#rory watches outer banks

[the-bee-graveyard]

I've finally decided to finish outer banks a year after the last season came out and the only way I'm going to get through it is by shitposting on tumblr for the three mutuals who consistently read my shit hi guys enjoy the show

[mirrrorballs]

seeing you tonight.

pairing / jj maybank x fem!kook!reader

genre / fluff, fluff, fluff! slight angst if you squint (?) cute little established relationship read:)

warnings / mentions of an argument, drinking (not the reader), talks about insecurities, i'm pretty sure that's it ^^

synopsis / to say the least, you were pissed at jj. and you were pretty sure he shared the feeling. what started out as a petty little bicker escalated into an actual argument. however, you're going to have to deal with him sooner or later since you're both attending the monthly outer banks beach blowout. seeing him tonight, it's a bad idea right?

author's note / my outer banks phase has been resurfacing, and apparently so has my jj obsession! this is inspired by 'bad idea right?' by olivia rodrigo <3 it doesn't entirely follow the song's storyline, but the idea is there. hope you guys like the little homage to gilmore girls (it's fall, after all.) and the little jess and rory mentions. enjoy!

"Woah, woah, woah- hold that thought, JJ. You argued with her over 'Gilmore Girls'?" Kie asked with furrowed brows and the most confused tone you could hear.

"Well- not technically." JJ replied, but it came out more as a question. Pope decided to pop into the conversation, "How on earth do you argue with your girlfriend over a show about a single mom and her mensa level daughter?" he asked.

JJ sighed sarcastically after John B let out a snicker whilst picking out some clothes for that night's party.

"We didn't really argue about the show. I just didn't like this opinion she had on one of the characters 's all. I think." he shrugged, saying the last part more to himself.

"Enlighten me then. What was this opinion she had?" Kie challenged.

It was early in the morning. JJ had slept over at your house the day before. It was now four am and you were both snuggled up together under a duvet on your couch, head on his shoulder as you both waited for your pop tarts to toast and for your coffee to brew.

You tore yourself away from him, causing JJ to groan and break the comfortable silence that engulfed the two of you.

You giggled lightly at his rather clingy state as you picked the TV remote up from the coffee table in front of you before settling back into his arms.

He held onto you slightly tighter this time, as if he didn't want you out of his hold.

As you turned the television on and started browsing through some shows on Netflix, JJ buried his head into your hair.

"What show d'ya want to watch?" he said all muffled, pressing a small kiss onto your head after.

"Gilmore Girls. You were binging it with me the last time you slept over, remember?" you said, looking up at him. He hummed in response.

"I remember. It's that favorite show of yours." he replied, smiling to himself when he noticed you didn't continue watching it without him, the episode displayed on the 'continue watching' panel being the one you left off on last time.

You both watched in silence filled with only the sounds of your reactions to some scenes. You both only paused to get your pop tarts and coffee, but JJ offered to get it for you before you could even stand up.

After a few episodes, you decided to speak. "Y'know, a lot of people like Jess, but I just can't see why." you said nonchalantly.

JJ looked at you with a confused expression and furrowed brows. Not that he was the biggest fan of that character, but he was curious as to why.

You took his look as a sign to expound on your stand. "Mm, he just doesn't seem to have the best influence on Rory. Not that he really influences her or anything, but you know what I mean?" you sat up straight to look at the blonde boy next to you.

"Not that Dean was either, I remember you droning on and on to me about that one house wife episode. What was it again? Diane Reed?" JJ replied. "Donna Reed. And you know I don't like Dean at all, I just don't think Jess was that big of an upgrade." you simply shrugged.

"And why is that? He and Rory have more things in common than she and Dean did." the blonde inquired.

"It's not really a problem with compatibility. He's just getting into fights all the time, he's incredibly disrespectful to both Luke and Lorelai, even Rory sometimes! And the whole bad boy, good girl thing they have going on isn't exactly the best thing." you said.

JJ doesn't know why, but he somehow felt himself getting defensive.

He scoffs. "So what, they're in love! Since when was opposites attract a bad thing?" his tone was shifting now, and this took you aback.

"He picks fights for no reason! I'm sorry that I'm not soft for him all because he likes to read books!" you met his tone with a hint of sarcasm.

"Is this because he's not some rich kid with a trust fund like Rory? Are those your standards?" he said. You were just bewildered by this argument now.

"Where are you even getting this?" you asked in disbelief.

"Look, I'm just saying that I don't see anything wrong with Jess! It just seems like you're nitpicking what he does." JJ was standing up now.

"Why are you taking this so personally? Is it so wrong for me to dislike a character?" you stood up as well.

"I don't know. It just seems weird that a character you don't exactly like is damn similar to me!" the blonde said, frustration mixed with confusion laced in his voice.

"What? JJ, you and Jess are two completely different people. I don't know what you're talking about--" you were cut off by him discarding your statement with a wave of his hand.

"You know what, I should really head over to John B's. I'll see you later." he said blandly, walking past you and heading for the door.

"You idiot!" Kie exclaimed once JJ stopped his retelling of that morning's events. "You know she would never even think about comparing you to someone in such an awful manner, gosh. That girl loves you so damn much it actually concerns me. Don't get me started on when you brought up the trust fund thing" she scolded.

"And dude, for the record, this Milo Ventimiglia guy is way hotter than you." John B said, showing them all a photo of him he found on google as if to say this was a reason the two couldn't be compared.

"Wow, thanks JB." JJ said sarcastically.

"Look, man, your girl's smart. She'll realize what you were implying with your argument and might get hurt." Pope added. Kie nodded furiously.

JJ's blue eyes softened at the thought of his words hurting his own girl. "Oh, man." he sunk into the couch, burying his face in his hands. After a few moments he sat back up properly. "Okay, hopefully she's still going to the party, if I can't make amends there I'll buy flowers and go to her house." he continued seriously.

Sarah was sitting on your bed as you threw clothes around your room from your closet in search of an outfit all while filling her in on your argument with JJ.

"I mean, how could he even think that I was comparing him with a character I was talking distastefully about? JJ's perfect to me, I don't see how he's as 'bad' as Jess as he thought I was implying." you rambled while inspecting one of your laced tank tops, nodding to yourself and throwing it onto your bed as a sign of approval.

