do you think that is babe

kirk plunges mccoys unconscious head into his tits much like he does with crying women

sulu gets knocked against the wall and flinches for a moment, then george takei remembers his blocking and passes out

i got bingo

so i guess if theyre unconscious its fine

"a most unpleasant situation, captain" understatement of the episode spock

kirk uses improvised blunt weapon

oh no wait its the magic wand thing. ok

kirk gets zorped

cat shapeshifters still hot for him

kirk is pretty confident in his ability to use this magic artifact

listen kirk i know you dont like her but if she says shes a woman shes a woman dont deny her that

kirk blows up the magic rock

welcome to rock land

campy ghost king and cat shapeshifters true forms look like they were made in spore

everythings fine now

bye

[itmighthavebeenintentional]

Walk Me Home - Ch 9

Summary: Twenty-four years ago, Kimberly Harper met a boy who changed the course of her entire life before up and leaving one night. She spent years moving past the memories, building a stable, satisfying career as professor of folklore and mythology at the local university. Then the accidents start, and she’s forced to seek help among her hunter contacts. All it takes is a knock on her office door to send Kimber’s carefully built emotional walls crumbling to the ground.

Featuring: Teen Winchesters, high school romance, reunions, misunderstandings, high intensity emotional turmoil, Dean’s love of pie, Dean being adorable, Sam being adorable and maybe a bit nosy eventually, much group adorkable-ness, show-style investigation, mention of our favorite werewolf, gratuitous and obvious love of fall, DID I MENTION ROMANCE, fluff, smut, tension. 

Warnings: Show level violence, show level parental neglect (let’s not John bash, I’m just saying), show-style witchcraft, show-level mental manipulation, stalking, bit of angst, sexual content (higher than show level),swearing, general yearning

Word Count: 3168

Author’s Note: Coming up on the end. Hope you guys have enjoyed this ride as much as I did. One chapter to go after this. All my thanks to @mskathywriteswords​ , @fangirlxwritesx67​, and @cracksinthewalls​ for all your magnificent help. Also, random, the theme song for this chapter is “These Dreams,” by Heart. Just for fun.

Keep in Mind: There are a lot of flashbacks. I tried to write current events in present tense and flashbacks in past tense. Here’s hoping I got everything right!

Please read/heed the warnings. 18+ ONLY. 

In Case You Missed It: Ch 1 | Ch 2 | Ch 3 | Ch 4 | Ch 5 | Ch 6 | Ch 7 | Ch 8 ItMightHaveBeenIntentional’s Masterlist

Chapter 9

Kimber’s hands fly up, clenching on the wrist in front of her throat, and the blade twitches in warning. Pain stings the side of her neck, her fingers contract, and a trickle of warmth drips down to her shoulder.

Before she can speak, Dean is in front of them, gun drawn and face murderous. 

“Let her go.”

Laughter, broken and mocking, shakes against her back. Kimber’s vision grays at the edges, and she forces herself to slow her breathing. She focuses on the sting of the cut, slamming her eyes shut to block out the fear she can read in Dean’s eyes. 

“She’s mine, can’t let her go. Just got her. Been lookin’ for so long. Her blood is mine, that’s the rule.” The witch’s voice goes from rough to reedy and back, pitch wobbling all over the place. “Gonna spill this pretty blood. You’re a hunter, you can help. Like she helped the other hunter. Spilled our blood. Took...took...”

Kimber shudders unconsciously, and the witch yanks her left arm back, fingernails digging into the flesh just above her elbow. A strangled yelp escapes her throat, and Kimber bites down on her lip. 

Breathe. Breathe. Breathe.

“Back up,” the witch barks suddenly. Dean’s eyes flash, nostrils flaring, but he doesn’t move.

“Ain’t happening, asshole. Let her go. I’m not sayin’ it again.” The hammer clicks on Dean’s gun, and the witch adjusts his grip, pulling her more firmly in front of him. The knife presses again, slicing deeper this time, and Kimber‘s focus slips. The trickle becomes a steadier stream, and she opens her eyes to see Dean’s cheek twinge above his clenched jaw. 

He never lowers his aim as he steps carefully back. Kimber is shoved forward, knuckles white on the man’s wrist. Her heart thumps painfully against her ribs as she racks her brain.

I know this, I know what to do, I can get out of this, I can, I just-

“Good boy,” the witch says. The manic glee in his voice sets Kimber’s nerves on edge, clearing a little of the panic from her thoughts. “So good at taking directions. Much better than her. Shoulda taken you up on the roof, she coulda watched you jump. Would’ve been fun. So...fun.”

White-hot fury lances through her fear, burning the last traces of it from her mind, and she remembers exactly how to get out of this hold. She widens her eyes, mouth tight, staring a hole at Dean. It takes a second for him to turn his glaring attention from the witch, but he finally meets Kimber’s gaze.

She has never wished so hard in her life to be a telepath as she does right now.

Please understand, Dean, she thinks with all her might, her eyes flicking down and to the side before meeting his again. Please be ready. 

She can distract the witch, can get out of the way, but she can’t kill him, and she has no idea if he has another spell ready. They’ve got one chance.

“Gonna have some more fun with you two. Messy fun. Had fun with her friends, so many stairs, so many staples.” He holds the last word out, elongating it, and the hairs on Kimber’s neck stand on end. “Make you have fun with each other, gonna get messy. Don’t need a hex bag this time, can just-”

Kimber jerks down on the knife-wielding hand, pulling it towards her left hip. She ducks her head back and shoves her shoulder into the witch’s chest, knocking him off kilter. Her right hand arcs back, completing the circle and shoving the witch’s hand, knife and all, straight into his side. He throws his head back, howling, and a deafening bang fills the room. Pain explodes in Kimber’s ears, and the witch drops, a bullet hole in the center of his forehead.

Kimber blinks, her head spinning, and then Dean is in front of her, his hands holding the sides of her face steady. His mouth opens, he’s speaking, but she can’t hear anything over the clanging in her ears. 

Her eyes stray down to the body on the floor, waiting for it to move. They need to leave, need to get away while they can, but she can’t make her legs work right. Her knees are locked, and the room is swaying. 

No, that’s not right. She’s swaying. She should probably sit.

Then she’s on the bed, and Dean kneels down in front of her, pressing a cloth to the side of her neck. She sucks in a breath, and the pain shocks her brain back into focus. He speaks again, but she can’t understand him. 

“We have to go, he’s going to get back up-” But Dean holds up a hand, shaking his head and frowning. He opens his mouth again, sucking in a breath like he’s going to shout, but then stops. He lifts her hand to the cloth on her neck, indicating for her to hold pressure while he rises. 

He glances around and snatches a pad of paper and pen from the bedside table. He scribbles quickly and holds the pad up in front of her. Her eyebrows lift in amazement as she reads “witch killing bullets.” 

“Seriously?” He nods, then flips the paper and scribbles again.

“Not used to gunfire?” the pad says. She shakes her head, then immediately regrets the action. The room spins, and then Dean is supporting her, steadying her before she hits the floor. He holds her upright for a few moments until she regains her balance, then he waves to get her attention.

He tilts his head towards the door, eyebrows lifted. She closes her eyes, concentrating, and forces her legs to cooperate, pushing up until she’s able to walk unsteadily, leaning hard against Dean. She feels colder than the seasonal temperature calls for, and she shivers hard against him.

Shock, she realizes. Yeah, I’m pretty sure…

The next thing she knows, they’re in Dean’s car, and she’s leaning against the window, her cheek chilled and damp on the glass. Dean’s jacket is draped over her, and she can make out the rumble of the engine and Dean’s voice, responding to someone she can’t hear.

Phone? her worn out brain offers. She yawns, and a dull throb ripples through her ears instead of the usual popping. She winces, and a warm hand slides over hers. 

“Can you hear me, sweetheart?” 

“Yeah,” she says slowly, working her jaw carefully against the ache in her ear canals. “But it’s kind of muffled. Am I gonna need a hearing aid now?”

“No, honey,” he sighs, his relief mixed with exasperation. “One gunshot near your head, you’ll be fine. Wasn’t even a high enough caliber for concussive damage.”

“Oh.” She thinks for a minute, her brain still a little sluggish. “Can I go home, now, though? Because I’d really like to change clothes.” To her growing dismay, she realizes that one side of her is splattered with blood and...something else.

Not to mention her own blood staining her shoulder. Her shirt is definitely beyond saving.

“Sam, check out the motel, see if you can find a car or anything. Maybe we’ll get a clue about who this asshole actually was. I’ll check back in with you.” He disconnects the call and glances at her out of the corner of his eye.

“Think maybe we should get you some stitches for that cut.”

“I have butterfly bandages and pajamas at home,” she counters, feeling mulish. It has been a hell of a night, a hell of a week, and a hell of a month. Her stalker is dead, she’s feeling more disgusting by the second, and she wants to sleep for a year, at least. After the world’s hottest, longest shower, that is.

Dean frowns, his eyebrows drawing down as he prepares to dig his heels in. That’s when Kimber pulls out her trump card.

“I’ve got a Sara Lee deep dish apple pie in the freezer. Can have it hot out of the oven in about an hour.” She wants to laugh as Dean’s foot presses down on the accelerator, but she settles instead for leaning her leaden head on his shoulder and letting her eyes drift shut. The last thing she feels is his arm pulling her just a little closer.

“I got you.”

“I know.”

…

When they arrive at Kimber’s house, the first order of business is a shower (after putting the pie in the oven, of course). True to her earlier promise, Kimber scrubs every inch of Dean’s back, wishing distantly that she was in a better frame of mind to enjoy the experience. Really, though, neither of them are up for any more than tired smiles and rinsing of suds. 

She throws on the jeans and tshirt that are lying on top of her hamper, too thrashed to search for anything else. When they reconvene in the kitchen, the oven still shows eighteen minutes left on the timer. Though Dean took pains during their shower to carefully clean the cut on her neck, he insists on fully inspecting it in better lighting. She’s too worn out to argue, so she drags out her first aid kit and drops into a chair.

She’s surprised at how comfortable the silence between them is. He cleans the cut again with peroxide this time before smearing a thin line of antibiotic ointment. She thinks he mutters something about “dirty witches,” but she’s so tired at this point she doesn’t completely catch it. Her hearing is more or less back to normal, although she keeps having to shake off the sensation that there’s water in her ears.

“Sam’s back at the motel, checking to see if the guy had a car, anything to give us an idea of what his damage was.”

She nods slowly, thoughts swirling in one too many directions. “He said...something about another hunter, me helping another hunter. I checked my notes, though, I don’t…”

“He said a lot of crazy shit, guy was unhinged.” Dean’s voice is hard, his eyes tight as he places butterfly strips along the side of her neck. “Probably not the best idea to revisit all of it just now.”

Gonna have some more fun with you two. Messy fun.

Kimber’s stomach lurches, and saliva pools in the back of her mouth.

“Don’t you throw up on me, I just got clean. I’m not missing out on pie just ‘cause you can’t keep the contents of your stomach to yourself.”

She laughs, just as he intended, broken out of her toxic train of thought. 

“You’re right, I know you’re right. There’s much better things to think about tonight. We can go over all the gory details in the morning.” She raises her hand to stifle a yawn, and Dean catches her wrist, pulling her arm out straight to examine it. His eyebrows lower as he frowns at the line of crescent-shaped gouges on her arm just above her elbow.

“That was where he grabbed my arm. I guess his nails dug in?”

Dean actually clicks his tongue against his teeth and reaches for the peroxide again. When he glances up at her, she can’t hide her amusement from his observant eyes.

“What?” he asks, indignant. “Human fingernails are some of the filthiest things on the planet. And that guy was a witch, no telling what kinds of nasty he’s been diggin’ in. Now hush.”

“Yes, sir.”

The timer for the pie goes off a few minutes later, and Kimber makes the executive decision that a huge slice of shared apple pie with ice cream is more than enough of a balanced dinner for the two of them. She rinses off the plate in the sink while Dean cleans up the scraps from their impromptu doctoring. She sets the plate in the drying rack and turns to find him watching her, one corner of his mouth curled fondly.

“Bed?”

“Bed.”

She excuses herself to the bathroom to brush her teeth and slip into something a little more comfortable. She finishes by wrapping her bathrobe around her middle and tying the belt. When she enters the bedroom, she finds her comforter in a discreet pile on the far side of the room, and Dean reclining on the sheets, clad in nothing but his boxer briefs.

She opens her closet and pulls a spare blanket down from the top shelf. Dean slides off the bed, reaching out to take the blanket when his phone rings from the bedside table. She nods at the phone and shakes the blanket out while he answers.

“Sam found the guy’s car. Wants to know if you want to come check it out.” Dean raises his eyebrows at Kimber. She straightens and looks him dead in the eyes, then unties her robe and lets it drop from her shoulders to puddle around her feet.

His eyes widen, and his voice turns distracted. “Gonna pass tonight, Sam, but you save some of those juicy clues for us tomorrow, ‘kay?”

He hangs up, sets his phone on the bedside table, and turns the covers down. Then he throws himself onto the bed and holds his arms out to Kimber, his eyes sparkling.

“I have to say, Dr. Harper, I never imagined a distinguished college professor would own a set of pajamas like that.”

She switches off the light and slides into bed, her back fitting to his front, the last piece of a puzzle locking into place. His hands begin to roam over her fleece pants, exploring the soft material. She yawns again, letting her head loll back to rest against his collarbone.

“Gotta tell me where you managed to find Sasquatch pajamas; I know exactly what I need to get Sam for Christmas.”

She giggles through another yawn, then turns in his embrace. In the dim light of her room, the green of his eyes is lost to the darkness, but the faint smile on his lips...that she can see just fine. 

Their kiss is slow, soft, and sleepy, and she allows herself two more before settling into the crook of his neck. 

“Dean?”

“Mmm.” His voice is just as gone as hers. His fingers, having found their way under the edge of her pajama top, are stroking over the small of her back as he drifts off.

“Is this what it’s always like for you and Sam? For hunters?”

The quiet stretches on long enough that she thinks he’s fallen asleep, but then he shifts and clears his throat.

“Sometimes. Sometimes it’s better; easier cases, less gun shots, maybe a spell or two thrown around. But you know the lore, you work with hunters. It’s usually a lot worse.” He leaves his sentence there, obviously not willing to elaborate at the moment. 

“On the other hand,” he adds a minute later, his voice thick with fatigue and another emotion she’s sure she’d be able to place if she were properly awake, “I don’t get to end every hunt like this, so that definitely counts for something.”

It definitely does, she thinks. 

…

“You gotta pull the knife-hand towards your outside hip, then swing your head and shoulder at the same time, hit me hard as you can,” Dean coaxed patiently. They had spent most of sixth period study hall actually studying today, so Dean decided they needed to work on something else after school. 

During their second tutoring session, Kimber learned that despite his willingness to be tutored by a girl, he chafed a little at the concept of receiving said tutoring without offering anything in return, so he suggested showing her some self-defense moves.

“In case the star quarterback ever gets any ideas that you’re not cool with,” he grinned. She rolled her eyes but accepted his proposition anyway. It meant coming into close, physical contact with Dean, for one. And it never hurt to be prepared, after all.

