#same thing when boggs suggested it

[madeofjules]

katniss: "I could easily kill peeta, he isn't human anymore"

gale, right after: "do you want me to kill him?"

katniss: *unnerved, offended, taken aback, cannot believe he had the audacity to say that*

[nebulablakemurphy]

Moves & Countermoves (Part 20)

Summary: No one ever wins the games, even fourteen years later, Y/N is still playing.

Prologue | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19

“Soldier Abernathy,” Boggs’ voice is the one to finally break them apart.

Y/N moves to her feet, straightening out her gear. “Yes.”

“Civilian Abernathy.” Boggs also acknowledges the man on the floor.

“Yep.” Haymitch groans, pulling himself up.

“There’s been an incident.” Boggs squares his shoulders.

“What kind of incident?”

“Peeta attacked Katniss.”

“He what?” Y/N stammers.

“Our Peeta?” Haymitch is getting older, surely he’s heard wrong.

Boggs nods. “Follow me-”

Without another word, Boggs ushers them to Katniss’ room in medical. She is limp on the bed, being changed into a hospital gown. She looks the same as she had when Haymitch left her, save for the large angry bruise, blooming over the expanse of her neck.

“Damn it,” Haymitch murmurs.

“How could this happen?” Y/N turns to Boggs.

“I stepped outside to give them privacy. When I heard the commotion, I went straight in. He’d already put her through the medicine cabinets and had her on the floor. It happened fast.”

Y/N brings a hand to her throbbing temple. “Thank you for…” Y/N breaks off. “I should’ve stayed with him.”

“Not your fault, soldier.” Boggs says, immediately.

Haymitch passes a hand over her back. See, you stubborn thing? Not everything can be your fault.

“I’ll be right outside the door if you need me.” Boggs excuses himself.

The doctors trickle out, leaving Katniss in her neck brace, hooked up to a bunch of beeping monitors.

“She’ll be out for a while, by the sound of it. We should check on Peeta. Try to figure out what the hell’s going on.” Haymitch kisses Y/N’s temple. Watching his wife stroke dark hair away from Katniss’ face.

Y/N nods.

Peeta’s room is not much better. He is restrained, for his own safety. Unconscious after the attack, Boggs had to get him off somehow.

The results of the bloodwork returns without traces of any hallucinogenic drugs. The only abnormal thing found in his system is trackerjacker venom.

“So what does this mean? He thought Katniss was someone else?” Haymitch asks Dr. Aurelius, who’s come to deliver the news. He’s not a regular doctor, he’s a head doctor. Maybe he’s here to make sure they don’t lose their shit?

“Well…it’s hard to say. I’ll need to speak with him once he regains consciousness. For now, it seems a bit odd that he would remember Y/N in the hovercraft and in this room, only to not recognize Katniss a moment later.”

There must be something…something she’s missing. “So you think he knew it was Katniss and did that to her anyway?”

“I understand how difficult this may be for you to hear, but Peeta did attack Katniss with the intent to kill her.” Dr. Aurelius explains.

Haymitch shifts, meeting Y/N’s eyes.

“That’s why he’s restrained?” Y/N presses her lips together.

“This is for his own safety.“

“I don’t understand.” Y/N cuts him off. “He held my hand all the way home.” There’s just no way. “Peeta wouldn’t do that to Katniss.”

“I know it is painful for you to see them this way. But given your experience on the hovercraft, I have every reason to believe that we can help him work through this.”

“How?” Haymitch wonders.

“With the knowledge that he recognizes Y/N, we will be able to use a trusted source to sift through the information fed to him by the Capitol. In theory we will be able to reverse this fear conditioning.” Dr. Aurelius is already working up a plan.

“So that’s what you think this is? A response to fear conditioning?” Haymitch asks.

“He has lacerations, old and new. Evidence of shocks and beatings, that with the presence of trackerjacker venom suggests what one would consider brainwashing. A hijacking, if you will.”

“Have you ever treated a patient in his condition?” Y/N gnaws at the insides of her cheek.

“I have never seen anything like this, no.”

“We’ll do whatever we can,” Y/N says, immediately.

“For now there is nothing to be done. Katniss and Peeta are resting, which they both desperately need. I might suggest you do the same.”

“If it were your kids, could you rest?” Haymitch bites out, bitterly.

Aurelius nods, in understanding. “No.” He stares for a moment more. “As Peeta’s family is deceased, you are his next of kin. You will be involved in making medical decisions. If anything changes you will be the first to know.”

“Thank you.”

“There is one more thing, before you go.”

“And what might that be?” Haymitch retorts.

“Johanna Mason has requested that you also be listed as next of kin, until she is found to be of sound mind.”