"I didn't realize that what I was saying seemed to hit him where it hurt. I feel bad about that, but I'm still frustrated." you continued while eyeing two sweaters in your hands, deciding to go with the one that belonged to your boyfriend.

"You didn't know. Honestly, I think JJ still thinks he's not good enough for you. Not just with the whole kook and pogue thing he told us before." your friend said while tracing her finger over the lace on your top.

You paused and threw a pair of shorts next to your sweater and top before turning around to face Sarah.

"He thinks that?" you asked with soft eyes. "Oh.. I'm taking this as you guys haven't talked about that yet." she said.

"No, we haven't. I didn't even know he felt that way" you said.

Sarah smiled. "Well, a reason to talk to him later. Right?" she asked with a slightly tilted head. You gave her a tight lipped smile and a nod.

"Yeah. And here I was thinking seeing him later was a bad idea." you said, more to yourself than to your friend.

"You better get ready then, party starts in an hour. I'll help you with your makeup." Sarah said, standing up and handing you your outfit.

Your ears were filled with the sounds of party music, loud cheering, chattering, the opening of bottles of booze accompanied with the chants of some random guy's friends telling him to chug.

You were walking around the party on your own, Sarah already went her own way to look for John B.

Your eyes scanned the beach for the head of blonde hair and blue eyes you loved dearly. You were still eyeing the area as some guy randomly walked up to you and started trying to flirt with you by using pickup lines.

Your ears practically tuned his voice out from the get go.

Your heart rate seemed to have picked up when you saw your boyfriend from afar with some of his other friends that seemed only a bit familiar to you. He looked happy. Smiling widely and laughing after downing a red cup filled with beer with ease.

After looking at him for a few seconds, practically burning a whole into his skull with your gaze, he turned around and made eye contact.

You turned around almost immediately and shifted your attention to the guy in front of you.

"I'm sorry, what was that?" you asked in pure confusion, clueless as to why this man even approached you.

He smirked. "Well, my last statement was asking how a pretty girl such as yourself is alone at a blowout like this." he said.

You took a half step back in slight discomfort. Unbeknownst to you, this didn't go unnoticed by JJ and he immediately excused himself and made his way over to you.

You didn't realize the blonde boy's presence until you felt the all too familiar warm hand of his snake around your waist, pulling you close.

After looking up and seeing him, you faced the guy in front of you with a small smile. The poor boy seemed confused.

JJ shifted his gaze to you. "This a new friend of yours baby?" he gestured the hand that held his red cup towards him.

"Oh, uh- I didn't know you had a boyfriend." he scratched the back of his neck.

"You never gave me the chance to tell you." you simply shrugged.

"Okay then.. Bye." he backtracked as he stated before walking off in long and fast paced strides. JJ simply laughed at this.

"J, can we talk?" you turned to face him properly, looking around to to signal that the conversation should be held somewhere more private. He nodded and you both went to the empty side of the beach.

Once you were both just standing still, there was a rather awkward silence.

"You look gorgeous tonight, as always." he said with a smile that you returned.

"I'm sorry." he simply said. You looked up at him, confused. "I overreacted." he continued.

"JJ, I'm sorry. I didn't realize that what I said could come off as comparison." you said as you looked down.

JJ furrowed his eyebrows and held your chin, tilting it upwards so you were looking at him.

"Why are you apologizing? You couldn't have known. It's just- well, sometimes I can't help but feel that you're too good for me" he said, dropping his hand to your hips as he threw the red cup to the ground so his other hand could mirror this. He played with the hem of your sweater.

"Yeah, a little birdie told me you thought that." you said, the frown on your face somehow heard in your voice. "Sarah," JJ practically groaned to which you nodded.

"I don't get how you could even think that. I think the opposite at times, you're too good for me." you shook your head.

JJ tilted his head to the side as if his reason was the most obvious thing in the world. He scoffed slightly with a smile. "Just look at you. We're from two different social classes, you're a total good girl, and let's face it. I get into fights like Jess and I admit that I'm not the best influence." he said.

"Those social classes don't matter. And JJ, hey look at me, you are not Jess. You get into fights because you're defending your friends, you're defending me. You are loyal, amazing, a person with all these good adjectives and a great heart. You're respectful, my parents love you. I love you. So don't you ever think that you're not good enough because you're more than enough. Got it?" you said as you trapped his face in between your hands.

His hands were on your wrists, and he was smiling with tears slightly welling in his eyes. "I love you, so damn much." he whispered lovingly before pressing a kiss into the palm of your hand. You smiled widely at this.

"Let's ditch this party, wreck our plans." you said as you wrapped your arms around his neck. "Not a bad idea, let's hit the chateau this time." he replied, pulling you flush to him. You smiled and pressed a quick kiss onto his lips.

After pulling away you decided to message Sarah before leaving.

Hey, I'll be heading back early tonight.

You picked up JJ's red cup from the ground to dispose of properly before standing up and intertwining your hands together.

"You pick the show this time." you told him. "Sounds great to me." he smiled before falling into step with you.

Your phone dinged, indicating that Sarah responded. You shook your read with a smile as you read the reply.

Yeah right.

juls speaks. I HOPE YOU GUYS ENJOYED! this was so cute to write oh my gosh, i swear, this had me giggling and all.

[stonerbughead]

tagged by @usercassieblake ❤️ these are always fun!

rules: tag 9 people you want to get to know better.

three ships: Bughead (Riverdale), Natewyn (One of Us is Lying), Nace (Nancy Drew)

first ship ever: probably Rory and Jess back when i watched Gilmore Girls live on the WB as a literal child with my mom and sister :) we got to watch live as long as we went to CCD that afternoon lol

last song: Doo Wop (That Thing) - Ms. Lauryn Hill

last film: 9 to 5 (the best)

currently reading: Nothing More To Tell by Karen M. McManus and On The Line: A Story of Class, Solidarity, and Two Women's Epic Fight to Build a Union by Daisy Pitkin

currently watching: so much always!!!! i don't have a tv podcast for nothin'! i'm bored so i'll break it down into subcategories lmao

current rewatches: Ginny & Georgia (new season tonight yay!), Younger (never watched s7 so i will this time), Young Royals (i'm behind on watching S2 i know), One Tree Hill (along with listening to the Drama Queens podcast)

currently airing series I'm watching: Gossip Girl (2021), Abbott Elementary, All American, All American: Homecoming, Mythic Quest, The Sex Lives of College Girls that just wrapped up its sophomore season

first time watches: Everwood at a @leftistteendrama listener's request :)

on my docket to watch next: Heartbreak High, Reservation Dogs, A League of Their Own; also will soon be rewatching Outer Banks and Yellowjackets before the new seasons!

currently consuming: well i just got back from a tasty ass dinner with my fiance celebrating 100 days until my wedding so i recently consumed crostini, calamari, and gnocchi!

currently craving: dessert! lol

tagging @heartunsettledsoul @feisty-aquarius4 @monica-posh @simon-eriksson @writeraquamarinara @onlyalittlebookworm @lurker-no-more @sullypants @imreallyloveleee

[ghostcaterwaul-old]

I posted 199 times in 2021

11 posts created (6%)

188 posts reblogged (94%)

For every post I created, I reblogged 17.1 posts.