They went through the move again, Dean holding a stick to her neck in place of the knife. He made her work through it until she could pull off the maneuver without the sting of bark on her skin, until she managed to jab the stick hard enough against his side for him to wince in real discomfort.

The pleased smile he turned on her as he clutched his ribs made her toes tingle.

“I don’t see me using this kind of a move anytime soon, but it’s definitely good to know,” she admitted, picking up her denim jacket. The days had begun cooling off lately, fall making its presence abundantly known, and she shivered in the breeze as she zipped all the way up to her collar.

“You never know,” he agreed. He picked up her backpack, hanging it over his shoulder. “You could be set upon by anything: a pickpocket, a bank robber, a lone vampire looking for a snack. There’s no telling when that move could help you.”

“I doubt the vampire part, or even the bank robber, but yeah. I know a couple of people who’ve been mugged who could’ve used your expert training.” He slung his free arm around her shoulder, and they headed across the park.

“There are all sorts of critters out there that could creep up on you,” he said, his eyes sparkling mischievously. “Vamps are just one of a hundred, and one of the ones most likely to go for the neck.”

“One of a hundred,” she repeated. She was intrigued by the mention of monsters, had always loved reading old ghost stories and legends, but surely there couldn’t be that many monster stories in the world.

“I’ll trade you stories for pie,” he said. She shot him a skeptical glance, and he gave her an exaggerated, stern face. “I never joke about pie, and I know stories that would make your hair curl. Satisfaction guaranteed.”

“Okay,” she finally agreed. “But we’re talking at least three stories for one piece of pie.”

“Two stories and another self-defense lesson.”

Later on, as they stood outside her front door, she smiled shyly up at him, her cheeks warm despite the drop in temperature.

“I would have gotten you the pie just for another self-defense lesson,” she admitted, marveling at how he made her feel timid and brave all at once. His thumb brushed over her cheekbone, tucking a stray strand of hair out of his way. He pressed a gentle kiss to her mouth, not even long enough for her eyes to flutter shut. His smile, when he straightened, was soft and genuine.

“I would have traded the stories for the same.”

…

Kimber wakes, turning in Dean’s arms. It’s still dark out, nothing is out of place. She settles against him, her lips pressing against his collar bone.

“‘S’matter?” His words are slurred, muffled by her hair, and his arms tighten for a moment. She can feel the stretch rippling down the length of him, and that hidden spot in her chest spreads out, sending tendrils of soothing warmth through every part of her.

“Not a thing. Goodnight, Dean.”

“Night, sweetheart.”

…

Chapter 10

[enixamyram]

I think I need to help some people understand Rogers, his relationship with his daughter and exactly how his poison heart actually worked. Because I've seen a lot of people (you know the lot) spreading misinformation to others, which isn't a surprise since they openly admit to not paying any attention to most of Season 7 and only actually watch the scenes that they personally like and accept.

Let’s start with Rogers motive for trading places with Original Killian in Episode 2:

Actions speak louder than words. Rogers did indeed, brag to Killian that his plan to was to steal Emma and he mentioned to Tremaine that he had left Killian to die (of thirst) so that he could take his place. However, for all he talked about doing this, all Rogers really did was knock Killian unconscious and leave him untied on the middle of an open cart in the middle of an open street where anyone could have found and help him. Or where he could have recovered in his own time and then given chase (you know, like he literally did!). There is absolutely no way this could have been a murder attempt. He clearly was a guy who was just talking big to seem more intimidating and just needed Killian temporarily out of the way in order to get True Loves Kiss from Emma to cure his heart.

Why he only started searching for Alice after his meeting with Killian and Emma:

He was a miserably depressed wreck. Right up until he met Killian and Emma. It was only after Emma gave him a second chance by saving his life, and also gave him her own little hope speech, that Rogers was able to pull himself out of his depression. Emma’s kind words gave him the inspiration and the strength to put himself together and continue his search for Alice once again.

Why did Rogers stay away from Alice and not just stay on the other side of the room:

Because that wouldn't have worked. We see many instances where even being in the same room as Alice causes him a great deal of pain and physically pushes them apart. It wasn't a case of touching Alice made his heart weaken. It affected him when she was so much as even near him (as Gothel herself says when she’s explaining it to them right after she originally poisoned him). Being across the room from her would literally just mean that a child Alice gets the utter horror of watching her father slowly die while in constant and steadily growing agony.

Why he didn’t die by her side anyway so as not to leave her alone for so many years:

Because after he was dead, Alice would still be trapped in the tower. Oh and THAT WOULD BE A BLOODY MESSED UP AND TRAUMATIC THING TO DO TO YOUR OWN DAUGHTER!

Why did he just run off to get drunk:

At first, he didn't. Rogers spent many years searching for a cure for his heart as well as a way to get Alice out of the tower. It was only after years and years of failing that he became depressed and let his depression get the better of him. Now I can somewhat understand why some people might still dislike him for this. (Though it does bring up the question on how sympathetic they are to people with depression...) However that still doesn't mean he just shrugged and went drinking the moment he was poisoned like some claim. 

Why didn't he visit her:

Because the poison would still have eventually killed him. The way the poison works is that it gradually made Hook's heart weaker.

Just so we're clear: Rogers heart didn't weaken when Alice was around and then strengthen back up once she was gone again. What the poison did was steadily make his heart weaker after every encounter they had. The pain he received may have eased over time but the damage it did to his heart did not. It stayed with him and eventually his heart was simply going to be weakened too many times and it would just have given out and he would have been killed.

You know, like it was doing in the same scene where Rogers is far away from Alice and with Robin instead. He's still dying and struggling so much that he can't even stand straight for long periods of time. Because his heart has taken so much damage from just being near Alice that he is literally dying (albeit slowly) in this moment. 

Why he didn’t use True Loves Kiss with his daughter:

He couldn't get near Alice. Every step towards her was causing him utter agony and began killing him! When they did, somehow, manage to rush a hug - they barely had a chance to fully touch one another when the poison quite literally propelled Rogers away from her.

Why Alice didn’t have True Loves Kiss with Robin:

Because Alice wasn't the one poisoned. Rogers was. That's why he was the one who needed TLK. (Emma kissing David while Snow was under the sleeping curse wouldn't have woken Snow either.) 

Why Rogers didn’t send Smee or someone else to look after Alice for him:

This was never canonly stated but I feel like there are a lot of reasons as to why Rogers never got help. The most obvious being that he had no idea where Smee and the crew were (they were sailing the seas somewhere and Rogers no longer had a ship to chase them). However I also always thought that Rogers knew no one would do it. Smee was willing to take his ship because Smee (as well as the rest of his crew) are pirates! They want to sail seas and be free. Smee respected Rogers as his captain, sure, but not enough to give up his entire life to babysit for him. Not to mention that pretty much all of Rogers' crew actually gave up their loyalty to him in favour of Blackbeard anyway. Because. Again. They're PIRATES! Aka, BAD SEA PEOPLE!

Otherwise I believe that Rogers didn't trust anyone to watch Alice. And honestly, why would he? He's been tricked twice by Gothel now, so I imagine he knew he couldn't find anyone else because (apart from just generally not knowing anyone else who could) he also couldn't trust they that were genuine and not another Gothel scheme in disguise.

So in summary: Rogers was not an evil man. He wasn't trying to steal Emma or kill Killian. He didn't abandon Alice the moment he was poisoned. He couldn't have ignored his poison or worked around it.

He's not a perfect guy, but he's not a terrible father, either.

[inevitably-johnlocked]

Heya Steph! I was wondering, you have so many fic rec lists and read so many, do you have on or a few johnlock fics you could always reread? Like, they are that good you can read them over and over...

Hi Lovely!!

AHHHHHH ACTUALLY, I’ve made a list for this before, but you know what? IT NEEDS A PART TWO because I actually pulled a lot of fics off of it to keep it shorter, so WHEE THANK YOU for giving me a reason to share even more of the fics I ALWAYS go back and never tire of!!

TOP 30 READ AGAIN FICS Pt 2

See also:

Top 30 Read-Again Fics (March 2019)

Top 20 Fave 40K+ w. Fics (April 2017)

Ten Fave Short Johnlock Fics (Easy Reads April 2018)

25 Fave Johnlock One Shots (April 2018)

Top 10 Fave Fics (September 2018)

Another Top 10 Fave Fics (June 2019)

Two To Tango (The Cold Hands, Warm Heart Remix) by igrockspock (T, 1,207 w., 1 Ch. || Domestics, John Whump, Worried Sherlock) – When John is wounded while pursuing a suspect, Sherlock refuses to leave his side.

Take My Hand, Knot Your Fingers Through Mine by patster223 (K+, 2,003 w., 1 Ch. || H/C & Friendship, Whump) - "I know this is an inconvenience for you, but I would really rather you were awake right now, John." John is unconscious, and Sherlock decides to talk to him anyway. Sherlock/John pre-slash.

Let Go by thisisforyou (G, 2,743 w., 1 Ch. || Friends to Lovers, First Kiss, Fluff, Anxious / Worried Sherlock) – In the end, separating John's things from Sherlock's in the chaos of their sitting room is like pulling a limpet from a wet rock. Especially when the rock is clinging on for dear life, because Sherlock doesn't want to let go. Short, fluffy h/c Johnlock oneshot.

And as the seasons change, I love you more by Teatrolley (NR, 3,219 w., 1 Ch. || Fluff and Angst, Est. Rel., Marriage / Proposal) – A year in the lives of John and Sherlock, essentially.

Measuring Damage With the Fujita Scale by teahigh (T, 3,548 w., 1 Ch. || First Kiss / Time, Vacation / Holidays, Friends to Lovers, Bed-Sharing, Pining Sherlock, Sherlock POV, Angsty Fluff, Scars, Awkward Talks) – John goes back into town, into the storm, and Sherlock realises he forgot to say, “I just want to be alone with you.”

Last Christmas by Mazarin221b (T, 3,911 w., 1 Ch. || Fluff, Pining Sherlock, First Kiss) – That Earth-shaking revelation, then, leads to a problem, and one that Sherlock realizes should be solved quickly, before John’s dates turn into girlfriends or boyfriends, because sometimes girlfriends or boyfriends can turn into wives or husbands while your back is turned. Every time John hums happily at the mirror as he shaves, splashes on a little gift cologne Mrs. Hudson bought him for Christmas, Sherlock is drawn back to that night by the fire, and the way John’s touch had made the world stand still.

Because Blah Blah Blah Happy by cwb (E, 4,578 w., 1 Ch. || Fluff, Cuddles, Kissing, First Kiss, Requited Love, Pining Sherlock) – John is entirely done with the milk situation and gives Sherlock a list of shit he's pissed about. Sherlock sets out to make John happy. John is happy. Sherlock makes his own list. They are both very, very happy.

In Which "John" Becomes a Synonym for "Help" by asignoftwo (T, 7,391 w., 1 Ch. || Injured John, Worried Sherlock, Fluff) –  After the fall Sherlock returns to Baker Street and is reunited with John. When John is injured on a case Sherlock is faced with the reality that he could lose John again, and it tears him apart.

I'm Pretty Sure This Changes Shit by cwb (E, 7,672 w., 1 Ch. || Fluff, Cudding, Doctor/Patient, Accidents, Pining Sherlock, Blow Jobs, Oral / Anal, BAMF John, Minor Injuries, Dev. Rel.) – Sherlock finds increasingly ridiculous ways to get John to patch him up after hurting himself.

I can’t pretend by Salambo06 (E, 7,692 w., 1 Ch. || Fake Relationship, Victor Trevor, Jealous John, Miscommunications, Bed Sharing, Love Confessions, First Kiss/Time, Anal, BJs) – They had arrived more than a hour ago, and the moment they had walked inside the hotel reception, John had understood why Sherlock hadn’t wanted to come. Two men, posh suits and expensive watches on their wrists, had come to greet them with sharp remarks and badly hidden mockery, and John had seen red. Sherlock hadn’t said anything, mostly ignoring the two men entirely, and without thinking twice about it, John had slid an arm around Sherlock’s waist and introduced himself as his husband.

Sibling Rivalry Or Fighting Over John Watson By Jessa7 (T, 8,085 w., 1 Ch. || Romance / Humour) – Mycroft is just as much of a genius as Sherlock is. He keeps randomly kidnapping John for chats, and the locations get better. Cue Sherlock’s younger sibling complex rearing up and jealousy ensues.

High Tide by stardust_made (T, 8,540 w., 1 Ch. || Jealousy, Angst, First Kiss) – A little favour Sherlock stupidly agrees to do for Mycroft leads to John meeting a handsome, affluent man, who is going out of his way to woo him. Sherlock struggles with the situation and with his own reactions to it. Part 1 of The High Tide Series

The Newlywed Game: Johnlock Edition by patternofdefiance (E, 9,020 w., 7 Ch. || Fake Rel., Friends to Lovers, Humour, Romance, Smut) – What it says on the tin: John and Sherlock pretend to be married in order to be contestants in a Newlywed Game. Of course it's for a case. Of course it doesn't stay that way. Part 8 of I Blame Tumblr

The Devil You Know by PipMer (T, 9,300 w., 1 Ch. || Friends to Lovers, Romance, Holmes Brothers, Jealous Sherlock) – The Holmes brothers are behaving oddly. John is dazed and confused. In other words, it's business as usual at 221B Baker Street. Except when it’s not.

Drive by lifeonmars (M, 9,537 w., 1 Ch. || Virginity, Awkward First Times, Minor Injuries) – John and Sherlock are stranded by the roadside, and John is injured. They need to spend the night in the back of a humvee. Sherlock is confused. John is understanding.

Their Great Reward by BeautifulFiction (T, 10,095 w., 1 Ch. || UST, First Kiss, Fluff) – Boxing day, in John's opinions, is the worst day of the year. Christmas is over, the tree is wilting and stripped of gifts, and there's a week of dead-time until the clean slate of the new year. However the combination of a blizzard, a power-cut and Sherlock might just make it a day to remember.

I Used to Live Alone Before I Knew You by etothepii (T, 11,052 w., 1 Ch. || Winglock || Angels / Demons, Supernatural Elements, Occult) – Where Mycroft is an angel, Sherlock is a demon, and John is still John.

The River Variations by withoutawish (T, 11,619 w., 1 Ch. || Soulmates, Emotional Hurt / Comfort, Three Garridebs, Romance, Light Case Fic, Near Death Experience, Angst and Fluff, Dark Humour) – John Watson never knew that he wanted a ‘no toast in the mornings’ normal until he realized what an honor it is to be destroyed by Sherlock Holmes.

Pleasure to Burn by scullyseviltwin (E, 17,863 w., 1 Ch. || Firefighter AU, Firefighter John / Arson Investigator Sherlock, Slow Burn, Pining, Case Fic-ish) – ��If you’d kindly stop knocking about in there and destroying all of my evidence, it would be most appreciated!” John groaned and for a moment rested his head against the side of the truck. Of course he was the only captain left on the scene, which meant he would have to be the one to deal with the arson investigator.

Checkmate to a Castled King by LaSuen (T, 18,290 w., 1 Ch. || Friendship, Hurt / Comfort, Sick Sherlock, Rev. Reich.) - John dies. Or at least everyone thinks he does.