“What about Finnick?” Y/N wonders, they’ve always been close.

“Finnick struggled during separation with Annie.”From what Aurelius can see, he’s still struggling. “He is in no position to make decisions about her medical care. Rather her be a ward of the district, she would have you.”

“Of course, we’ll take her.”

————————————————————————

Pollux is with Madge, when they return to the children, keeping all three entertained. There’s someone else, perched in the corner, quiet, just watching.

“Mom?” Y/N says, warily. She’s only seen her once since they’ve been here. The older woman was deep into detox and screamed at her to get out.

“Hi, honey.” As if nothing has happened. As if nothing is wrong.

“Mommy, look what we made for Peeta!” Arista holds up the off white paper banner, lined with drawings and colored flowers.

“Oh, sweetheart,” Y/N chokes down her despair. How can I explain this? “It’s beautiful, he’ll love it.”

“You’re sad,” Everest calls her bluff.

Haymitch steps closer, saving her, the way he always has. “There’s something we need to talk about.”

“Is it Peeta?”

“Yeah,” Haymitch breathes, perching himself at the end of Everest’s bed. “Come here.” He pats the space on either side for his children. I’ll take this one.

Y/N follows her mother out into the hallway.

“How are you holding up?” The older woman asks.

“I’m ok.”

“Good.”

“So you’re out of rehab?”

“If that’s what you want to call it, yes.”

“You look really…healthy.”

“Y/N I saw Finnick’s broadcast and I- I just wanted to tell you how sorry I am. I’m sorry that I wasn’t there for you. That I couldn’t protect you. I know I wasn’t the best mother-”

“You did the best you could,” Y/N cuts her off. “As a mother, I understand that we can’t always be there the way we want to.”

“But you are there. Everyday and every night, you are there for those kids. They know that no matter what, their mom is coming home. They know that you will always be there. I’m sorry you didn’t have that.”

“It’s ok…I’m-” Y/N wraps her arms tightly around herself. “I’m ok.”

“When I lost Maysi, I lost myself. I tried to get it back, to get a grip, to keep pushing but I couldn’t. When you got reaped,” she breaks off. “When I saw my baby girl get taken from me I- I mourned you. I mourned you the second you got on that train and I never stopped mourning you. But you weren’t dead, you were alive and my mind, especially with the morphling, couldn’t comprehend that.”

“Mom, please, stop.”

“I know you must be angry with me.” Her mother tugs at Y/N’s hand. “But I need you to know that didn’t deserve that. You didn’t deserve any of this, you are so good. You are good and you are brave and you are strong. Better than I ever was or could be. And I’m going to be here for you now, if you’ll let me.”

Y/N nods, silently, brushing away tears. “Thank you.”

————————————————————————

The guilt grows, festering like a wound. Guilt over the strain on their marriage, guilt for their absence from their children. Guilt for Katniss, neck braced, in a coma. Guilt for Peeta, restrained, turned into a weapon meant to kill the only girl he’s ever loved. Guilt for Johanna, tortured and stripped of her dignity. Guilt for Cashmere, who lost her brother. Guilt for Madge who takes on so much burden that is not her own.

“He’s been asking for you.” One of the doctors from Peeta’s team catches Y/N in the hallway.

The voice is enough to snap Y/N back to the task at hand. Haymitch is with Katniss, such is their agreement, until Peeta feels more at ease in the presence of others. Triggering him is not worth the risk.

Through the observation window, she can see him struggling, tugging at the bonds. Two doctors are beside him, attempting to soothe him. Y/N enters the room without hesitation, fighting her way into his line of vision.

“Peeta.” She says softly, moving towards him.

His thrashing does not stop, but he registers that she is there.

“Can we clear the room?” Y/N asks.

“Of course.” The doctors nod, they too are at a loss.

Peeta’s breathing is so shallow and rapid, she fears he might be hyperventilating. His eyes searching her sadly, warily. “I thought you didn’t want to see me.”

“Why would you think that?”

“Don’t you know what I did?”

Katniss. “I’m not upset with you, Peeta. I just want to help you.”

“You don’t know what it was like.”

“You’re right, I don’t.”

“But Snow did stuff to you too, didn’t he?”

“Nothing like this,” Y/N swallows the lump in her throat. “I brought you something, from the kids; my kids.”

“I remember…” Almost. Memories dancing near the surface of a frozen lake.

“They made you this,” Y/N unrolls the slightly crumpled paper. “Sorry I smushed it.”

Peeta’s eyes well up with tears. “Can I keep it?”

“Yeah, of course, we’ll find somewhere to hang it up.”