I added 40 tags in 2021

#skins uk - 7 posts

#la by night - 6 posts

#shameless - 4 posts

#outer banks - 4 posts

#bo burnham - 4 posts

#vampire the masquerade - 3 posts

#versailles - 3 posts

#z nation - 3 posts

#bo burnham inside - 3 posts

#world of darkness - 3 posts

Longest Tag: 114 characters

#i had to stop myself from screaming with excitement at the possibility because it’s 8 am and my roommate is asleep

My Top Posts in 2021

#5

I forgot I have a list of my OCs on here and I was thinking about updating it with some of my new OCs, then I realized I don't have the AUs listed that I've created for some of my older OCs added to the list and I'm not sure how to add the AUs with the way the list is formatted. I have a sideblog with some of my OCs bios, including their AUs but it's mainly a place to host the OCs I use for RP and to put out RP requests. I'm wondering if I should change the RP sideblog into a general fandom blog, tbh? Or if I should just create a fandom sideblog? Because I’d really like to start writing fanfics including my fandom OCs and I'm not sure if I want my OCs to be like, spread across different blogs like that and I feel like it’d make more sense just to keep them and content related to them all on one blog but I don’t know. Anyways, any advice on this? I really want to get involved with fandoms and writing fanfic again and eventually get back to working on original fic and I want to start by like, talking about some of my OCs on here and stuff. I'm probably overthinking this whole thing and maybe I should just dump all fandom-related stuff here and just reformat the way the post about my OCs is written but I'm having a hard time deciding what to do here. Someone please help! I want to start contributing creatively to the fandoms I'm in but I really need to figure this out first or else I'm just going to hyperfixate on this and never actually write or post anything!

4 notes • Posted 2021-09-12 02:52:08 GMT

#4

So, I’m watching Skins (UK) for the first time. I just watched 4x07 and I'm not okay. If you know, you know.

4 notes • Posted 2021-04-21 08:43:41 GMT

#3

If you write fanfic/imagines for any of the following fandoms/characters/ships, interact with this post! I want to find more fanfic writers to support! I'm open to reading reader inserts and OC fics in addition to the ships listed below. I'm also open to reading any genre! I prefer one-shots but I'm open to multi-chaptered fics as well!

The 100

Characters I'm interested in fanfic about: Murphy, Emori, Jasper, Luna, Octavia, Finn

Ships I’m interested fanfic about: Memori, Murphamy

Z Nation

Characters I'm interested in fanfic about: 10k, Addy, Citizen Z, Sarge, or George

Ships I’m interested fanfic about: I’d be interested to read some 10k x Sarge!

Shameless US

Characters I'm interested in fanfic about: Ian, Lip, Mickey, Mandy, Fiona

Ships I’m interested fanfic about: Gallavich, Lip x Mandy

Skins UK

Characters I'm interested in fanfic about: Sid, Tony, Chris, Cassie, Effy, JJ, Cook, Thomas, Rich.

Ships I’m interested fanfic about: Sid x Tony, Sid x Cassie, Cook x Freddie, Rich x Grace.

Versailles

Characters I'm interested in fanfic about: Phillipe, Chevalier, Liselotte

Ships I’m interested fanfic about: Monchevy, Monchevy x Liselotte (I don't know if there's a ship name for the three of them or not)

Black Sails

Characters I'm interested in fanfic about: Charles Vane, Jack Rackham, Anne Bonny, Max

Ships I’m interested fanfic about: Vane x Rackham, Vane x Rackham x Anne, Anne x Max, Rackham x Anne x Max

The Vampire Diaries/The Originals

Characters I'm interested in fanfic about: Damon, Jeremy, Enzo, Klaus, Marcel, Camille, Freya

Ships I’m interested fanfic about: Damon x Enzo, Damon x Klaus, Klaus x Camille, Freya x Keelin

Arrowverse

Characters I'm interested in fanfic about: Oliver, Barry, Snart, Rory, Alex, Rip, Sara, Charlie, Zari, Behrad, Constantine

Ships I’m interested fanfic about: Oliver x Barry, Sara x Alex, Sara x Ava, Sara x Constantine, possibly others!

Outer Banks

Characters I'm interested in fanfic about: JJ, Kiara, Sarah, Rafe

Ships I’m interested fanfic about: Mayward, Kiara x Sarah.

5 notes • Posted 2021-09-12 04:05:02 GMT

#2

Rewatching Skins and I don’t care what anyone says, Chris’s episode 1 outfit is iconic.

7 notes • Posted 2021-10-24 01:25:51 GMT

#1

LA by Night has really made me want to try TTRPG but the last time I tried it… It wasn’t a great experience and I actually blocked most of it out, but that was a D&D game, like, 10 years ago, and it was only one session because it was such a bad experience that I didn’t want to go back. The guys I was playing with were assholes and it just turned me off of tabletop gaming all together for awhile because I was just overcoming severe social anxiety at the time so like, convincing myself to get past my anxiety to do a thing only for that thing to bite me in the ass really messed me up for awhile.

But I’m hoping maybe I’ll have better luck with VTM? I’ve been wanting to play VTM since I played Bloodlines a few years ago and I’ve been reading up on World of Darkness lore and tried to make a VTM character to try and play a single player chronicle just to learn how to play, but I find it all so confusing and I end up mentally exhausted before even getting through character creation.

Sorry for the long rant, I’m not even sure how much of this is coherent. I guess what I’m trying to say here is… Anyone out there willing to teach me how to play VTM and be patient with me while I learn and not make fun of me and put me down the entire time? Because it seems like so much fun and I really want to play!