Vena Cava by SilentAuror (E, 27,452 w., 1 Ch. || HLV Fix-It, Romance, H/C, Angst, Infidelity) – Sherlock has been shot in the chest; John has been shot in the heart. Though everything is broken, they do their best to heal the wounds that Mary left on them both.

Our Enthusiasms Which Cannot Always Be Explained by withoutawish (M, 32,961 w., 1 Ch. || Christmas, Fluff and Angst, H/C, Post-TRF, Case Fic, Mild Gore, Sherlock Whump) – The list that is tacked haphazardly on the refrigerator of 221B reads, ‘Kidney(s), and/or a full cadaver (preferably male, late 30s, under six feet tall), bag of fresh toes, sixteen cow’s eyes (corneas retained), dual exhaust hand –held flame thrower, an unopened first edition copy of Joseph Conrad’s 'Heart of Darkness', and no less than ten abhorrently gruesome murders in the upcoming month.” The one neatly hanging next to it simply reads, “Sex.” One of these lists is not John Watson’s. If John Watson were to put what he really wanted in list form, to live in a land somewhere beyond ‘almosts' now that Sherlock Holmes has indeed returned to him, he would never be able to look his flatmate in the eye ever again.

That Partitioning of the Things of Youth by wearitcounts (E, 35,353 w., 7 Ch. || Humour and Angst, Post-TRF, Fake Relationship, UST / RST, Friends to Lovers, Jealous John) – Victor Trevor is in town, and nobody's happy.

The Boy Who Drank Stars by kinklock (E, 36,157 w., 4 Ch. || Howl’s Moving Castle AU || Witches and Wizards, Slow Burn, Magic, Jealous John, Happy Ending, Bed Sharing) – “I’m looking for a castle,” John informed the scarecrow. “A moving one.”Except that, as it turned out, it was not a moving one at all.

A Week is Just Seven Days Isn't It? by scifigrl47 (T, 39,906 w., 4 Ch. || Humour, Friendship/Bromance, Stroppy/Bored Sherlock, Undercover/Army John, Texting, Pining-ish Sherlock, John Whump) – When John heads overseas for a week, Sherlock's forced to fend for himself. It goes about as well as anyone could have anticipated. Which is to say, very, very poorly. Don't worry, things'll be fine in just seven days.

There's Someone On Your Shoulder by halloa_what_is_this (NR, 41,215 w., 6 Ch. || Pining Sherlock, Introspection, Daydreams, Sherlock Loves John So Much it Hurts) – Sherlock trips and falls head over heels in love, makes a lot of lists and stares, stares, stares.

The Norwood Love Builders by flawedamythyst (T, 47,798 w., 9 Ch. || Fake Relationship, Slow Burn, Post TRF Angst) – Sherlock and John go undercover to solve the murder of Joanna Oldacre, but things are complicated by the many feelings John has been repressing in the wake of Sherlock's faked death and return.

The Green Blade by verityburns (T, 72,929 w., 15 Ch. || Casefic, Bromance) – As a serial killer hits the headlines, the police are out of their depth and the next victim is out of time. With faith in Sherlock Holmes at an all time low, this is a case which will push loyalties to the limit...

Breakable by MissDavis (E, 117,627 w., 34 Ch. || Established, Fluff/Angst, Depression, Paralysis, Happy-ish Ending) –After John is seriously injured, Sherlock struggles to figure out how to help him, keep himself sane, and maybe, just maybe, get their life back to the way it's supposed to be. Part 1 of Breakable Not Broken

A Further Sea by i_ship_an_armada & ShinySherlock (E, 125,492 w., 23 Ch. || Historical Pirates AU || Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Doctor John / Pirate Captain Sherlock, Sailing, UST / RST, Masturbation, Action / Adventure, Mild Angst & Peril, Romance, Shaving, Molly/Janine, Bottomlock, Hand / Blow Jobs, Past Drug Use, Slow Burn, Mild Violence, Facial Shaving, Happy Ending) – Here be a tale of adventure for both body and soul, but beware if ye be not of stout heart, for this be piratelock, ya savvy? Luckless ship's surgeon John Watson takes a chance, and finds himself eye to eye with The Ghost, the scourge of the seven seas and a definite thorn in the side of the blaggard, James Moriarty. But when John finds there's more to this most cunning pirate than be meetin' the eye, he has to choose... is it a pirate's life for him?

[stuffandnosense]

Back To You - Chpt 3

Chpt 1 | Chpt 2

A continuation of a Plangst prompt fill from @hailqiqi that got out of hand. Ooops.

Description: Post A/L breakup after season 7, Pidge and Lance are JUST starting to, maybe, figure something out. But then a mission gone wrong leaves Pidge unable to feel emotions, unable to act on the feelings they were barely sure they had, and the condition may or may not be permanent.

Now

Emotional hangover headaches are definitely a thing. Lance wakes the next morning with the worst one he’s had in a long time.

He feels cold and clammy as he stumbles out of bed and into the small shower down the hall, and he groans quietly to himself when a soft beeping from a panel in the stall tells him his time is up. The Atlas can only carry so much water, after all. It may have turned out to be somewhat magical itself, but it’s not the same as the castle. She has her limits.

The water cuts off, and Lance lets his head thunk against metal wall, trying to figure out if the last day or two really happened.

When he returns to his room he’s tempted to crawl back into bed now that he’s clean; it seems to take too much energy just to get his uniform on. At least it’s not that awful orange anymore.

It feels like dragging his feet to make it to the cafeteria though, and no one he really knows is there. It’s an odd time; too late for breakfast for most of the crew, and he should have been up far earlier. He wonders why no one woke him. Technically they have shifts, duties...his should have started two vargas ago and he hasn’t heard a word. Maybe they’re leaving him alone on purpose. It’s all a little more loose for the paladins anyway.

Well...fine. Lance chokes down a few bites before his throat refuses to swallow anymore.

But what now? They won’t reach the next planet for a couple of days, and...he can’t do anything else. He can’t help Pidge. He can’t...think.

He should find her, though. He doesn’t want her to look back if--when--they find a way to cure her, and think he didn’t care enough to be there for her. He does want to, it just…

His chest aches, but he tells himself to ignore it.

Pidge isn’t in her lab when he looks for her, which doesn’t make sense after yesterday. She seemed so focused on work. He checks the infirmary, Sam’s lab, her quarters--even the bridge, where Shiro gives him one of those concerned looks--but no Pidge.

He doesn’t expect to find her, finally, in the lion hangar, staring up at Green. She doesn’t look troubled, of course she doesn’t, but something still feels odd as he approaches.

“Pidge…?”

Lance stops a few feet shy of her when he realizes what it is.

Pidge is standing right here, but Green’s barrier is still up.

“Pidge?” he asks again. He can hear the urgency in his voice, but she doesn’t react to it. She doesn’t look his way, either.

“Green isn’t responding to me,” she says. “I suppose I should have expected it; after all, even though she is a more logical personality, the bonds with the lions are still very emotional in nature. And my side of that equation isn’t possible right now.”

Lance swallows. “I-it’s okay. We’ll figure out how to fix this. You’ll be back in your lion in no time.”

Pidge shrugs. “There’s no need to make promises you may not be able to keep, Lance.”

“I’m not—I mean…”

“It’s all right, it’s habit for you. You try to reassure people. There’s merit in it at times, certainly, but I don’t need it. Not now, anyway.”

Lance blinks. She did that yesterday—throwing out an overarching observation about him like that. Like they were things she thought about all the time, but never said. Not until now, without emotions like timidity or embarrassment to keep her from just saying them.

It doesn’t escape him that even now, she’d framed them as good things--or not bad things, anyway. Both times. But why would she have been thinking about them before? Why did those things matter to her?

But...if he really tries to think about why, it’s only going to hurt more. He knows it will. Best to save that until Pidge is herself again.

He closes the distance between them to place a tentative hand on her shoulder. She looks at him, finally, when he does it, but where the Pidge he knew from two days ago would surely have been upset about not being able to reach her lion...there’s nothing now. And he doesn’t know if he’ll ever get used to that. He hopes more than anything he won’t have to.

“You don’t mind if I say stuff like that anyway, do you? It may not do anything for you right now, but, you know...it still helps the rest of us.”

Pidge doesn’t bat an eye. “Of course.”

“Thanks…” He lets his hand drop back to his side. “Pidge, you…? You do want us to fix it, right?”

She raises an eyebrow at him, and if he didn’t feel like his stomach was in a meat grinder he might enjoy how cute she looks doing it. It’s very Spock.

But even Spock actually had emotions under there somewhere.

“I don’t have a personal preference,” she tells him. “On one hand, even with less than twenty-four hours of data to draw from I can estimate staying with way would leave me personally more efficient, but on the other I’m aware it wouldn’t be ideal for the team. All of you will be far too focused on the issue to be as efficient as you could be in other areas until this is resolved.”

Lance smirks, but he’s pretty sure it comes out tired. “Are you accusing us of being unprofessional?”

“No. Merely human.”

“I see…”

“In any case, the situation is certainly not ideal now that it seems it might be necessary to find a new paladin before forming Voltron would be possible again.”

“We won’t have to do that,” Lance says quickly.

“I know it would be preferable not to have to go to the trouble.”

Lance opens his mouth again to tell her that isn’t why he’s so adamant at all, but he thinks a part of her knows. She may not be feeling emotions herself, but either she’s always been good at analyzing the rest of them and she’s only now able to voice those observations, or not having her own emotions in the way has made her even better at it.

Or both.

“Anyway,” he sighs. “So if we find a way, you’ll let us try?”

“Yes.”

***

“Lance, are you sure about this?” Veronica asks again.

“Does it necessarily have to be you?” Sam questions. “I’d be happy to let Allura rummage around in my brain, too.”

Veronica crosses her arms tightly over her chest. “Or mine.”

Allura settles beside Lance on the edge of the infirmary bed he’s perched on. “As much as I appreciate your offers, your brains are older and fully developed. Lance and Hunk are really the only two humans on board young enough to have brains that are still developing the way Pidge’s should be. If I’m going to gain an understanding of what a human brain in later adolescence should feel like, and how it should operate, it has to be one of them, I’m afraid.”

Sam sighs. “I know that. I should know that.” His eyes close briefly, and Lance reaches out to touch his sleeve.

“It’ll be fine,” he says, both to Sam and his sister. “I trust Allura.”

But Allura ia already making a face when he turns back to her.

“What?”

“You...you should be sure, Lance. This may not be...easy. This is so much more complicated than transferring a consciousness from a lion that was willing to help me to an unconscious body, or relatively simple physical healing or energy manipulation in comparison. This is testing the limits of what I learned in Oriande, if it is even possible.”

“You’re not gonna hurt me, Allura.”

“...I might.”

He swallows and takes her hands. He knew that. She’d already tried to warn him once, when she asked that they do this here just in case. A doctor is standing by.

“That’s okay too. We have to do this. It isn’t even a question for me.”

“Lance,” Veronica says sharply. He already knew this was dangerous but she didn’t; not until now. He hadn’t wanted to give her the opportunity to try to talk him out of it any sooner.

“It’s my decision, okay?”

“What about the rest of your team? What do they think?”

Lance smiles a little. “Where do you think they are? They’re keeping Pidge distracted.” Hunk even tried to offer to do it himself, but Lance wasn’t having any of it.

After leaving the hangar this morning he came straight to Allura to see how she doing on a plan. It looked like she and Coran had been up all night trying to decide the best course of action. That was when she told him she needed his help.

“Of course,” he told her then. “Anything you need. Just get some rest first?”

Veronica seems to understand now, but she’s still grumbling. “I just don’t like to see you put yourself in danger.”

She went there. Of course she did. Lance sees the opportunity and takes it. “That’s very sweet, but knock it off.”

She snorts. “Fine. Guess I walked right into that one.”

“You really did. Anyway...I’m ready if you are, Allura.”

She lets out a breath. “I am as ready as I can be.”

They turn to face each other on the edge of the infirmary bed, and Allura places her hands on either side of his face, fingertips at his temples. When she closes her eyes Lance does too. It doesn’t really matter, he supposes, but it seems like the right thing to do. Maybe he should be trying to...focus, or whatever. Help. Somehow.

He can feel the warmth of Allura’s energy on his skin; the blue glow seeps through his eyelids. He wonders if this is what he would have felt if he’d been awake when she used her alchemy to  save him before.

But he only wonders for a moment. He doesn’t like to dwell on that day.

Allura’s fingers shift against his face. “Lance...it’s all right. I need you to relax your mind, if you can.”

He frowns, eyes still closed. “What do you mean? I thought I was?”

“You...hmm. You may not be conscious of it. But we can come back to that; I have the physical aspects of your brain to familiarize myself with first.”

“Okay…”

Lance opens his eyes briefly to see Allura’s still closed--her brow furrowed in that way she has when she concentrates. Not unlike the way Pidge looks when she does. Something in his chest warms and…

How can he love both of them so much? When did that even happen? And when did the differences...change? A year ago, sitting this close to Allura, watching her face like this...even two months ago...he would have been blushing. Or something. Now all he wants is to protect her. He wants her to be happy.

The feelings for Allura, he’s beginning to realize, have become no different, really, than what he feels for Veronica, or Rachel. Maybe they were different once, but it doesn’t matter now. He wouldn’t trade the friendship he has with Allura now for anything.

Veronica tilts her head at him when he glances at her.

What? he mouths. She just shrugs. He’ll ask her later.

Lance turns back to Allura, all of them quiet as she focuses, and for a while there is comfortable silence. A faint ache pushes into Lance’s head, radiating from his temples, but surely that’s expected with someone probing around in his brain with strong energy. He can almost feel it--like tingling fingers exploring the inside of his head. Taking in how his synapses are put together.

“Are you all right?” Allura asks.

“Yeah, it’s just kind of...weird, I guess.”

“I suppose it is; you may be experiencing some discomfort, but please tell me immediately if it gets any worse. I don’t want to harm you.”

“Yeah, yeah…”

But the dull ache is all there is. No worse than the headache he woke up with this morning, really.

Until it is.

Allura warns him. She lets him know she has enough information about his brain physically--that she’s going to try to enter his mind again. She warned him before, too. When she first asked for his help.

“It may be...awkward. For us. Just...due to recent events. Perhaps I should ask Hunk.”

“He’d do it, but no, it’s okay, really; I want to do this, Allura.”

Lance thinks he’s ready for that. He thinks he’s ready to open his mind her. He wants to, but he can feel her running into a wall he never meant to put up anyway.

And it hurts.

He hears himself shouting. Allura gasps and starts to withdraw but he catches her wrists and holds her hands where they are on his head.

“N-No, what are you doing! Keep going!”

“Lance, I am hurting you; your mind is reacting to the intrusion.”

“So tell it to shut up,” he gasps. “Or...or something.”

“Lance…!” Veronica’s voice. He ignores it. A hand is at his back now; maybe Sam?

“Allura, y-you have find a way around this or you can’t help Pidge; what if her mind does the same thing? Please...come...come on...just…” It’s hard to pry his eyes open again, but he has to look at her. Hers are open now. Alarmed. He has to let her know it’s okay. “Please.”

Allura swallows, but she adjusts her grip and leans in again.

Lance lets his hands fall, and someone takes one of them. Veronica. He doesn’t having any qualms with squeezing hers as his head screams at him. His chest heaves and he knows there are tears on his face, but it doesn’t matter. He can do this. He has to do this…

I’m so sorry, Lance, are you all right? Allura’s voice, as the pain finally begins to fade. But she isn’t speaking aloud.

I...I guess so? Are you in my head now? The feeling of an affirmative answers him more than words. What happened?

It’s difficult to explain. I’m sorry I hurt you.

This is worth it. Besides...it wasn’t really you hurting me, was it?

In a sense, no...but in any case. I can bypass a response like that in future, I think. With anyone.

Good.

I still need to get a feel for a human emotional landscape, but perhaps we should wait. You should rest. And we should examine you to be sure no damage was done.

Lance frowns. But I’m okay…

Please? For me, Lance. Let’s be certain.

He sighs aloud. “Okay.”

Allura withdraws her hands, and when he opens his eyes the pain has faded to a harsh ache. He sways, dizzy, and the hand at his back moves in around his shoulder.

“You okay, son?”

Lance clears his throat. “I um...yeah, Sam, thanks. I just…” He swipes at his face to dry the tears and realizes his hands are trembling. He scowls at them, and Veronica is already calling for the doctor, but in the end they don’t find anything wrong. Not really.

“I told you I was fine,” he tells Allura. He’s trying to tease--to make her feel better--but the smile she gives him in return is weak.

“I’d still like to keep you tonight,” the doctor cuts in. “You’re still in some pain, and we’re not sure why; it would be better to keep an eye on you.”

“It’s just a headache,” Lance grumbles.

“That you got from letting your alien friend mess around in your brain,” Veronica retorts.

“Hey, this is not Allura’s fault—”

“I didn’t say it was; I’m just stating facts…”

Allura squeezes his shoulder. “The doctor is right, Lance; it would be better to be sure. I would feel better if you stayed. I’ll stay with you, if you like.”

Lance chuckles quietly. “That’s okay. I mean you can if you want to, but it’s fine; I’ll stay.”

***

A new weight on the edge of the bed rouses Lance from sleep, waking him in the kind of sudden way that makes him sit up with a gasp. His head pounds out its protest, but at least it doesn’t hurt as much as it did before the doctor had to give him a sedative to help him actually get to sleep.

A small figure shifts in the dimness of the infirmary. “I’m sorry; I didn’t mean to startle you.”

Lance rubs at his temples, wincing. “Pidge? What are you doing here?” When he finds a clock in the dark, he realizes it’s the middle of the night. “It’s late.”

“Hunk finally told me what you’d been doing--where you disappeared to. What you were doing you were doing for my benefit, so it seemed customary to check on you.”

He snorts quietly. “In the middle of the night?”

“I was working.”

“Yeah, well...thanks. I guess.” He can’t find it in himself to frustrated with her.

“It wasn’t necessary to put yourself in danger.”

“Now you sound like Veronica.”

Pidge just blinks at him. “It isn’t reasonable to risk having two paladins out of commission when one is already unable to fly.”

Lance let out a quiet breath and leans forward. “In this case, it is to me,” he answers. “You need to know that.”

“Why?”

“Because I hope you’ll remember that when you’re back to normal.”

“I meant why is it reasonable to you?”

“I…” Lance hesitates. “I don’t think I should explain it right now.”

Silence, for a moment. “You want to wait to tell me until I’m myself again.”

He nods slowly. “Yeah...I guess.”

“What if we’re unable to find a solution, and I stay this way?”

“You won’t.”

Why does she keep asking those questions? He knows they won’t bother her right now, but she’s also said she still...understands, somehow, what the rest of them are going through. In an objective sort of way. If she knows it will hurt him to ask why does she ask?

But she raises an eyebrow at him like she did this morning, and she does it again. “But if I did?”

He stares at her longer this time. She’s looking at him with those eyes he’s always been sure could see right through him and…

Something in his gut twists, and he knows what she’s doing.

She’s trying to make him think about it. She’s trying to prepare him for the worst.

Without emotions she may only be doing it because she knows it will be better for the workings of the team if they’re all prepared, but…

There has to be part of her that’s doing it for him. He has to believe that.

“Pidge…”

His eyes drift shut. He can hear her laughing in his memory and he’s not ready to let it go.

“We’re not giving up, okay? I’m not. If…” His throat clogs briefly, and he has to swallow a few times to clear it. “I-If it comes to that I’ll deal with it then.”

Please don’t ask me to let you go before I have to.

Read Chpt 4 >>

** Thank you so much for reading! I’d love to hear what you think! **

[hundredsunny]

op oc #3: APRIL

im baaaaaaack

u are about to read about my prime DAUGHTER april. the rogue princess. a real pokemon! hahahhahaha she nabbed herself the AURA AURA FRUIT yo this is wild so get ready to learn about ol’ blue eyes!!!!!!!!!!

NAME: april (i dont have a surname for her i cant think of anything and ive had her for 8 years im sorry) EPITHET: “aura shooter” ooOOoOOoOoo AGE: 18 (pre) 20 (post) BIRTHDAY: april (incredible would u have ever guessed) 5th!!!  BIRTHPLACE: nimbasa island in the south blue SEX: female HEIGHT: 5′6″ WEIGHT: 122lbs HAIR COLOR: sandy brown EYE COLOR: blue APPEARANCE: before she escaped her home, she wore an icy blue dress underneath a navy blue cloak and her hair down with a CROWN of course but she hated wearing it a lot. her hair when worn down reaches the middle of her biceps. after she escaped she ONLY wore her hair in a ponytail and she always wore a red bandanna with a white arch atop her head at all times!! it was a gift from her mamma the QUEEN herself. she also wore a white t-shirt with red triangles bordering the collar and the ends of her sleeves. does that make sense? i sure hope. she wore a red sash around her waist and then she popped on some black pants and boots. real piratey. also some of her hair kinda pops out in the front so theres a good chunk that sometimes covers her left side. look at u go princess. AFTER the timeskip she cut her hair so it reaches just above her shoulders, and instead of wearing her hair up and with the bandanna, she wears it down but with a black headband. her bandanna is tied around her left bicep (fashion inspo: zoro). she wears a green sleeveless crop top, and theres a scar that reaches from the back of her shoulder to the end of her collarbone. she earned that shit from her wild timeskip training. oof. shes ok. she wears light-washed pants and some addidas-lookin shoes lmao she also wears a rly loose belt too. also she has gold earrings and thas about it. her eyes are round and just v pretty and blue. her nose turns up at the end just a tad bit and it’s so cute she’s so cute. she has a dimple on the right side of her mouth. her mommas face :’) shes fairly skinny but after the timeskip she gained some muscles made 4 punching douchecanoes  REPRESENTATIVE SMELL: vanilla FAVE FOOD: pasta FAVE DRINK: lemonade  FAVE SEASON: fall REPRESENTATIVE NATIONALITY: australian BOUNTY: initial bounty was 60,000,000 (for being runaway royalty) but after dressrosa she SKRTED up to 155,000,000 DEVIL FRUIT: aura aura fruit a paramecia type. the fruit allows the user to manipulate their energy. with the aura aura fruit, users are able to detect the aura of others, repel the aura of others, and project their own. the power of aura is mood-sensitive and can change a lot. can u believe april is lucario 6 forms of aura: red is physical nature, orange is intelligence, yellow is sheer willpower, green is healing, blue is emotion, vioilet(i THINK) is mental communication. i forgot what i wrote down for the aura types lmaoooo the biggest drawback of this fruit is that the user can only use a limited amount at one time. another drawback is that they cant manipulate other people’s aura??? it’s rly hard to explain this but trust me it makes sense when it’s put into action i promise SKILLS SET: most of her attacks are used with red aura since it relates to physical nature. wild. “aura bullet” is just shootin aura goodbye. i love pokemon. lmao. uh “aura detect” is when she can see what someone else’s aura looks like, so basically she can determine if someone is a bastard or not before they even open their mouth. “aura clone” clones herself with aura and that takes a LOT of effort to pull this one off especially when she wants to use multiple clones. “aura bomb” yo this one is wild she uses it for diversions and escaping since it kinda acts as a smoke bomb but when she uses this thing in battle OOOOH BOY. “starstorm” ok this is like the “im going to die after i do this move” kinda thing. it combines all the damn types of aura and it just RAINS down on ppl. goodbye april. anyways there are more basic moves but i dont rly wanna get too into that rn im sorry PROFESSION: runaway princess lol CREW: straw hat pirates  PERSONALITY: an easygoing girl. v mellow for the most part but there are times where she can get pretty goofy (thanks jack). if the wrong buttons are pushed, she becomes a HURRICANE. she does have confidence issues but since she met luffy, she’s really started to overcome them. shes got a horrible habit of being sarcastic and also she asks a LOT of questions holy SHIT honey. she is TERRIFIED of heights so when franky lays down a good ol coup de burst, her soul leaves her body. g o o d b y e. she was very cold when she first met luffy and the gang bc she lived with the person who killed her mom AND jack left sooooo she was a little bitter. eventually she learned to rly live with the mugiwaras. when she first joined the crew, she was very shy and timid and tried hard to fit in. she was SO intimidated by zoro like he genuinely scared the fuck out of her so she always tried hard to not be a Fool around him but once she got comfortable with everyone she just had a good ol time. “hey grassy ass!! :))” “can u fucking not call me that”. she has the CUTEST laugh oh me oh my. honestly just a rly passionate gal, she just wants to be strong and be able to protect her pals. refuses outside help. bros out with luffy and usopp and chopper sometimes but also judges them from afar like nami does. it all just depends on the day. truly. i once wrote a series of one-shots where each one was an adventure that april had with one other straw hat. luffy was the first one, and THAT was wild. zoro’s was fucking baller. so on and so forth. rly shows off her dynamic with each member. april? shes honestly just a good person and im proud of her bc she works so hard  LIKES: training, traveling, every single animal ever, reading DISLIKES: heights, the marines, the heat, people who walk horrifically slow in crowded places WEAPON(S): aside from her devil fruit shes got a dagger she sometimes uses. jack gave one to her right before he left HISTORY: OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO king jed and queen serena had a baby girl. APRIL. that made her the princess. anyways she grew up as any princess would--spoiled. however the spoiling never got to her head bc serena was so good about teaching her things like that. serena was a goddess i love her pls come back. serena was wildly popular with the citizens of the kingdom bc of her caring and friendly personality. she would always take april into the kingdom every day and pay visits to the citizens. out of all the citizens they paid visits to, the most common faces she saw were those of the solo family. cain was jed’s most talented and trusted knight. he and his wife celeste had 2 kids: jack and sho YO. jack was 7 yrs older than sho and 3 yrs older than april. april and jack became fast friends and often explored the kingdom together. regular kid stuff u know. jack’s mom was always like “jack NO u CANNOT take the PRINCESS to the farms thats FILTY” hahahah but they went anyway.  jed? a dark man. idk who hurt him or what made him so murderous. but. he was tired of serena treating the citizens like equals. he believed that royalty should be viewed as gods.  when april was 8 jed killed serena oh god there it is theres the tragic anime mom death. as soon as serena died, the dynamic of the kingdom instantly changed. soon after jed took total control, people began leaving the island. eventually, the island became so empty that only a handful of families remained. jed did not allow april to leave the castle at all, and with that rule, it damaged the friendship that she and jack had. ofc around that time jack’s dad ran off as well so he stopped tryin to visit her for a bit. but then once he got back into his groove hed sneak all about, avoiding the night patrols, and hed just sit outside of april’s window and talk to her.  when april was 11 she discovered a devil fruit hidden away in the trashed artifacts that belonged to her mother. she ate the devil fruit and was like “now im strong, fight me JED” but lol she got her ass whooped poor bby when april was 16 jack left the island, leaving her completely and utterly alone. the exposure to such loneliness began to change april into a more reserved, bitter person.  2 yrs later the STRAW HATS stumbled upon the island. at that time april had started a habit of sneaking out of the castle to roam the empty streets of nimbasa, but during one of her strolls, she encountered robin, franky, and brook. she ended up knocking them unconscious bc she felt threatened. the second group she met consisted of zoro, chopper, and sanji. they had been captured by guards and were brought into the throne room to be interrogated by jed. april was required to be there as well so she kinda sat in her throne and looked mad the entire time. sanji was like “NO WHY DOES SHE LOOK SO MAD SHE NEEDS TO BE HAPPY” and zoro was like “ive never seen someone so happy to see my face” and chopper was just having a crisis bc they were abt to be tossed into the shadow realm at the hands of the king. zoro got mouthy and jed didnt have none of that shit so he told april to kill zoro but she just knocked him out instead. that pissed jed off. THE NEXT person she met was luffy. she only met luffy bc he infiltrated a banquet thing by sitting underneath a cart. classic luffy. she didnt meet nami and usopp until WAAAAY later. yadda yadda yadda shit goes down (i wrote a whole arc for this. it’s called the princess and the pirates lmao original but yes i wrote an entire arc for her recruitment and it’s A Lot) ANYWAYS luffy asked her to join the crew but she declined at first bc she thought pirates were just like her father: power-hungry and murderous. however that obv changed when she was exposed to the straw hats more when luffy defeated jed who ate the ___ ___ fruit (tbh i forgot what fruit he ate im sorry) she KNEW she belonged with the straw hats. :’) she still be sailin with the legends. shes had some wild times obv. her arc comes a bit after thriller bark. woopie!!!!!!! like always, lemme know if u wanna know more about her!!!

[rudemaidenswrite]

What is Meant to Be

part 5

by: @pusantheamazonian

part 1:https://rudemaidenswrite.tumblr.com/post/168955583826/what-is-meant-to-be

part 2:https://rudemaidenswrite.tumblr.com/post/169996173916/what-is-meant-to-be

part 3:https://rudemaidenswrite.tumblr.com/post/169996536566/what-is-meant-to-be

part 4:https://rudemaidenswrite.tumblr.com/post/169996730016/what-is-meant-to-be

It’s early in the morning; well the butt crack of dawn. Lukas has already left for the morning. He goes on a run and checks the garden every morning at an ungodly hour. The beds cold now without his body heat, so grabbing a pillow and throwing the blanket around you. You migrate to Jean-Paul’s door. Knocking hard a couple of times you debate on whether you should just go in. Because Kyle arrived late last night and they could be naked so you’re going to wait a few minutes before knocking again.

“Ana? What are you doing here this early?” Jean-Paul answers the door groggily.

“The bed was cold.” With a mumble you shuffle past him aiming straight towards his bed.

“The bed was cold? Oh did Lukas go on an early morning run?”

“Mmhm.” You blurrily see that Kyle is still asleep, you flop down beside him on top of the blankets half way off the bed. Immediately falling asleep.

 ~

“Ana…..hey Ana it’s time to wake up.” Kyle’s voice is soft; soft like melted chocolate.

“Noooo.” You bury your face even farther in the pillow. Kyle chuckles and begins to rub your head.

“Ana it almost 10 o’clock, you need to wake up so I can make the bed.”

“Ugh.” With the blanket still wrapped around you; you roll off the bed with a soft thud.

“You alright?” Kyle snickers.