20 notes • Posted 2021-12-02 21:34:45 GMT

Get your Tumblr 2021 Year in Review →

[saharamae21]

All of My Wrongs - Prologue

This is more dialogue that I wanted.... But if I keep editing, I’m never going to post it.... I’m just not thrilled how it turned out, but it will be good. I PROMISE.

Let me know if you want to see this because I’m still on the fence if I want to post it on Tumblr or not..

Word Count: 1.3

Pairing: Topper x oc | Rafe x oc

Summary: Aurora Lansing is new to the OBX. She’s never stuck around in one place for long and has never made a lot of friends do to it. She is this free spirited and kind hearted person, but something dark lurks underneath the surface, making her kind of the opposite of the first two boys she meets. Topper is someone who can’t seem to let go. His uptight personality often masks the sweeter side of him. Rafe is filled with hatred most days, but something about Rory makes him softer. She’s the key to both of their better sides and they are the key dispersing the dark thoughts within her. As they all grow closer, jealousy and other ugly emotions begin to affect each one of them slowly. Rory wants to fix them both, but with all of the bad energy around the three she has to pick one of them. How can she choose who to fix without pushing the other over the edge of no return?

____________________________________________

We’ve never stayed in one place for long. My parents were the let’s save the world type of people and so whenever disaster struck, we booked a plane ticket. Tornado disaster relief, earthquakes, but this time, it was a hurricane. The Outer Banks, paradise on earth, or so the entrance sign said. This was my third city in four years. My mom promised me we would stay until I graduated this time. No more moving. I didn’t believe her though.

I let out a sigh as I helped unload the moving van. We always traveled light because we never knew how long we would be staying. This move felt different though. The house was huge and in the nicest part of town. We’ve never stayed in a place like this before. I walked in and looked around. There was a chandelier in the foyer and the staircase curved like those seen in mansions. I lived in a mansion. It wasn’t a secret that we had money. My parents spent time in the Peace Coup and that’s where they met. After that my dad continued working with other non-profit organizations while my mom became a very influential journalist, her work even being published for National Geographic. They saved and saved, eventually to spend on this. The house and car in the street, even the boat at the end of our dock. I couldn’t comprehend how much this would all cost.

Every move was the same as the last though, including this one. My parents would spend the entire first day playing interior decorator while my little brother and I explored the town. Skipper was the exact opposite of the rest of our family. He didn’t care about preserving our planet or saving the world. He cared about what he was doing and self advancement. I blamed it on him being the youngest and being spoiled.

Me, on the other hand… I was a carbon copy of my parents. I loved nature and all of the hippy vibes that they gave off. I just wished we didn’t have to move so much. No matter how much of a free spirit I was, I still needed one place to call home and I just haven’t found it yet.

“Aurora, I want to go home!” Skip complained. I rolled my eyes as I stood in the water. The waves lapped over my feet and I felt peaceful. I didn’t want to leave, but I knew he would just complain more. I tossed him the key to the house and told him that I’d be back later. I told him that he couldn’t let mom and dad lock the doors before I got home. He dismissed my words quickly and took off running. I knew he was going to lock me out of the house tonight…

Surely enough, the house was locked when I got back to my house that evening. The rain had just started and it wasn’t very heavy, but I would much rather be inside. I tried to hide on my porch, but the wind picked up and the rain stil pelted against my skin. I closed my eyes and imagined that it was water droplets from surfing or standing under a waterfall. A smile crept onto my face as I walked out into my driveway, spinning and cheering in the rain. The shower turned into a downpour and it washed my anxieties away.

“What are you doing?” a voice shouted. It was almost drowned out in the wind, but I heard it. I turned around to see my neighbor under an umbrella in the next driveway over. He looked about my age. He had this button up on and some board shorts, classic rich kid.

“I’m enjoying the rain!” I said as I ran closer to get a better look. He had dirty blonde hair and blue eyes. There was something about his eyes that I couldn’t stop looking at. Maybe it was how they looked sad. The eyes were the windows to the soul and I learned so much by looking into his. “Join me!”

He looked at me like I was crazy. I told him to drop the umbrella and live a little. I could tell by the way he carried himself that he didn’t let loose very often. He looked uptight and I could tell he needed this. He told me he was going to go inside now.

“I’m Aurora,” I said while he was turning his back on me. He turned back around and looked at me like I was a puzzle. He was trying to figure me out.

“I’m Topper,” he said. I laughed a little bit. I didn’t mean to, but who would name their kid that? I apologized as he scoffed and I knew that I was in for a challenge.

“Well, Bottom, you need to loosen up,” I said as I grabbed the umbrella from him slowly. He argued with me as water damped his hair. I told him to just feel the rain and tell me what he felt. He wasn’t very creative though. He told me he felt wet and cold.

“Listen, my name is Topper and I’ve had a really bad night. So, I’m going to go back into my house and act like this never happened,” he muttered. I frowned as he picked his umbrella back up. I opened my mouth to ask him what was wrong, but I knew he thought I was weird now.

“Can I borrow your umbrella?” I asked. Those were the only words that came into my head. A crash of thunder rippled through the air and I tensed. I knew if he could see me, the color would’ve been drained from my face.

“Why don’t you just go in and grab one?” he asked. I explained to him that I was locked out of my house and he sighed. “C’mon.”

I stared as he walked away from me. He told me to follow him once again and I ran over. He opened the front door and let me in. My jaw dropped a little bit at the extravagant decorations. He truly lived in luxury. He grabbed my wrist and quietly guided me upstairs. The warmth of his hand against my ice cold skin radiated through me. He pulled me into the bathroom and tossed me a towel. I smiled and dried off as he did the same. Even though he gave off a cold demeanour earlier, he seemed kind of sweet.

“So, what made your night so terrible?” I asked. He looked at me and asked why I cared. The coldness echoed through his words. He was building a wall between us. “I’m just curious.”

“It’s just my girlfriend,” he said. “She makes me feel so crazy sometimes.”

“She must be pretty special then. You know, to make you like that?” I said, smiling. His face lit up when he thought of her. It was the first real emotion he had shown me.

“Yeah she’s pretty great-” his words were interrupted by the door flying open.

“Dude! Tonight was awe-” a boy stood in front of me, staring. He also had this blonde hair that peaked out from underneath his white hat and these blue eyes. His eyes followed my figure. He watched the way my wet clothes clung to my body. I covered up with the towel feeling self conscious for a moment. “Who are you?”