“Ya been through worse.” Rubbing the sleep out you can see that Kyle is dressed for the day and has his dread locks pulled into a ponytail.

“Well if you go get dressed and meet me in the kitchen downstairs. I will make you some food. I hear you love bacon strip pancakes.”

With that incentive you scramble to the door. The whole way you can hear Kyle’s laugh. Within 15 minutes you are dressed and down in the kitchen with Kyle.

Kyle Jinadu, the gorgeous man of chocolate. Standing at six feet this guy is one of the sweetest people of the male species you have ever met. Nonjudgmental and caring; married to your third-best guy friend and is currently making you bacon strip pancakes.

“Good morning to you sunshine. It’s good to see you official awake now.” Kyle smiles flipping the pancakes

“Ya, ya I’ve finally risen from the dead. It’s good to see you too. When did you get here?”

“Around 1AM, business meetings ran late.”

“Good grief.”

“Eat up and you can help decide some stuff with the Northstar Company.” Kyle puts the pile in front of you.

“Oh you better not let her decide, she might have me snowboarding down Mount Everest.” Jean-Paul laughs walking to Kyle and giving him a kiss before stealing one of your bacon pancakes.

“Awe, can’t I marry you two? All I would require are hugs.” You pout seeing how sweet and carefree they are. They are so cute and happy it makes you wanna throw up.

“Sorry Ana but we aren’t in Utah.” Kyle chuckles.

“Besides don’t you have a soulmate back in New York City?” Jean-Paul teases.

“No comment.” You frown at Jean-Paul

“Ah so that’s the reason you have suddenly showed up here.” Kyle reasons.

“There was a complicated argument fueled by emotions and superpowers with no verbal decree of commitment.” Jean-Paul steals another strip.

“Oh you’re defiantly snowboarding down Mount Everest now.” You toss your fork at Jean-Paul.

“I doubt that.” Smiling Jean-Paul knows what’s up. Lukas kept Jean-Paul in the loop about what Lukas is about you, he purposely brings Ana more into a conversation.

 Lukas and Kurt have gone to visit the Avengers in Stark Tower. They have landed in the middle of the living room surprising everyone there.

“Who the hell are you?” Clint asks from his spot on the couch.

“Where is he?” Lukas scans the room looking for Loki.

“Ah if it isn’t the Australian Dorito.” Tony says taking drink of scotch.

“Where is he?” Lukas asks again with more determination. His ambassador skills wearing thin. The Avengers are slowly encircling Kurt and Lukas.

“Oh you mean the walking terror that is currently destroying everything I love?” Sarcasm reigning from Tony.

“Yes, him.”

“Well he is currently fighting with Thor in the gym.” Steve pipes in nodding towards the doorway.

“Will you show me the way?” Lukas tries to ask nicely.

“Lukas are you sure?” Kurt begins to question if Lukas’s plan will work.

“What so you can cause more damage?” Tony walks closer, drink still in hand eyeing Lukas.

“If Loki wants to get Ana back he is going to have to learn somethings.” Lukas stares Tony down.

“I’ll show you the way.” Clint voices walking away from the group.

“Clint!” Everyone responds looking at Clint in surprise.

“Come on.” Clint complains walking to the elevator; Lukas and Kurt follow.

As the elevator slows Lukas can hear the yelling and sounds of things crashing from inside. The room is practically destroyed. The walls have several holes in them with all of the equipment in pieces. Lukas picks up a lone weight and hurls it at Loki’s head.

“You idiot!” Lukas yells. The weight bounces off of Loki’s head seeming to merely stun him before he turns to find the culprit. The rest of the group stays back.

“You.” Loki angrily breathes.

“Did you consider that you two being apart would put her in more danger than when you are together?” Lukas closes the distance.

“What would you know?” Loki sneers.

“A lot actually like how you two don’t really know each other but have a deep bond or how this fight is a stupid reason to break up.”

“I am supposed to believe that you know what happened?”

“Yes I do know Ana has told me everything. Why? Because I’m her best friend, above all I will do what it takes to keep her happy. Even if it means coming to talk to the dumbass she still likes after he broke her heart.”

“Then why are you here if you care so much about her happiness?”

“This fight is nonsense trust me I know from experience.”

“What experience would that be?”

“My fiancé is a non-mutant. I have had this fight about safety before, it is best to keep her with you.”

“Nonsense and we don’t have a deep bond.”

“Lies! Your eyes glassed over.”

“Huh?” Loki unconsciously takes a step back.

“Ana may not be very talkative but she is observant. For the fact that she can tell when you lie, your eyes glass over or how when you start to get angry your right hand starts to twitch. When you’re nervous you start to fidget with your left palm. What about how you are hesitant to touch the others because they might think that you will try to mind control them if you move too quickly.”

Loki is taken aback at how well Solana really observed him. Not just his flaws but his inner most thoughts as well.

“Lukas calm down.” Kurt whispers seeing how riled up he is now.

“But what about you? For being around her 24/7 you should know some pretty basic stuff about her. Like what is her favorite comic book; favorite musical; favorite color; what season does she prefer; favorite flower; is she a morning or a night person; what is her comfort food? If you don’t know what her comfort food is then you sure as hell don’t know her or know the fact that she has dual citizenship.” Lukas stops talking long enough to breath quickly before turning on everyone in the room. “Besides no one noticed the changes in her personality or routine?”

“What changes?” Natasha asks.

“Some friends you guys are. Not once the whole time she was here did she have any of her medication.” Lukas is extremely disappointed in the so called Avenger. Claiming to be Ana’s friends but not noticing anything wrong with her.

“Medication?” Thor begins to question what they missed.

“She takes medication every day for PTSD, anxiety, insomnia and depression.”

“The scratching.” Cue lightbulb to Loki realizing the latest weird thing you had been doing.

“Yes that’s one of her late signs.” Lukas exaggerated his eye roll.

“Why didn’t she say anything?” Steve is concerned because of the ways he had treated you and the news about your health.

“She would rather suffer in silence than to be a bother or have people treat her differently because she takes medication.” Lukas looks back at Loki. “So you better figure out what you are going to do.”

[junker-town]

The first college basketball weekend after the Super Bowl lived up to the hype

Photo by Todd Kirkland/Getty Images

Duke-North Carolina was nuts, but it was far from the only noteworthy event of the weekend.

As is usually the case, the first college basketball weekend after the Super Bowl was loaded with high-profile matchups, rivalry showdowns, and some ridiculous finishes.

Here are the 10 things you need to know from the most jam-packed weekend of the 2019-20 college hoops season to date.

1. Duke-North Carolina

We don’t need to rehash the two buzzer-beaters or the comedy of hours that set the stage for both to take place. We also don’t need to dive too deeply into how Saturday’s loss probably doomed any hope North Carolina had of salvaging something out of this mess of a season. What does need to be discussed is how the top-16 reveal earlier in the day showcased why this win for Duke might wind up being massively important.

Ever since the NCAA tournament Selection Committee abandoned the standard S-curve in favor of geographical preference for the top four seeds, the top line has typically been a battle for the East, South and Midwest regions, typically in that order. That’s looking like it won’t be the case in 2020. All four teams currently pegged as No. 1 seeds are schools located west of the Mississippi River. This resulted in a situation where on Saturday we found out that if the tournament began today, San Diego State, by virtue of being the “worst” No. 1 seed would be forced to play its Sweet 16 and Elite Eight games at Madison Square Garden in New York.

We also discovered on Saturday that Duke is currently regarded as the strongest of the No. 2 seeds, which would also result in the Blue Devils heading to the Big Apple for the tournament’s second weekend. The Garden is like a second home for Coach K’s program, and the Dukies would almost certainly have a crowd advantage at MSG over whatever two teams it would play inside the building.

Duke already has two non-Quad 1 losses on its resume. Adding a third — North Carolina is currently No. 89 in the NET Rankings — would have almost certainly put the Devils behind at least Dayton and Louisville on the Committee’s updated seed list.

Winning round one with UNC may not ultimately wind up the difference between Duke getting New York and San Diego State as its one seed vs. Duke getting sent to the Midwest and having Baylor as its one seed, but for now at least, that’s precisely the situation.

2. Bob Knight back in Bloomington

On a college basketball weekend that saw nearly all of its ranked teams take care of business, the sport’s biggest upset may have been Bobby Knight finally returning to an Indiana game at Assembly Hall for the first time since being unceremoniously fired two decades ago. The eight minute halftime ceremony was touching, it was awkward, and it would have taken on a completely different tone had Knight punched Dick Vitale in the face, which seemed like it might happen for a brief moment.

Definitely thought Bob Knight was going to knock Dick Vitale smooth out on national television. pic.twitter.com/Osv25c3XKb

— Kyle Boone (@Kyle__Boone) February 8, 2020

Oh, by the way, Purdue dominated its arch-rival and won a pretty big game for both teams, 74-62.

3. Seton Hall is running the Big East

Three weeks ago, the Big East appeared to have a strangle-hold on the title of “top to bottom, the most competitive conference in college basketball.” Instead, the league now has a 10-1 team at the top and a 1-10 team at the bottom.

The team at the bottom, of course, is DePaul. At the top is Seton Hall, which went on the road Saturday and took down Villanova, 70-64. The result of that win is that the Pirates are now a full three games ahead of everyone else in the Big East, and remain undefeated in conference road games.

Not only do Myles Powell and company look capable of becoming the first Seton Hall team since 2000 to make the Sweet 16, they look like they have the potential to be the Final Four-caliber squad Pirate fans have spent more than two decades waiting for.

Villanova, meanwhile, has suddenly dropped three straight and is in desperate need of finding its footing before this slide becomes a free fall.

4. Michigan State is reeling

Speaking of high-profile slides, preseason No. 1 Michigan State has now also lost three in a row following Saturday’s 77-68 setback at Michigan.

The good news if you’re a Sparty fan? MSU went through a three-game slide at almost this exact point in the season a year ago. They responded by winning 14 of their last 16 games on their way to winning the Big Ten regular-season title, the Big Ten tournament title, and a trip to the Final Four.

We’re likely going to know pretty quickly if recent history is going to repeat itself in 2020. The Spartans will hit the road to face Illinois — currently tied for second-place in the Big Ten — on Tuesday, and then host league-leading and ninth-ranked Maryland on Saturday.

5. Madness in the Missouri Valley

With all due respect to both of Duke’s buzzer-beaters, this from Southern Illinois was the most impressive finish to a game of the weekend.

MARCUS DOMASK @SIU_Basketball wins a thriller over Missouri State with this buzzer-beater from the freshman! pic.twitter.com/bSkJjOxzrm

— MVC Basketball (@ValleyHoops) February 9, 2020

That’s Ronnie Suggs with the ridiculous pass and Marcus Domask with the even more absurd catch and shoot to lift Southern Illinois past Missouri State. The Salukis continue to be one of the most pleasant surprises in all of mid-major basketball. Picked to finish dead last in the Missouri Valley Conference before the start of the season, they’re now 9-3 in the league, all alone in second place, and just one game behind first-place Northern Iowa.

6. Louisville breaks its Virginia curse

After losing nine straight games to Virginia, Louisville finally got over the hump against the reigning national champions on Saturday. As is typically the case when these two get together, the game was weird.

Virginia entered Saturday having not scored more than 65 points all season and ranked 348th in the country in three-point percentage (27.2 percent). It promptly canned 11-of-22 from beyond the arc and hung 73 points on a Louisville team that entered the day No. 18 nationally in adjusted defensive efficiency. None of it was enough, as the same Cavalier team that came into Saturday allowing opponents to score just 50.4 PPG let Louisville go off for 80. The previous high for an ACC foe against Virginia had been 63.

On Ken Pom, where massive ranking shifts are typically limited to the first two months of the season, Virginia’s offense jumped from No. 274 in the country to No. 228. Louisville’s offense moved from No. 15 to No. 8, and its defense fell from No. 18 all the way down to No. 31.

The projected final score for the game going into the day had been Louisville 59, Virginia 49.

7. Humanity in the Pac-12

Early in the second of what would ultimately be an 81-74 Colorado win, Stanford’s Oscar da Silva was momentarily knocked unconscious after being inadvertently elbowed by the Buffaloes’ Evan Battey. The elbow sent da Silva to the floor, where his head slammed against the court and began bleeding.

Battey, who suffered two seizures and a stroke in 2017, immediately broke down and began crying. Seconds later, players from both teams and both head coaches huddled on the floor to say a prayer for da Silva.

It was humanity, not just sportsmanship, that took center-stage this past weekend. Must-read from @TheAndyKatz: https://t.co/dA8nMrJ2jH ( - @Pac12Network) pic.twitter.com/4jkMRjc2w6

— NCAA March Madness (@marchmadness) February 10, 2020

“I saw how shook up Evan was,’’ Colorado coach Tad Boyle told NCAA.com’s Andy Katz. “I told McKinley (Wright) to get them together. It was spontaneous, not choreographed. Both teams connected. Everybody who knows Evan knows how special person he is, a caring human being. He’s like that in his everyday life. Nobody appreciates being on the basketball court like him.’’

“Sportsmanship isn’t the right word (for what happened),’’ said Stanford coach Jerod Haase. “It was human decency. This was a human story, not sportsmanship. There were real emotions with real people. There was so much high character on both teams.’’

Da Silva, who is Stanford’s leading scorer, was taken to the hospital where he was diagnosed with a head laceration and stitched up. There’s been no initial word on when he’ll be able to return to the court.

8. Auburn-LSU gets nuts

Until Duke-North Carolina happened, it didn’t seem like anything was going to be able to surpass the madness we saw in the battle for first place in the SEC between Auburn and LSU.

Though each team tried to give the game away at the end of both regulation and overtime, it was Auburn, which trailed by as many as 15, which walked away with the 91-90 OT win. The winning basket came off the hands of J’Von McCormick, who needs to practice his post-shot celebration for the next time this happens.

A+ shot by J’Von McCormick. F- celebration. pic.twitter.com/Q4acKE78ag

— Mike Rutherford (@CardChronicle) February 8, 2020

“Never leave your feet without a plan” is solid basketball advice for both in-game action, and break in the action celebrations. If you’re going for the mid-air bump, you better be damn sure your leaping partner is just as committed to the act as you are. If he’s not, you’re gonna end up looking like a small fish leaping out of water.

9. Gonzaga makes its case

We’re into the heart of the annual national debate over Gonzaga basketball. With the Zags once again sitting as a top contender to be a No. 1 seed on Selection Sunday, the “they’re actually good” and the “they don’t play in a real conference” sides have once again loaded themselves down with all the familiar ammo and are set to fire back and forth for the remaining few weeks of the regular season.

The “they’re actually good” side received a jolt late Saturday when Mark Few’s team went into UCU Pavilion and absolutely hammered arch-rival Saint Mary’s by 30. Gonzaga had five players score in double-figures, it led by 25 at halftime, and was never remotely threatened by a Gaels team that is No. 39 in the NET.

The Zags are now 25-1 overall, 11-0 in the West Coast Conference, and have won those 11 league games by an average of 20.6 points per contest.

10. Darrell Walker can dance

One of the best stories in college basketball right now outside of the power conferences is what Little Rock is doing in the Sun Belt. Picked to finish 11th in the 12 team conference before the start of the season, the Trojans are currently 12-2 in the league and in first place by a full three games.

After winning a 90-87 nail-biter over rival Arkansas State on Saturday, Little Rock head coach Darrell Walker had to let his guys know that he can still move.

Had to show the young fellas some real moves after a rivalry win. pic.twitter.com/rIHduCoOmh

— Darrell Walker (@CoachWalker_LR) February 9, 2020

That’s the look of a head coach who hasn’t lost since Jan. 11.

[fallofrainblog]

Outlander Rewatch 4x03

I just watched season 1, episode 7 of Castle Rock (the Queen) which I would say is up there with the finale of Chernobyl as the best TV I’ve watched this year and so I thought I would channel some of the TV-related love into Outlander. Why? I don’t know. I’m still hungover from a Halloween party I went to last night.

- Oh no, Roger’s in this episode. I’ll try not to go on about it too much but I really do not like this man. I didn’t like him in the books and I don’t like him on the show. 

- Having said that, I enjoy Rick Rankin’s acting. Roger feels like a real person.

- I’ll give this show minimal points for carrying over some of the horror of the Rufus Incident into this episode, but I feel like they are very good at forgetting genuinely traumatic incidents, especially when they happen to Claire. This woman has been nearly raped about eleventy billion times, had a heartbreaking stillbirth, been almost burned at the stake, whipped, committed murder, almost BEEN murdered, had Stephen Bonnet stick his disgusting fingers down her throat, and will never see her daughter again, as far as she knows. I am begging for some small acknowledgement that even one of these things would have a huge negative impact on her mental health.

- I’m not even asking for a huge long production, just a little more of what we saw in je suis prest, when she had flashbacks. Maybe the show is afraid that digging into the real negative repercussions of choosing to live in such a dangerous time will detract from the Claire/Jamie love, or maybe they just didn’t have time for some character work, but either way they’re wrong.

- I love what they’re doing with Jocasta. She’s so pissed that they’re leaving and genuinely heartbroken but also so matter-of-fact? MDK gets so much across in really straightforward sentences.

- Also Jocasta’s furniture is so fucking amazing. I want that couch she has so bad.

-Jamie having to leave the lady who probably looks just like his mother is 😭. There’s a part of him that really doesn’t want to leave, which is interesting.

- I love Young Ian so much guys. “BUT UNCCCAA JAMMIIEE! IMA BIG LAD! YE CANNAE TELL MAE WHAT TAE DOOO!” 

- I like scenes where Jocasta and Claire have scenes together because it’s one Irish woman speaking in an English accent acting with another Irish woman using a Scots accent. I wonder what they sounded like in between takes.

- Ooooo Jocasta’s a slippery one. She plants seeds of doubt, not about whether Jamie loves Claire, but about whether she’s making his life harder by being with him. It’s a kind-of legitimate point in that the two of them can’t seem to stay out of trouble when they’re together, and Caitriona plays defiance and doubt and insecurity so well.  

- Clarence is here guys! CLARENCE IS HERE!

- Annnnd we’re in Boston! 

- Look, Roger and Brianna start out pretty cute. Sophie’s accent is much better and they seem really young and twitterpated, to borrow from Bambi. It’s not Claire/Jamie love but the first time I watched this it was nice to see a more realistic-looking romance. At first.

- The minister’s cat game is just Diana showing off her vocabulary lol.

- I have absolutely no idea what kind of timeline we’re on here (how long has Claire been in the past? I feel like it’s one year but I think anything from 6 months to 2 years is feasible) but that shot showing that Brianna/Roger/Claire/Jamie are in the same place, if not the same time, was a nice idea.

- I tried to play a drinking game called “take a shot every time Outlander shows a bald eagle” and my liver fell out halfway through the episode. It’s almost like they’re trying to tell us something about the location the show is set in. Not sure I’ve understood their extremely subtle message yet.

- Claire and Jamie love Ian! (as do I). When he says he’s going with Myers both of their faces say “not our babie boye!”

- Just noticed that Caitriona has dropped her Claire voice down a few tones. I love the little things they do to age their characters a little. Like Sam does the Scottish HHMMPH man noise a lot more in season 4.

- Riding a horse looks so tiring.

- THESE TWO HAVE SUCH GOOD CHEMISTRY. This is literally all I want from this show, the two leads interacting.

- Jamie speaking Gaelic to the horses is 💖

- As adversarial as the conversation with Jocasta was, Claire does think about it, which leads her to initiating a conversation with Jamie about what would really make him happy. I think one of my favourite things about this couple is that they don’t have any of that TV drama that’s caused by not having simple conversations. That’s one of my least favourite tropes and the series avoids that 99% of the time with them.

- I cannot BELIEVE I forgot that Jamie’s speech was in this episode! Gonna transcribe it real quick: 

“I was an outlaw when first we met. And an outlaw when you returned. If it was only me, I would live as one again. And when I was old, I would lie under a tree and let the wolves gnaw at my bones but it’s not just me. It’s you. And Ian. Fergus, Marsali. You understand? I would lay the world at your feet, Claire, but I have nothing to give you.” 

Stellar writing, and Sam knocks it all the way out of the park. I believe him completely. And the combination of the writing and performance really underscores how Jamie still has that young man’s wildness, but he’s old enough to balance that with responsibilities that he’s willingly taken on. It’s really beautiful and I love it. 

- Claire tearing after the mule on her own and getting into trouble is very on-brand.

- I find it really odd that Claire and Bree never set up a system so she could let Bree know she made it. Maybe this is just me exposing myself as a mama’s girl but I would be so worried for her.

- The Brianna/Roger date is cute! Well, up to a point. He has a very nice voice.

- Then it all goes to shit. I will provide a quick and factual summary so I don’t devolve into a ball of frothing rage: Brianna takes her shirt off, and she and Roger kiss. He stops, covers her with her shirt, and proposes. She says no. He is upset. She still wants to have sex, which upsets him further. He says that if all he wanted was to have his way with her he could have had her on her back a dozen times last summer. She slaps him. He explains that while he has had sex with women in the past, he assumed she was a nice catholic girl. He does not consider this hypocritical. In his opinion her hesitance to get engaged means that she does not love him. 

- If I was dating a woman who wanted to have sex when I wasn’t ready, I would simply communicate this to her like a mature adult. rip to Rogers everywhere but I’m different.

- Look, they’re in one more scene but I’m tired of them. That scene was a hot mess.

- Back to the 18th century we go! It seems that our heroine has been unconscious for at least a couple of hours. In real life she would most likely have severe brain damage, but in the world of outlander she is just a bit achy.

- Claire and Jamie are experts at bellowing the other person’s name into the ether.

- The scene with the ghost is so creepy and awesome!!! Outlander is so good when they put their minds to it. 

- Claire just takes that skull and crams it into her purse like that’s a normal thing to do. Keep being you, you wonderful weirdo.

- Jamie just unquestioningly accepts that a ghost brought them back together? I suppose once you’ve bought into time travel nothing shocks you anymore.

- Oh no, the green screen’s back. And someone accidentally layered on the matte filter.

- Cheesy ending but I forgive them!

That wasn’t bad! I would even go as far to say it was good!

Overall rating: a fine wee episode.

[neubauje]

BEGT ch. 7

Chapter 1 - Chapter 2 - Chapter 3 - Chapter 4 - Chapter 5 - Chapter 6 - Chapter 7 AO3 Mirror

“Ugghh, shit.” All Might blinks blearily around at the sound of the alarm going off above his head, juuuust out of reach as he’d unconsciously shifted downwards during the night, now a good few inches away from the back of the couch with his feet all the way on the floor. The alarm is almost unfamiliar, as it’s been a long time since he’s had to use the alarm function on his phone rather than the more standard clock in his bedroom. Blaring from the tinny, muffled speaker is the heroic leitmotif that plays in the background of every commercial or news story in which he features. Toshinori grimaces at it, worms his way back up the few lost inches, and makes a grab for the phone, knocks it free of its charging cable, and down into the exposed inner workings of the pull-out couch, through the gap between mattress and upholstery. “Shit!” He plunges his arm into the gap, fishing around for the phone until he finds it with his fingertips, and quickly pulls it out to silence the alarm.

Only then, in the lack of noise from the phone right next to his head, does he realize he can still hear the sound of an alarm- this time the familiar generic beeping one from his bedroom. “SHIT!” (more under the cut)

 Scrambling out of the tangled sheets, All Might dashes down the hall and through the doorway to the bedroom, where he’s met with the sight of Aizawa, eyes gleaming red, his hair, blankets, a spare pillow, and the offending clock all hovering precariously in midair. A quick grab for the poor clock silences the alarm on the trusty device too, and that tugging of power dissipates as Shota frowns his eyes closed, groaning in annoyance as the spare pillow drops back down to his side. “Sorry about that, Aizawa. I forgot to turn my usual alarm off when I set the one on my phone. It’s fixed now.”

“Good thing, too,” Aizawa mumbles grouchily, “I was about to see if I could smash it against the wall through sheer force of will.”

Yagi quirks an eyebrow at him as he sets the clock back down on the nightstand, “COULD you do that? I know you mentioned a secondary quirk…”

“Probably not,” The weary teacher admits with a wistful little smile beneath his bandages, “Maybe just the floor. Like I said, my telekinesis is pretty unwieldy. It’s definitely secondary for a reason. Funny how things turn out…” He draws in a breath until it seems to pain him, then lets it out in a big sigh. “I think it’s time for another round of pills. The pain is closer again.”

“Sure,” Toshinori nods in understanding at the cryptic wording, remembering from his own days on painkillers how the drugs had never actually gotten RID of the pain, just made it… less omnipresent and important. More distant. He shuffles into the kitchen and re-fills the water, fetches the straw and one of each of the pills, and returns to his reclining coworker. Using one arm to temporarily prop Shota up enough to drink, he switches between pill and cup until most of the water and all of the pills are gone. “There you go. Sorry there’s no food to take it with just yet, but I’m about to go grab those groceries. See if you can’t get some more rest while I’m gone, yeah? I’ll lock you in, and be back in an hour or so.”

Aizawa nods as Yagi lowers him back down to the pillows, nestling back into bed with another soft sigh. “Don’t let yourself get dragged into any trouble out there again. The other pros can handle it.”

“Heh. Right.” Toshinori gives a sheepish grin and a thumbs up, a little embarrassed that he’d been caught dead to rights, wondering if he might be able to get some quick hero work in while running out and about. But Aizawa is correct, of course, and besides… right now, he’s needed here even more. He backs out of the bedroom and shuts the door behind himself, grabs a quick shower of his own, and heads for the indoor shopping mall a few blocks away.

The convenience store has a nearly-decent selection of groceries, and Toshinori stocks up on more food than he’s had at home in a very long time: canned soups, meats, and veggies; juice packs and soy milk, seasonings and condiments, bread and crackers and peanut butter, a six-pack of eggs, even a couple of the spotty bananas by the register. He also pauses to consider a few of those fancy squeeze-it baby food packs, and grabs a small selection of them as well. It’s a little burdensome to carry all at once, but by pouring a bit of his super-strength into his arms, All Might finds that it’s not too bad at all. He does, however, stop at one specialty shop on the way out of the mall, a quick little kiosk able to make a copy of his apartment key in less than five minutes.

Sure enough, by the time the busy host returns home with the haul and sticks his head into the bedroom, Aizawa seems to be sleeping peacefully once again. Toshinori smiles fondly and ducks back out to the kitchen, tucking everything away into the empty cabinets and fridge before getting to work on making a proper American breakfast for two, with fried eggs and toast and the closest approximation of bacon he’d been able to find- a pork jerky that he hopes won’t be too rough on Shouta’s sore jaw. He carefully nudges his way into the bedroom with a plate balanced on either hand, utensils tucked into the curl of one palm, and a juice pack wedged under one elbow. Careful not to spill anything, Yagi settles in on the edge of the bed next to Shouta, who seems a little groggy but otherwise awake and alert to the smells of fresh cooking. It’s actually surprisingly relaxing, sharing this meal together, trading bite for bite back and forth between himself and spoon-feeding his hands-free guest, chatting about the lesson plan for the re-try of the rescue exercise. He even runs an idea past that he’d been working on ever since passing a costume and mask shop in the mall; posing as a faux villain to add extra intrigue and challenge to the students’ morning. Aizawa seems apprehensive about the idea, but willing to let Toshinori use his best judgement in pulling it off. By the time they’ve finished off breakfast and dressing for work, the two have concocted a firm game plan and script that they’ll brief Thirteen on before Class 1-A gets out of their general studies classes with Hizashi.

Before heading out the door, All Might fishes around in the kitchen drawer once more, pulling out a spare keychain from the little collection of odds and ends tucked in next to the silverware. He works the spare apartment key onto the chain, then meets Aizawa out in the hallway before locking the door behind the both of them, tugging gently on his colleague’s shirt to keep him from starting down the hallway toward the stairwell. “Hang on,” he murmurs, reaching up to rap a couple knuckles on the door directly across from his own, slowly but fairly loud.

The muted sounds of a TV turned up slightly too high can be heard from behind the door, but they cut off a second after the knock, and a minute later the door swings open. The two teachers are greeted with the sight of an elderly lady, probably about the same age as Recovery Girl, but almost as tall as Aizawa. Her frizzy grey hair is pulled up into a neat bun, and her pangolin scales are smoothly polished, an odd aesthetic quirk which may have come in handy as a defense, had she ever seen the likes of battle. She blinks at eye level, glancing curiously at Aizawa, then straightens up to greet Toshinori. “Ahh, if it isn’t little Yagi!” She reaches a hand out in a little beckons. Aizawa ducks into his scarf, choking back a startled laugh at the thought of anybody calling All Might ‘little.’

“Mrs. Ogawa,” Toshinori grins and clasps her hand between his own, engulfing it in his huge palms as he inclines his head respectfully. “I hope this isn’t a bad time?” He releases her hand when she nods a gracious dismissal, and claps Aizawa on the shoulder, “This is my friend and coworker, Mr. Aizawa Shouta. He’s staying here with me for a week or two while his injuries heal.”

The kindly neighbor peers up and down Eraserhead’s form, one scaly brow arched with interest, but she soon melts back into a smile almost as warm as Yagi’s. “I don’t know what you boys do for work, but it must be awfully dangerous, little Yagi here is always coming in at odd hours, covered in bandages and coughing up blood… I hope the pay is worthwhile!”

“The paycheck is crap, actually,” In greeting, Aizawa inclines his head the couple degrees allowed in the stiff neck brace, “But it’s worth it anyway. Don’t worry about that.” He tries to give a reassuring smile, then glances up at Toshinori, unsure of the reason for this detour.

“I actually was hoping you wouldn’t mind helping us out with a favor, Mrs. Ogawa, it shouldn’t be too much trouble, I think… You do still spend most evenings at home, yes?” Toshinori slips his hand from Aizawa’s shoulder, sheepishly fussing his hair as he glances between the two.

“Let’s not kid ourselves, Yagi, I spend most evenings, days, and mornings at home. You don’t get a reputation as the building’s hermit by going out in the fresh air, now do you!” She laughs and ducks back inside for a second, re-appearing with a small dish full of little hard candies, offering it to the boys.