“Rafe, this is Aurora. Aurora, this is Rafe,” Topper said, introducing us to each other. Rafe reached his hand out to shake mine, which was an awkward greeting in this situation. Still I took his hand and shook it firmly. His eyes never left mine after that point. A small smirk was always plastered onto his face and it gave me chills. I shivered from how low my body temperature had dropped from the rain. Topper ran to his room to grab me a sweatshirt, leaving Rafe here with me.

“So what’s your story?” he asked. Why did something tell me these boys were going to shape my entire existence in the OBX?

____________________________________________

Tagging some moots : @outerbankslut @jellyfishbeansontoast @jiaraendgame @bricksatanakinswindow @outerbongs @kiarascarreras @ilovejjmaybank @lindzaylove @potterheadhollander @rudths @spilledtee @queenieloveswriting @multifandomlovess @starlightstarkey

[theaurorfileshq]

– Mr. Mapilton’s Magical Menagerie 

CASE LEVEL: Two

POINTS REQUIRED: One Hundred Fifty

OVERVIEW:

Despite the fact that the wixen world has largely remained hidden from that of the no-maj’s, tales and folk lore have still trickled into no-maj mythology over the centuries. From mountain trolls to fire-breathing dragons, no-majs have grown intrigued over these creatures that for them remain solely in the world of fiction. There have of course been some no-majs, who’ve sought to bring such fiction to reality for the sake of making a buck or two. One such no-maj is that of Augustus Mapilton. For the last fifteen years his traveling show “Mr. Mapilton’s Magical Menagerie”, has sprung up throughout the American Midwest, usually taking up residency in county fairs and street festivals. In exchange for a five dollar ticket, audiences are promised to view living creatures thought only to exist within the pages of fairy tales. 

For the majority of his fifteen year show run, MACUSA has viewed Mr. Mapilton as a low level risk to the Statute of Secrecy, as all of the creatures within his menagerie were deemed as being “clearly fakes”. The unicorn was a white pony with a cone attached to its head, the cockatrice was a taxidermy rooster with a small alligator tail fastened to its rear end, and the “fairy skeleton” was simply a capuchin monkey skeleton, with the tail removed. The Body for Protection of Magical Species (BPMS) in MACUSA has been keeping an eye on the traveling show regardless of its authenticity, sending agents out once a year to ensure no action would be necessary by the governing body. Each visit would go as the last, with the department clearing the show- that was until this last week. 

At a street festival out of Tuscaloosa, Alabama, Mr. Mapilton unveiled a new act to his show, that of a live mermaid submerged in a tank of water. At first the BPMS agents, thought the mermaid was that of a human woman simply dressed as a mermaid. As the minutes wore on however, and still she didn’t make any attempt to reach the surface of the tank for a breath of air, the agents grew concerned. After thirty full minutes submerged, the agents would deem the show as a threat level yellow, thus requiring the Department of Aurors to further investigate. 

PERSONS OF INTEREST:

Augustus Mapilton: The owner and show-runner of “Mr. Mapilton’s Magical Menagerie”, little is known of his roots prior to his first show, which debuted at the Iowa State Fair in 1983. He takes no questions throughout the show, and has declined every interview ever requested. During the most recent show, he described having found the mermaid “washed ashore, and gripping to life” along the shoreline of the Ocracoke Island, which is among the Outer Banks region of North Carolina. 

Jun Hori: One of the few employees of Mr. Mapilton’s. From BPMS’s initial investigation, it was determined that Jun works as the caretaker for those animals in the show. After the last show, BPMS agents witnessed Mx. Hori speaking to the mermaid as he handed her some food in the form of several raw shrimp. The mermaid did not respond verbally to Mx. Hori, but rather responded in head movements and hand gestures. 

Omie Young: Another employee of Mr. Mapilton’s, Miss Young is the ticket taker for the menagerie. She is often left alone, meaning she is the easiest to gain access to out of Mr. Mapilton’s watchful eye. BPMS agents witnessed her on several occasions leaving the security of the menagerie’s tent to frequent a local coffee shop, where she appeared to be placing an order for the show’s employees. 

CHIEF’S NOTES:

Are we sure it’s just not a human who can hold her breath for a long time, and happens to like wet sushi?

- Chief Ben Eames 

If this is indeed a mermaid, then there is so much more going on here than a potential risk to the statute of secrecy. First there is a question as to where Mapilton came into possession of her, unfortunately there is a black market trade on mermaids, so it is possible he got her through more nefarious means. But secondly, and most importantly, this mermaid is in immediate danger. Mermaids are not pets, they are living sentient creatures, who cannot live in the confines of a glass tank. Based on the fact she was first mistaken as a woman, it is likely this is a siren, and the observation of her not using her voice is very telling. The menagerie is next slated to appear at the Shelbyville Washboard Festival in Tennessee. Rory has given you the concealment of two county employed safety inspectors, tasked to ensure the safety of the menagerie for festival goers. You will find all you need on your desks. 

- Deputy Chief Langer

CASE STATUS: CLOSED

| RPG HOME | PLOT | WANTED CONNECTIONS | OPEN CASES |

[cryonme]

🍷🍷blind date!!

marauders, slytherins, and outerbanks please!! you don't have to do all!

anyways I like reading, getting good grades. academic validation and it's finest!!! I'm funny I think. people have told me I'm mean and I think that's the worst thing I've ever been told. I'm a swimmer. I like painting and art but I stopped because I thought i wasn't that good. Amy march and rory gilmore kin. I told everyone I wanted to be a lawyer when I was nine and now struggle with the fact that I'm not that special and won't go to Harvard. anyways sorry for trauma dumping mb. fav color sage green fav movie legally blonde fav book too many. was that helpful?!?! I have social anxiety if that helps

for the marauders, ugh, could you see anyone BUT remus???? that boy LOVES legally blonde and always watches it with u and can quote it word for word!!!! the two of u have the sweetest little study dates and he stares down anyone who says ur mean >:( (people always say I’m mean too bb, I know how u feel!! we’re just passionate <3)

for the slytherin boys oh my lord BLAISE!!!!! BLAISE BLAISE BLAISE!!! amy march is 100% his fictional crush so he just swoons for u and always helps u with school work!

for outer banks, JJ!!!! he 100% always pushes you to be the best you can be and even helped you to get back into painting because he knows ur so talented! he’s also a total sweetheart with ur social anxiety <3

[rewolfaekilerom]

ginny & georgia is good.