Aizawa gently shakes his head, but Toshinori tucks a strawberry-shaped one into his pocket; it would make for a nice way to chase the taste of blood from his mouth later on in the day. “True enough, ma'am, and thank you. As you can see, Aizawa here is going without the use of his hands for a while, but I was still hoping he’d be able to come and go with some sense of autonomy. So I have this spare key, and he’s going to keep it clipped to his belt here-”

“I am?” Aizawa leans out of the way, watching curiously as Yagi clips the keychain to one of the metal loops on the utility belt, then tucks the dangling accessory into the pocket just below. “I guess I am.”

Toshinori clasps his hands together in a beseeching gesture, “So I was hoping that if he were to arrive without me, he could knock and have you let him in? And maybe if you could let the rest of the hall know, juuuust in case you happen to be out and about?”

“Of course, dears.” She tucks the candies away and bids the two teachers safe travels, as they excuse themselves and head to work.

Chapter 8 -  Chapter 9 - Chapter 10 (rated M) - Chapter 11 (rated M) - Chapter 12

[babygirl06301]

Spike Analysis - “Becoming: Part 2″

Alright! First post on this new little series I’ve decided to do. I’ll be analyzing Spike’s character development throughout the series, and this is where I’m starting. 

I’ve decided to start with “Becoming: Part 2″ because, while Spike’s discontent with Angelus started before this point, he doesn’t act on it until this episode. There won’t be a whole bunch to this post since there isn’t all that much to discuss, at least, not since I’m isolating it to this one episode. 

So, Spike’s first and big scene here is the scene where he knocks out the police officer who’s about to arrest Buffy. Early on in Spike’s time on the show, especially with this scene, we see a recurring theme that never really goes away as far as Spike is concerned: love over power. 

Now, this is concept that not all characters excel in practicing. Willow in season 6, although she partially couldn’t help herself, frequently put the power of magic over her relationship with Tara. Buffy constantly pushed her loved ones away, albeit somewhat unconsciously, to be a better Slayer. Cordelia even had a small bout of it when she and Xander broke up due to the criticism of her friend group; she briefly wanted to have popularity over love.

Spike, however, values love over power. The one exception I can think of within his character arc would be when he gave up the hope of ever being with Cecily and decided to become a vampire. Other than that, what Spike does is either because of love or for love (if he happens to be in love at the time, unlike with Harmony). If he doesn’t have a love to fight for or if he’s already in a requited relationship, then his actions can be driven by the love of power. That's where the bulk of his time as William the Bloody would be--when he was with Dru and around season 4 when he was with Harmony or alone (hence his deal with Adam—wanting the chip out to be more powerful).

This scene, then, is telling us where his motivations lie. He wants Dru back because he feels Angelus has taken her away from him. We can see in the various flashbacks in both Buffy and Angel that Spike has always considered Dru to be “his.” He never really accepted that Dru could be with both he and Angelus.

It’s an interesting concept, at least at the point of your first watch through, that Spike would come to the Slayer for help with anything. I mean, by the laws of TV and entertainment, it’s almost expected that something like that would happen, but remember, at this point, we have no idea about Spike’s background except for the fact that he’d killed two Slayers. We can see what his jealousy of Angelus does to his personality, but we’ve really no concept of the man beneath the title. This is the first time we get to glimpse that. Like I said, love over power.

This particular scene and the scenes after, at Buffy’s house, give us insight into Spike himself, that he’s not just one of the fiercest vampires in recorded history. Which, I think, was sort of the point.

Alright, let’s move on to the scene in front of Buffy’s house where Joyce comes home and asks where she’s been. Here’s the thing: if you’ve watched this show multiple times, you know what’s up with this scene. You know Spike has a soft spot for mothers and a child’s relationship with their mother based on his own history, you know that he’s (usually) a man of his word, you know that at his root, he’s a respectful man. So, it makes sense that he would lie for Buffy in this scene. But, if you’re on your first go ‘round, it makes zero sense. Not in a bad way, in fact, in an almost endearing way. I personally fell in love with Spike from the jump, so seeing a different side to his character really made me happy. I wouldn’t say I anticipated Spike and Buffy’s relationship becoming anything other than what it was in season 2, but I definitely expected him to become this sort of repeat villain that we’d see once a season or so that wasn’t really scary anymore, but was still badass as hell. Like Ethan Rayne, for example.

So, back to what I was saying, Spike lying for Buffy to her mom was something really substantial. I don’t think he was doing that so Buffy’d help him (like he was doing in keeping Giles alive later on). He could’ve been doing it just so he wouldn’t have to get involved in anything he didn’t have time for, but, to me, it just felt like something he’d do. You know when people ask you something overly simple like, “Why do we put pillowcases on our pillows?” and you don’t have a real answer so you say, “It’s just what you do.” That’s what I think Spike was doing here.

Alright, so now is when those vampires come in and Buffy and Spike beat the hell out of ‘em, then Buffy tells her mom she’s the Slayer. There’s only two things I want to point out here, and they’re both because my Spuffy heart comes close to bursting during this scene. #1 – Spike and Buffy have been great at fighting together since the beginning. And not just fighting side by side, actually fighting together. I have no explanation for why that is, but it’s pretty damn cool that there was a fluidity and a subconscious connection between them even then. #2 – Spike was there when Buffy told her mom she was a Slayer. That was a huge moment. Joss likened that moment to coming out to your parents as gay. And, as we remember, the result of Buffy’s experience (getting kicked out of her house) is so similar to too many children’s experiences. Something that important was played out in this scene, and Spike was there for it. Again, not sure what that means exactly, but it’s big.

The only thing I would observe about Spike when he’s talking to Buffy in the living room is that he must really love Dru. I mean, of course, right? At this point, she’s literally the only woman he’s ever been in a relationship with. And Spike, being the paradox that he is, isn’t about to let that go…even though he shouldn’t really be able to love anyone, especially not monogamously, but yet he does--truly does. William the Bloody, the vampire who is obsessed with tracking down and murdering Slayers, is willing to never bother Buffy again if she lets Dru go. What? Talk about compromising your work for your lover, eh?

Okay, all that’s really left with this episode is Spike knocking out Angelus and then knocking out Dru and then leaving Sunnydale. Again, there’s not a whole lot here to talk about. You can tell Spike is working out some hundred-year-old-issues with the whole beating the hell out of Angelus thing. This isn’t about Spike, but you know that bit when he strangles Dru to knock her out? I’m not an expert on the vampire constitution, but shouldn’t that not work? Since her blood doesn’t flow and she doesn’t have to breathe? Anyway.

I remember watching this episode for the first time and I thought for a split second that Spike was gonna help Buffy with Angelus before he left town. Nope.

Okay, well, that’s all I got for this episode without getting ahead of myself. Next up: “Lover’s Walk.” That one is gonna be long as hell. Lookin’ forward to it. Hope this is interesting for you guys to read. I just find it unreal the amount of change Spike went through just on the show alone, let alone within his whole history. And yet, he’s still got threads of the Spike he always was (meaning William and William the Bloody), even up into season 7. Well, I guess I’ll hang it up here, keep a weather eye on the horizon!

[atamascolily]

I wanted to write about things I enjoy about Adventures of Sinbad, since I'm not sure that always comes through in my episode reviews.

1) The setting

Even though the time period of the show is ill-defined (we could be anywhere between 800 - 1400 AD, or perhaps you could make a case for even earlier), one thing is clear: it's ostensibly set in the Middle East and Mediterranean during height of the Islamic Golden Age, which is a fascinating era I know very little about. What I do know, however, sounds tremendously exciting! Calligraphy! Music! Art! Poetry! Culture! Science! People reading Aristotle and Apollonius! Lots of trade and cultural mixing and melding and fusion!

Anyway, this is not a setting you see everyday in most media, and I really wish there were more because there are so many interesting elements to play with - especially when you combine them with magic and monsters to create a fantasy setting. There are so many European/medieval historical or inspired dramas or fantasies and while there's nothing wrong with that - the Matter of Britain's got a lot going for it, after all - it's just really nice to see something OUTSIDE of that particular genre.

(If anyone does know of fantasy or historical fiction from this time period, please let me know, because I'd like to know about it.)

Also, the show is filmed in South Africa, which I love, because it looks so much like California or the Mediterranean, but different. I love the white sand deserts, boulder-strewn beaches and rocky fynbos full of interesting plants. It's a varied, strange, and beautiful landscape and one I highly enjoy spending time vicariously in through the series.

2) The magic and monsters

Yeah, okay, so the CGI has not held up well, but I still love the harpies, the sea serpents, the rock monsters, the giant animals, the animated skeletons, all the same. I love that Firouz and Maeve each have their own contradictory but complementary skill sets, and everyone's realistic and pragmatic enough to use whatever solution works best in the moment.

3) The fight scenes

Yeah, okay, so these are not necessarily realistic fights AT ALL but they do look awesome, and so I'm totally on board. The bad guys usually don't seem to be very hurt, they just get knocked around a lot, and fall over or unconscious most of the time, or run away.

I normally don't enjoy watching violence, but at least in the first season, very few people actually die, and most of that is relatively ungraphic. There's more violence in your average crime/murder/police procedurals/gritty urban series than there is here. "Family-friendly" pops up a lot on the Internet in reference to the show; I guess that means there's no obvious sex and violence that won't traumatize kids.

I'll confess: I watched this series as a kid, and spent a lot of time outdoors, pretending to be Maeve, hacking and slashing at invisible opponents with a sword. It was awesome.

4) The main characters

One thing I think this show does really well is the characters - they're all relatively well-rounded (although Rongar definitely needs some more backstory!!). One of the joys of watching the show is seeing how they come to work well together, to understand each other, and just because a really competent fighting crew... and family. And I love watching them banter - typically witty and fun, without meanness.

Some of my favorite moments in the show are when the crew is just hanging out, bantering... usually something interrupts and starts a new adventures, but I enjoy those moments while they last. I'd probably watch entire episodes where nothing but bantering and routine sea-faring happens.

5) The hawk

Okay, yes, so Dermott was a BIG DRAW for me watching the show as a kid; I got super-into the idea of falconry and learned so much about birds of prey in hope of having a hawk just like Dermott. Didn't work out so far, but I learned a lot, and I think he's a great aspect of the show. Watching Sinbad come to appreciate Dermott as a person, rather than a mere pet, is another joy as the season develops.

6) The way Maeve and Rumina are treated in the show

This is a post in and of itself, but even as a kid, I appreciated the female antagonist, who was more than just a flat character. Rumina's a jerk and not a nice person at all, she's selfish and cruel and manipulative, but she's also confident and powerful and expects Sinbad to fall for her, and is genuinely pissed off when he rejects her. She also has a vulnerable side we see for a few minutes in "Trickster" - fear of aging and being alone. She's genuinely upset about her father's death, and conflicted in her feelings for Sinbad as a result.

Then there's Maeve, who is occasionally teased, especially in the beginning, but earns the respect of the (entirely male) crew and is treated like an equal. Sinbad never talks down to her on account of her gender, and Doubar apologizes for his skepticism in "The Beast Within" when he realizes she was right all along. She fights well, doesn't take shit from people, flips a man to the ground one-handed while holding a hawk on the other fist, can do magic and talk to animals. When she gets kidnapped by Vikings, she fights, she resists, and she never stops trying to escape or appealing to her captors' humanity. She never stops talking about her choice, and why it matters.

Also, while she does have feelings for Sinbad, she's never presented as Rumina's romantic rival, and she and Rumina are not fighting each other because of their feelings for him. Their feud, although only hinted at in the series, is based on a larger conversation about power and agency. Rumina hurt Maeve's family and Maeve's village because she could and dared Maeve to do something about it. Maeve is taking action to do just that, at great cost to herself, traveling halfway around the world to do so. Even though Dermott is technically her brother, transformed into a hawk, I don't see Maeve doing this expressly because of a man - she would do the same thing if Dermott was her sister, for example. Even if Dermott hadn't been transformed, I could still see Maeve taking on this quest because Rumina committed great injustice and Maeve wants to pay her back for it.

I saw all this at a very young age, and I loved it, and I still haven't seen very many shows or series with a similar dynamic. It's not a coincidence that my favorite episodes, then and now - "The Ties that Bind," "Double Trouble" and "The Beast Within" -  are the ones that deal with these unconventional power and gender dynamics.

Does this show have problems with women? Yes. Besides Maeve and Rumina, there are barely any other female characters who aren't victims (Princess Adeenah, Gaia, Queen Nadia, and Sudrah, who wasn't even real to begin with) or evil/ambiguously moraled (Talia, Sariya, Alanna) and both groups are poorly developed. And unfortunately, we don't get to spend a lot of time with the people who are more interesting - like Jiyal, who spends most of her episode tied up and screaming in a victim role, and the barkeeper in Episode 3 who Doubar is so fond of. Caipra and Serendib are the only female characters I can think of at the moment who seem like fully-rounded people, and it's probably not a coincidence that they're both magic-users. Magic is a code for power, agency and indepenence here, and I think that really helps.

The end result is that most episodes don't pass the Bechdel test because there aren't any women in major roles besides Maeve and Rumina, and when there are, the women don't always talk to each other. Furthermore, sometimes Maeve is talking to them about Sinbad or being aggressively jealous about her relationship with him. The few episodes that do pass the Bechdel test - again, the ones with Serendib and Cairpra in them - are again, the ones that deal with magic, agency and power.

As I've said, I'm not sure I would consider the show to be "feminist," and there are some gender elements that irritate me, but Maeve is a badass and a big role model for me growing up and I will never forget that.

7) Nostalgia

Yeah, nostalgia is definitely a big factor here. Were I to watch this show in 2017 for the first time, would I be so into it? Hard to say. But childhood loyalties are strong.

I was nervous the Suck Fairy would come to visit, but the most delightful part of the rewatch has been to discover that all the episodes I loved most as a kid are still actually pretty enjoyable for my adult self as well. So there's that.

Also, I have a thing for low-budget '80s and '90s fantasy and aesthetic, so this is all right up my ally, anyway. They literally do not make them like they used to, and I didn't know that I liked the old way more than the new way until the new way became the most common way.

8) The fandom

Okay, so the fandom is very small, and most of what I find on the internet hasn't been updated since 2000. Adventures of Sinbad had its big run just as the Internet was getting going, so most of the fansites look their age at this point. But still. I can find Tripod fansites with interviews and scripts. There's a whole site devoted to high-quality screencaps. One group of fans wrote three seasons of fanfic shows and 2 movies; I just found another alternate fan version of Season 2 on a different site. There are even a few things posted to FF.net or AO3 and tumblr, but for the most part, the fandom is very old-school. Still, it makes me really happy to see what's there for something that's 20 years old and relatively little-known.

I think a lot of people have good feelings about this show, they just don't necessarily remember or post about it. I usually missed out on cultural phenomena as a kid, and while this wasn't a big one, it's one I'm happy to be a part of.

[joebuscus1031]

Samurai Jack season 5 episode 7

First off before I get started, let's have a moment of silence for jacks beard. As someone who has a beard....I kinda died a lil inside when I saw the beard go..... ..... ..... Okay now that being said last nights episode was friggin' amazing as always ! A-l-O-T Of things happened and I'd be lying if I said I didn't watch it for more times afterwards.... I am probably going to watch it over and over the rest of this week before episode eight comes out lol. So we start off like how I predicted, with a Flashback on how Jack lost his sword. He is traveling up a mountain in which she heard has a time portal at the top and is joined by three little rams, when he has reached the top One of the Rams guided him towards the portal. He eagerly jumped it (which I think is the closest he's ever gone to going back to the past) until aku pulled him back out (fuckin' DICK) Jack that attempts to jump back in but aku destroys it before he can get back in. It is then revealed that that was the last remaining time portal in existence (highly doubt it because I don't think he knows about the one the Guardian is watching) in doing so in rages Jack and of course being a coward that I aku is he flees and summons demonic bull like creatures which Jack quickly disposes of. And just when you think aku couldn't be more of an asshole ! It turns out the monsters were just the baby Rams under the spell of aku....I literally shouted "WHAT A DICK !" At my TV screen waking my poor dog up lol. This causes Jack to drop his sword and fall down a seemingly bottomless pit. We find out that Jack was telling ashi The entire story while on the back of some type of giant...falcon/owl ? Anyway they both float down the hole where the sword was supposed to be but find out it isn't there, when Ashi asks if someone could've taken it ? Jack has the realization that he didn't lose the sword... The sword left him. Which actually makes total sense because the sword is magical and probably linked to him, so it probably sensed his anger and because the sword was used against an innocent it probably need to go into isolation until Jack got back on track again. So after they return to the top of the mountain Jack tells Ashi he "doesn't know how long this will take" when ashi offers to go with him, he tells her that this is something I must do on his own and proceeds to say in a meditative stance while Ashi takes watch. While she's doing so notices in the distance a small army is approaching the mountain, Ashi's eyes read " awww HELL NO You ain't coming near my man" lol And it cuts to Jack having a spiritual journey through his mind to try and figure out the location of his sword, he then gets on a raft and float is towards what looks to be a mini monastery, with a little man that resembles Buddha slightly and seeds to ask him "are you lost" ? Jack of course replied with yes and then the man invites him in to make some tea. Then cuts back to the army marching up the mountain is immediately stopped in their tracks when Ashi asks them where they're going, once they tell her that they are here to kill samurai Jack she stances up and ready to defend him saying that she's "here to stop them" of course in a typical ignorant fashion they begin laughing because it one on what appears to be hundreds and she looks to be harmless....well, the moment The leader said they are there to kill Jack that was the moment they sign their death wish because as soon as they started advancing towards her she immediately punches him in the face and uses him as a battering ram to knock A good portion of the army off the mountain. Then fucking leaps into the rest of the army like a fucking beast and begins to laydown the pain, One of the parts shows her breaking the spears and a half and throwing it back at them while she was doing a war cry and completely snapping one of the guys arms off..... like I said in my last post, she's one-of-a-kind Jack and she wouldn't be doing this if she didn't care deeply for you. Throughout the entire scene we go back-and-forth between ashi fighting the army and Jack making tea which in itself was a little comical because we get a burst of intense fighting and a little break in between of him making tea which is therapeutic. Once he's done making the tea and offers it to the Buddha like figure it then cuts back to Ashi who has completely decimated the entire army and covered in blood (queue god of war theme) but that notices there's still so I left on the mountain she then calls the falcon/owl over to carry her up the rest of the way, then noticing the mysterious figures about to fire an arrow towards Jack she jumps down and grabs it, only to find out that shortly after a barrage of arrows comes raining down which she easily lifts a Rock to block him. is the revealed that The person responsible is...THE HIGH PRIESTESS ! (Dun dun duuuun) out of FUCKING nowhere! has Somehow managed to track Ashi and jack down claiming that she knew she would fail her mission and even though she was the strongest of the seven was the least focused of the group. And offered her a chance to do a complete 180 and kill Jack which of course she refuses because let's be honest 1) the mother is a fucking bitch 2) at this point do you really think she's going to kill him after developing feelings for him lol After hearing her say Jack showed her the truth and that she was wrong about him continue to say she will kill her too ! And I'm over here looking at her like "this FUCKING cunt" she says it in such a way that you truly sense that she does not give two shits about her and she was only to be used as a means to an end. Which I'm sure you could gather from the flashbacks, by her saying she's going to kill her only made it even more of a point lol She then proceeds to take off her robe (when that happens you know shits about to get real)and Ashi and her have a dagger/baby ram horn dual and asks ashi how could she betrayed her family like that, that even after Jack killed her sisters she still allowed him to live. She that replies that wasn't jacks for but they died that it was the mothers fault they died because they we're born only to kill Jack and were doomed right from the day they were born (meaning no amount of training they did could compare to Jack's skills) and is she saying that the pillar collapses on top of her giving the high priestess a chance to kill Jack. Ashi seeing what's about to happen bursts out of the rubble grabs an arrow and with "The strongest throwing arm in history" throws it at her mother piercing her through her chest seemingly killing her (I don't think that's the last we'll see if her, she's definitely still alive and Will come back probably the finale) and falls off the mountain, Ashi tired from the long intense battle passes out. Then we cut back to the Buddha figure drinking the tea saying that the tea is terrible, Jack confused by it wonders why. The figure states that even though it has all necessary ingredients it's missing one important ingredient "Balance" this confuses Jack even more, begging him to help tell him where the whereabouts of his sword is. However he says it's not up for him to decide, and that he will have to "earn it" then we get a appearance from I rather angry version of Jack's consciousness where she's out saying that it's a bunch of "fortune cookie nonsense" Jack then proceeds to tell his conscience that he is the reason why he's lost his way and his sword and now that he sees clearly purges the anger from himself and therefore finding "balance" Jack is then teleported in front of the three gods that helped forge the sword (Odin, Ra and Vishnu) they state that like his father he has been chosen to defeat the ultimate evil (aku) and that he is worthy. Then proceed to transform Jack back to his old self (without his beard 😡) topknot and all. Which I have to admit it's a little jarring to see him back in his samurai robe again, and has also been given his sword back which was a pretty epic moment almost like he was reunited with an old friend. He has then awakened from his meditative state and sheaths his sword, and finds Ashi unconscious on the ground and rushes to her aid.....and ACTUALLY knows her name ! I was like FINALLY! She probably told him her name off screen but I still would've liked to have seen them exchange names on screen...oh well Then she awakens in shock to find Jack restored to its previous self saying how he found his sword in the process complement him on his "shave and haircut" (I said to myself...oh yea...that's One step closer to them becoming a thing ❤️) fun fact I actually yelled at the screen " just kiss already" !!! And woke my poor dog up again lol he then says that she has been busy keeping him safe while he was searching for his sword, and then thanks her for doing so. She then asks with a smirk on her face "what's next ?" And Jack sternly says "Aku" and then the episode ends This episode had so many surprises in it that it almost caught me offguard because I wasn't expecting some of it. I really really really enjoyed it ! And of course there's the preview weekend of Jack and Ashi running from a creature that seems to be hunting them down AND this is the episode where they're supposed to have a "burgeoning relationship" which of course because you guys know I support and ship Jashi I believe it's going to be something on the romance side 👍🏻 I mean for god sake's she "killed" her own mother to protect him ! Her own mother ! If that's not love I don't know what love is lol Well I'm really hoping that this week goes by fast because I already want to watch episode 8 🤞🏻😭 at least I get to watch last nights episode a bunch of times to get me hyped up for it lol What did you guys think ?

[stopsubstanceabuse1-blog]

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[shakeurspeare]

hi i feel really dumb about dating and it’s making me pretty sad but also I found someone who feels the same and we’re probs gonna drink about it this weekend so that’s nice to look forward to 

so like. in middle school my logic was that I feel equally attracted to guys as to girls so obviously I’m bi, right?? bc when i thought about it at the time like I could definitely see myself being close to girls and guys were just this mystery group but like sometimes i got crushes i think so that made the most sense

and then in high school i realized that the reason i’m equally attracted to guys and girls is that i’m actually not attracted to either haha whoops and i haven’t actually wanted to date any specific guys since like early elementary school (and does that really even count???) so i guess I’m ace and homoromantic bc that makes the most sense

so then i get to college and a couple people have asked me out in the past few years but mostly I avoid people who might make a move or like... act differently until I’m positive they don’t wanna ask me out anymore. and that’s fine. I don’t have time to figure out my issues with vulnerability and why the thought of sex freaks me out like nothing else. I have friends and i’m not too lonely and things are fine

but THEN last year i met this guy at band camp. literally within the week i was determined that this kid is gonna be my friend, god dammit. He’s kinda quiet, kinda solemn, but sarcastic and funny and really nice and willing to do a lot for everyone, including strangers and people who have done him wrong. he’s into magic and dnd and overwatch and pro-gaming but he also is very aware of the issues within the communities and he’s very outspoken about all kinds of equality. basically, he’s a funny liberal nerd who has good fashion sense and cares a lot about other people. i’m going off on a tangent because i’m dumb and i don’t give myself many opportunities to gush about him

so we become friends (it’s slow-going, there’s a lot of times that i’m worried he’ll think I’m hitting on him or being creepy, a few times where i feel like i overstepped because i’m an anxious idiot who doesn’t actually know how to pursue a friendship that doesn’t come naturally and he naturally assumes that people don’t strongly want to be his friend) and by the end of the season we’re close enough that we’ve made a group of four to room together for a band trip.

last spring i realized that like... i really wouldn’t mind dating him. it’s just a small thought in the back of my head. the thought of sex still terrifies me, that’s still out of the question, but i like, want to hold his hand and be able to tell him he’s cute and i love when he dorks out and i love that he has all these random history and mechanical knowledge that makes its way into our conversations. but i’m also 1000% down to stay friends, in fact that’s preferable because I don’t know the first thing about being in a relationship, and it took so long to get to being friends that there’s no room in my mind to think that he would want to date. we also talk a lot about his dating life because he’s had some bad relationships in the past and he doesn’t think he’s good at it and it’s something that’s on his mind a lot. but he’s mentioned enough about his dating preferences that i have sincere doubts that he’d like me enough to get over his dislike of dating friends. so we’re fine, and I stop thinking about it

i sublet his apartment from him for the summer and we see each other probably two weeks total out of the summer break; sometimes he comes back to the apartment for events going on, i go to his hometown for a festival, we meet somewhere in the middle to see a dci show. but we’re texting every day, usually something near morning time and a decent conversation in the afternoon/evening and it’ll go into the night when (usually) i fall asleep in the middle of a conversation that i’ll respond to the next morning. rinse, recycle, repeat. i haven’t enjoyed texting someone so frequently, like, ever. near the end of the summer we talk on the phone a couple times, because he’s more stressed about things and he has like an hour and a half commute around the same time that i get out of lab and it’s a lot easier to call than for him to use talk-to-text. it’s nice.

band camp this year was super stressful. we’re both on staff so we spend a lot of the day separately handling things and getting to know people and doing what needs to be done, then we’d get (second) dinner after that and chat. he doesn’t feel like he can fill the previous section leader’s shoes. i’m optimistic and i believe that the staff are rough but manageable. we spend about ten days going to bed at 1 or 2, waking up at 6 or 7, and spending the rest of our time running around and playing music and getting to know 10 new members and welcoming back the other 20 members of the section. it’s tiring; we both got sick during it and tbh i don’t think either of us are 100% over it

i start spending a lot more time at the apartment, even though i have a job at my dorm. at some point i’m pretty sure i was sleeping over 3 or 4 nights a week. i would go a whole weekend without stepping foot in my dorm. we start getting more touchy. it’s small at first, but it gets to the point where we’ll do that hand touching thing that i really like, where we just put our hands together and fiddle with each other’s fingers (i don’t actually know what to call it, it’s just me fiddling and twitching but with the bonus of human contact) or he’ll give me a shoulder rub because i seem stressed. but also sometimes he’ll pull away suddenly or i’ll try to give him a shoulder rub and he’ll make a joke “you know how i feel about being touched” and he’ll move away. and i do know how he feels about being touched: it’s something that, other than some casual touches (a hand on the shoulder, that sort of thing), he only does with someone he’s dating. but also he’s initiating a lot of this, so maybe he’s branching out from that ideology? or maybe he’s interested in me? or maybe he just doesn’t know how to tell me that he’s super uncomfortable with me touching him and he really would like us to go back to not touching??? so i spend a few days stressing that i’m being a mega creep before he starts a convo about it and explains. us being touchy is nice but he feels like he’s trying to have his cake and eat it too because it’s something he’d only do with someone he’s dating and sometimes he does it and it’s like 30% unconscious and that wigs him out

so obviously the answer is that we (essentially) stop touching and that could be that but i’m dumb and i want to double check so i ask if it’s because he doesn’t want us to date and he says yeah, us dating really isn’t in his plan and sorry if that’s hurtful, and i could also leave it there but i’m like, a super masochist and i like being on the same page with people so i tell him that us dating has been a possibility on my mind and that i’d like to take a few days to like back off and firmly tell myself that we aren’t dating and we won’t be dating and to chill tf out, but i wanted to let him know that’s what i’m doing so i’m not like, backing out of being friends

and we’re both miserable for a week, bc when i try to go back to business as usual he’s acting weird and distant and my immediate assumption is that he decided that i am, in fact, a creep and he no longer wants to be friends with me but dammit, he could at least tell me that instead of looking sad and distant and not talking to me unless it’s band related

so i give him a couple days of that, and we do a campus scavenger hunt together because we had signed up for it before everything crashed on us and we were going to pretend everything is fine, god dammit, except it was awkward and he was sad the whole time and i was hurt and frustrated, but we won like 5th place or something so that was cool

and once the weekend’s over i text him something vaguely along the lines of “so are we still friends or nah” and he tells me he’s been isolating himself and he feels like everyone is better off without him and he needs to stop holding me back and nobody needs him so he should just let us all go. like he’s not suicidal but he’s depressed and bad at realizing people like him. so i go to the apartment and for the first time in like six months i knock on the door because i told him i was coming over but i also feel like he has a right to yell at me to go away through the door if that’s what he’s feeling

but he lets me in and he tells me he should just get out of my way because i don’t need him and i tell him that he’s right, i don’t need anyone. this isn’t about need. but i sure as hell enjoy having him as a friend and i’ve been miserable this past week when that was taken away from me, and he just told me he’s been miserable too, so why the fuck should we both be miserable when we could just stop being dumb and be friends again

but also now we’re both miserable (for external reasons, mostly) and i don’t want to stop hanging out so much because i feel like we both need it, but i also need to stop because it doesn’t seem to bother him but it sure as hell has me confused because i can’t stop thinking that we might as well be dating but if we were dating then i’d actually get to hug him and cuddle and tell him i love him

and i feel like he doesn’t really have other people to hang out with and i don’t really feel like i have that either and maybe that’s all the more reason for us to back off a little bit more but i don’t want to. i’m very weak and tired and i just want someone to hug me for 30 minutes and it’s not going to be him and i don’t think it’s going to be anyone rn so i’m just constantly sad and in need of a hug that will never come

i think i need to have another good sob session on someone but i’m fresh out of people that i’m comfortable doing that to, both in the sense that i don’t want to be vulnerable enough to cry on anyone and that the one person i would be willing to do that to is someone who doesn’t need to hear all about how i can’t get the fuck over him