//NOTE: This was originally posted to Wordpress on 05.01.2021//

Let me start by saying that I tried to think of a clever title for this post, but all I could think of was the simple fact that I really like Ginny & Georgia. Excuse my lack of cleverness this week. I’m not sure if it’s my body responding to the first vaccine dose or if it’s the fog of seasonal allergies, but my brain is mush; my sense of smell is also not right. Also, Bug scratched the hair off of one of her ears (I’m pretty sure that’s seasonal allergies, poor thing) and I’ve spent a cumulative 15 hours this past week rendering, exporting, and uploading one single video onto YouTube for work (lost story short: I’m back at the rendering stage after I realized the audio got unsynced in the second half of the video. Ugh). It’s been a WEEK.

Excuses, excuses.

So, while I wait for my laundry and as I take a break from New Pokemon Snap (omg, it’s so good), I thought I’d brain-vomit my thoughts about Ginny & Georgia. Proving true to the portrait I gave of myself in my last post, I’m happy (or embarrassed?) to say that I watched Ginny & Georgia (henceforth G&G) twice this week. I finished episode 10 and immediately started rewatching episode 1, and it’s taking everything in me to not start rewatching for a third time. But depending on what you consider a week, I might be on week two now? ANYWAY.

I’ll start this brain-dump by saying, again, I really like this show. I described it to friends as a cross between Gilmore Girls and Pretty Little Liars or Outer Banks–maybe with a touch of Dexter. I don’t think it’s just that, but I think that’s a good way to summarize how it feels to watch the show, and those are good things in my book. GG and Dexter are probably in my top 5 favorite TV shows, and OB is up there too. I’ve watched OB through twice, and it definitely quenched my mid-winter thirst for the beach and my perpetual desire for a solid mystery/intrigue. I grew up watching the Travel Channel, so any show set in an even moderately interesting locale is immediately catching my interest. Oh, and I watched the entire PLL series with my mom while I was a teenager and even after I went away to college; it was “our show”–our way of sharing cultural ground even when I was away from home for the first time. We watched each episode together when it aired on TV, and we’d be the first to admit that the show was–at best–illogical, comically dramatic, and unrealistic to the umpth degree. But sometimes it’s fun to watch a show and laugh at its absurdity.

G&G doesn’t fall into the same traps that a lot of those types of teen shows do. It has drama and intrigue; it has sex and “teen problems” (which are really just person problems). But it also has real conversations about race and sexuality and parent-child relationships that go beyond the CW/Freeform problem-for-problem’s-sake model (hi, PLL)) or the WB squeaky-clean-problems approach (I’m talking to you, Seventh Heaven). It takes a Skins approach to issues young people face–well, if Skins was made for a puritanical US audience, but not THAT US Skins reboot. We’ll never talk about that. Shhh. Look away.

I’m not going to rehearse the plot of G&G, so look it up for yourself right now. I’ll wait.

Just kidding. I’m not waiting. Go look it up on your own time.

The similarities between G&G and GG are glaring (hell, Georgia even calls herself and Ginny the Gilmores with bigger boobs). In both, you have a young, single mom who had her daughter at 15/16 and then ran away from home. The mom is plucky, charismatic, and doesn’t always navigate the world by making the most, er, ethical choices. The daughter initially seems a bit more reserved and like she wants to play by the rules, but deep down is just a younger version of the mother, and that comes out of the course of the series. The two relate to one another as friends, but it’s complicated by the fact that they’re parent and child and that there is an inherent power imbalance there. The daughter is a little too mature for her own good and the mother is a little too immature for her own good. They butt heads, usually over the mother’s past and present choices (particularly regarding men) and the daughter’s present and future choices (also often regarding men). Their fights and falling outs are truly spectacular–they fight like only a mother and daughter could, but they also love one another–though they can’t express that love in the most logical or legible ways. They’re dysfunctional in every way you could imagine, and they really should be in family counseling.

But that’s not all. If that were it, I’d say, “oh, boohoo, they have similar types of characters. As if this is novel? Hasn’t this been done before? Get off your high horse.” NO. The parallels between these two shows go WAY deeper than that. Georgia is Lorelei and Ginny is Rory–hell, their naming practices are even similar. Georgia named herself after the state she was in the first time she had to come up with a pseudonym; this initiated a naming practice wherein she names her children after the cities/states they’re born in–hence Ginny, for Virginia. Rory is a nickname for Lorelei. (Side note: Lorelei is a hard name to type.)

Fine, fine. But we also have the tripartite relationship dynamics. Lorelei’s Big Three are Christopher, Max, and Luke; Georgia’s are Zion (Ginny’s dad and Georgia’s “penguin”–still not positive what that means, except that they can’t let go of one another?), Paul (the mayor, a white collar, public-facing profession), and Joe (the cafe/restaurant owner). If teenaged Rory has Dean and Jess, Ginny has Hunter and Marcus, respectively; Rory and Ginny obviously belong with the “bad boy”–they have infinitely better chemistry and get one another–but struggle with how good they “look” with the good guy, who’s actually kind of a judgmental jerk (as the bad guy points out).

Stars Hollow looks a whole lot like Wellsbury–hell, they’re both in New England. Wellsbury IS the most New England town name ever. Period. I love me some picturesque New England town bullshit.

Oh, and the side characters. Ellen and Sookie fill the same niche, and it’s a good one. They’re easily the most likable characters in both shows, and their husbands are genuinely funny characters in their own rights. GG has the sexually ambiguous (until he’s not) but oh-so-sarcastic Michel while G&G has Nick. Arguably, you could lump Kirk in with Michel to get Nick, but Nick isn’t as bumbling as Kirk, so maybe that point doesn’t stand. Hell, for friends Rory has the angel and devil on her shoulders in the form of Lane and Paris; Ginny has Max and Abby. And if Stars Hollow has Taylor Doose, Wellsbury has Cynthia Fuller. The list goes on.

Of course, a staple of GG is Emily and Richard Gilmore, but we glimpse that in G&G’s flashbacks to Zion’s parents, who help Georgia and Zion when the two first have Ginny. They’re similarly exasperated with their child’s choices and come off as a little overbearing but nonetheless have good intentions. They don’t have nearly as much screen time as Emily and Richard, which is a shame, but they serve a similar function.

Oh! And the flashbacks. They’re one of the charming parts of GG–they give us really important backstory on Lorelei’s life and life choices prior to the series’ start (and Rory’s birth, frankly). They’re less charming in G&G because Georgia’s background is far darker than GG ever could or would have conjured.

This gets me to why G&G isn’t just a GG rip-off. G&G isn’t just a woke GG. It isn’t just GG with people of color, in the LGBTQIA+ community, of varied socioeconomic classes, or from outside New England. If you like GG, you might like G&G, but you also might not. G&G addresses real life challenges teenagers, women, people of colorm hell, most Americans face in 2021. It depicts the US in its multiple angles, some of which are very, very ugly. Some might say that it’s GG for 2021, and maybe it is, but if that’s true, I’m not sure it’s a bad thing. I’m just not sure it’s totally true.

I’m going to cool it on the GG-G&G comparisons for a moment and just talk about G&G because I think you get my point. Before I cool it completely, though, and as a point of departure, I’ll say that if we do go with the idea that G&G is GG for 2021, then we need to recognize what G&G does differently: it gives us glimpses into how a whole range of people experience the US, and it doesn’t look away from ugly, unflattering, hateful truths that reside just below the surface of sparkly, shiny, pretty, picture-perfect towns. It doesn’t shy away from reality, even if that reality is uncomfortable for white, middle-class, cis, het viewers.

The important things about G&G that I haven’t yet mentioned in specifics are a’plenty.

Ginny (and Hunter) is mixed-race, a subject that comes up on a number of occasions in the form of explicit conversations about how being mixed-race doesn’t necessarily mean belonging to two communities but can instead mean feeling out of place in both. It also comes up in a very hard-to-watch argument between Ginny and Hunter where the two trade insults about one another’s lack of belonging; the argument escalates into a screaming match in which the two effectively diminish not only one another’s claims to their Black (in Ginny’s case) and Taiwanese (in Hunter’s case) identities but also the prejudices they experience at the hands of a hegemonic white society that systematically denies opportunities or a sense of belonging (among other things) for those who don’t fit into readily identifiable “boxes.”

Georgia ran away from her childhood home in rural, impoverished Arkansas because she was being sexually abused by her stepfather, who then went on to sexually abuse her half-sister.

Georgia has killed people, often for “legitimate” (???) reasons, including posing threats to Ginny.

Georgia used to be in a biker gang and still has connections with at least one member, a lawyer she has on retainer to help her “disappear” her misdeeds, including said murders.

Marcus and Ginny have struggled (or are currently struggling) with self-harm and suicide ideation.

Literally every single one of the teenagers in this show is under immense pressure to over-engage in extracurricular activities that will make them competitive candidates at top universities.

Parents’ unhealthy relationships with one another, divorce, and everything else in that realm also shape the teenaged characters’ lives.

Abby struggles with an eating disorder that’s fueled in part by comments her male peers (notably, an asshole named Press) about her body. Male characters make sexist, stereotyping comments to Ginny about her body, too.

I’ll stop there, but I do so with full knowledge that I’m likely leaving something out. Hell, as I type this I remember that Austin (Ginny’s younger half-brother) literally stabs a kid in the hand and there’s a private detective trying to figure out Georgia’s past, including if/how she murdered her previous husband (the impetus for the family’s move). Like I said, there’s so much more to this show than just its similarities with GG. But I’ve also seen articles online decrying viewers who make the connection, and I don’t think that’s quite the right approach. The show clearly isn’t copying GG. Even if G&G did take inspiration from GG, it takes that inspiration in a fresh direction.

I wonder, though, about how we, the viewers, are supposed to respond to certain aspects of the show.

For instance, the show pits the US South as the source of obvious Bad Stuff ™–child abuse, incest, poverty, etc.– and the US Northeast as a place where the Bad Stuff ™ is hidden beneath a picture-perfect veneer. I get what the show’s creators are going for. They’re attempting to give us a multidimensional perspective on the US in all its prettiness and ugliness, but I wonder if associating the South with only the Bad Stuff ™ is doing a disservice to a region that has a rich cultural past and present–a past and present that’s certainly included problems like poverty, racism, and abuse but cannot be defined by those things alone because those things are not all that’s there. To tie those things primarily to just one region because those are stereotypes that are often perpetuated about that region seems a bit . . . overly simplistic? Troublesome? Dare I use the old grad-student favorite–problematic? It’s too easy–it’s lazy, in fact–to pit South against Northeast as the source of the US’s outright ugliness. It’s the rhetoric surrounding the 2016 presidential election all over again, and, frankly, we could all use a break.

The other thing that regional competition does is it makes it possible for the show to gloss over the fact that those Bad Things ™ exist in the Northeast, too. I feel silly saying that because it seems so obvious, but the simplistic portrait the show paints of the US means that it sacrifices accurate representation and complexity for the sake of–well, actually, I’m not sure what it’s for the sake of. Maybe straightforward storytelling? That might make sense if the show didn’t dwell in other complexities and commit itself to attempting to represent other identities and aspects of American life with some degree of accuracy, so I don’t know.

I can’t speak to whether the show accurately represents the experiences of mixed-race people, LGBTQIA+ people, or people with disabilities. I suspect that it represents the experiences of some people accurately but, of course, not all people because that would be impossible. I’m also not sure if I think the show’s commitment to representing a variety of experiences of US life borders on tokenism. I can’t speak for how someone who occupies one of those subject positions experiences the show because I do not occupy that subject position. My gut reaction is that the show does seem to make an effort to go beyond the whole “look at us, we cast all sorts of people in our show” by attempting to humanize all of its characters as real humans with rich, complex lives. It weaves the characters’ lives into a tight web, making clear that a character like Max and Marcus’s dad isn’t noteworthy just because he’s deaf. You don’t look at Clint and think “oh, that’s the deaf character.” You think, oh, that’s Clint; he’s Ellen’s husband, Max and Marcus’s dad, he’s deaf, he makes pithy remarks about his over-the-top daughter and slacker son, and he performs strip-teases for his wife. He’s noteworthy because he’s an engaged (and absolutely hilarious) husband and father whose deafness is one of many identities of his that influences his children’s lives as any other cultural identity would influence a family’s dynamic. The entire family is (at least) bilingual, communicating in sign language and spoken English while also teaching their sign language skills to friends and significant others. His deafness is one identity among many that the show invests him with, and he’s not in all that many scenes.

I could be wrong, but that was my experience while watching the show and thinking about it a bit afterward and while writing this post.

The show depicts mixed-race identity in a complex way, too, but it dwells on it a bit longer and with a bit more detail. I mentioned that Ginny and Hunter are both of mixed-race parentage and that their mixed-race identities become a subject of a relationship-ending argument. To back up a bit, though, the show attempts to paint a vivid portrait of the challenges Ginny in particular faces as a she navigates middle-class, white suburbia as the daughter of a Black father and a white mother. We see how she reacts when a police office walks toward her at a gas station while she pumps gas in her mother’s BMW, when a teacher tells her she’s being “aggressive” (while her classmates, who display similar behaviors, are unremarked upon), when her hair frizzes out after her friends pressure her to let another student’s white mom brush her curls into a ponytail using a boar-bristle brush, when a male friend (multiple male friends?) tells her that she doesn’t look like a stereotypical Black girl, and, among other things, when another student asks her “what are you?” in an attempt to pinpoint her racial/ethnic identities. Each instance is painful to watch because the actress who plays Ginny plays her well; the camera stays trained on her face as she responds to each of these interactions, allowing the viewer to observe the range of emotions she feels as she repeatedly navigates a community of peers and adults who can’t get their shit together and respect her existence. These interactions aren’t quirky neighbors asking silly questions about why she hangs her laundry a certain way or informing her that she needs to only mow her lawn on Thursdays. These are interactions that repeatedly undermine her sense of belonging, that tell her she’s somehow different, and that question her very right to exist. It’s heartbreaking, but I think it’s important that it’s depicted because that’s reality for many, many people.

The scene with Hunter is interesting because it shows the two turning something that was common-ground into a source of conflict for them. I’m not entirely sure how to read this scene. It’s difficult to watch because it rapidly descends into a “who is the most disenfranchised?” competition rather than a respectful conversation about each partner’s different experiences with prejudice. I wondered if the subtext here was some commentary on how members of one racial community pit themselves against members of other racial communities. (I’m not being clear here, and I’m struggling to clarify even as I go back to edit this post. I guess what I mean is that, when I initially watched this scene, I worried that this was a negative commentary on the Black community in particular and how it engages with other racial communities. I hope that makes sense.) Frankly, I’m still not sure if that’s not what’s happening there or if that’s not what was intended. What I’m fairly certain of, though, is that the scene makes clear that we, the viewer, are being told pretty explicitly that we can’t identify the two as “good partners” on the sole basis that they have mixed-race parentage in common. In other words, the scene undermines the idea that experience of racial prejudice is the only (or even the most important) factor that brings two people together and makes them good partners for one another. It also undermines the belief that experiencing prejudice doesn’t mean a person is automatically awakened to the prejudices other people also experience.

This is also one of the scenes where Ginny truly is unlikeable. Hunter is, too, but he’s unlikeable in a number of scenes throughout the show. He’s the Good Guy™ character in a nutshell–says all the right things, does all the right things, is all the right things, but maybe isn’t all those things for all the right reasons. In this scene, Ginny enacts the prejudicial treatment she’s suffered at the hands of her peers against Hunter; she questions the validity of his identity and the veracity of his experiences of prejudice at the hands of his peers. This scene is the breaking-point where the two have to come to terms with the fact that they’re not compatible even though, on some surface and by some set of metrics, they might appear to be.

Hunter sucks, but so does Marcus–for different reasons, though. Marcus is detached, withdrawn, sarcastic, unmotivated, disrespectful, and dishonest. He’s unaware–and doesn’t attempt to improve at all on this–of how his actions impact other people. He just doesn’t care about anyone but himself–until he does, a little bit. Some part of me has sympathy for Marcus and genuinely likes him; I’ll blame the show for that. Another part of me–the part that’s 30 years old and has known plenty of Marcuses–doesn’t have time for his shit. I’m conflicted, but the majority of me wants Marcus and Ginny to end up together because the things they have in common and the things that bring them together are the things that most people look for in a relationship. Marcus is a lazy shit most of the time, but he makes a genuine effort to understand Ginny. By the end of the season, we see that he also respects her and accepts her as she is–warts and all. He seems to genuinely want the best for her, which is a nice development in character from our first introduction to him, tumbling out of his mother’s minivan after having been caught smoking weed on a street corner. Again, though, he wasn’t always so respectful. His past behaviors make it hard to trust him, so it makes sense when Ginny doesn’t bring him along at the end of the season. It does, though, make you hope that he’s back in season 2 and that we get to see more of their relationship.

Speaking of which, I hope that season 2 also explores Georgia and Joe’s relationship a bit more. It seems like they’re headed in the Lorelei-Luke direction, which will make me happier than words could express, but I could also see the show’s creators flipping the script on us and setting Joe up with his own gloomy backstory–something to do with the ethically ambiguous labor situation he’s got going on at his farm and in his cafe, perhaps? Still, I think that might make him and Georgia even better suited for one another than they already are. After all, he’s one of the first people who showed Georgia true, genuine kindness after she ran away as a teenager.

And of course I want more of Ellen in season 2. The actress who plays her is hilarious and her character is just . . . really likable.

On a somewhat lighter note, one little thing I noticed while watching the show is that the characters slap their thighs a lot. This, again, might by my seasonal allergies brain, but the “[slaps thighs]” notation on closed captioning came up an infinite number of times over the course of this show. It came up so often that I started thinking you could catch the entire plot of the show if someone just spliced together every instance where a character sighs and slaps their thighs. I’d watch that video.

After all that, I still think the parallels to GG are there, but I still defend that G&G is also more than those parallels. And the “more” it offers is good. It’s intrigue; it’s gloomy realities and often-ignored truths that don’t offer viewers a sunny break from reality. But I think that’s good. I don’t like the argument that TV should be a “break from reality” or that a show is good on the sole basis that it offers us a “break from reality.” I think that argument is an excuse used to defend media that is too lazy to do the responsible thing and convey storylines that are inclusive and meaningful.

Well, my laundry is done, so I have to go deal with that. Happy Saturday, and happy initial inoculation!

XOXO, you know.