————————————————————————

“My colleague, Dr. Maes, informed me that the two of you had a rather…colorful conversation, at the bed side of her patient, Johanna Mason.” Dr. Aurelius says, during his later session with Y/N.

“She’s not a good fit for Johanna,” Y/N explains. “I’d rather you see her.”

“I couldn’t possibly take on Peeta, Katniss, Johanna, Haymitch and yourself.” Aurelius explains, “given her condition-”

“Take me off the list.”

“Are you sure that’s the best decision?”

“It’s the only option I have.” Y/N crosses one leg over the other.

“Tell me why.”

“What?”

“Tell me why that’s the only option and I’ll consider it.”

Y/N takes a steadying breath. “You’re the best they’ve got down here and we both know it. This isn’t about being a lost cause, or a martyr. It’s about people needing you more than I do.”

Dr. Aurelius sighs, “I’m sure Haymitch will follow your lead.”

“I didn’t mention it to him yet.” The longing pangs in her chest.

When she does tell Haymitch, later that night, he’s half asleep.

“Whatever you want, Angel.” He murmurs, pulling her closer.

They’ve hardly seen each other. She feels the strain on his heart, tugging at her own. Y/N fists a hand in his shirt. “You’re what I want.” More time with you.

“You have me by the balls,” he scoffs, “Stop torturing yourself. Everyone has to pay the piper and revolutions don’t come cheap. If we have to keep going like this; for however long, we’ll do that.”

“This is enough for you? Five minutes to ourselves before bed, after being apart all day?”

“You’re enough.” Haymitch breathes, “you’ll always be enough.”

Just you and me.

————————————————————————

Katniss wakes a day later, clawing at the brace around her neck and breathing hard. The monitors surrounding her beep frantically as Boggs tries to calm her.

“Hey, Katniss. You’re alright.”

Her hands move back to the brace.

“Don’t, you’re swollen.” Boggs stills her fingers.

Katniss leans back in defeat, her voice is but a broken whisper. “Peeta.”

Part 21

Series Taglist: @praline357 @flowercrowns-goodvibes @justheretoparty420 @avocadotoastwithegg @treehouse-mouse @emo-markie @spilled-mi1k @magical-spit @greaser9902 @jessicamellarky @yourebuckingkiddingme @smuha2004 @sendhelplease @ninimackbrews @wittiestrain184 @r1dd1kulus @erenluvr69 @helpimhyperfixating @jackierose902109 @jellybear455 @dreammgc @dadbodfanatic-x @ftdtcmlovr @inky-sun @ms-brek-ker @undercover55655 @mischiefmanaged21 @avoxrising @koiphisch @drwho-ess @daisydaisybilly @misfits1a

[on-my-vigilante-sht]

Capitol Punishment XII

Haymitch x Reader

Summary: The Capitol continues to torture it’s victors no matter how long ago they won through punishment, exploitation, and worst of all; their relationships.

A story in which Haymitch’s lover is a plaything for the Capitol.

Warnings: Canon level violence, rape, alcohol, murder, systemic poverty, exploitation, rebellion (?), more reliance on movie than book, suicidal thoughts, swearing, illness, pregnancy, miscarriage, torture, sexual torture, medical stuff

Word Count: 3.4K

Part XI | Masterlist | Part XIII

It had been six weeks since they escaped the arena, five since Haymitch had seen that godforsaken video of you and that man. According to Beetee more have come in but he destroyed them immediately. Haymitch wasn’t sure how many had come in but he suspected Snow was making a lot of money from you.

But despite his constant worry for you he continued to do is duties in 13. Mostly because he didn’t want to be sent back to rehab. So he sat in on meetings to help with battle and propaganda plans. But when he was called into a secret meeting with only Coin, Plutarch, Boggs, Gale, and a few other special forces he was elated.

“We’re here to discuss the rescue of the victors,” Coin began. Haymitch was the most excited he had been since he arrived in this cultish hell hole. Not every soldier held the same feelings though.

“Why?” one asked, silencing the others. “Are you actually suggesting we put soldiers’ lives on the line so some people can get their girlfriend or boyfriend back?” he scoffed. As much as Haymitch wanted to punch the guy, he had a point.

“It’s more than that. The Mockingjay has demanded Peeta’s and the other victors’ rescue and the Mockingjay is necessary for this rebellion,” Coin explained. “However, this is a volunteer only mission. I won’t forcefully send any of you into the heart of the Capitol.”

“I’ll do it,” Gale immediately volunteered.

“So will I,” Haymitch spoke.

“That’s very generous, Haymitch,” Plutarch began, “but according to our medical files you’re not fit for combat.”

“And I won’t send civilians in on a special forces mission,” Coin added.

“But this is volunteer based,” Haymitch pressed, “and I don’t see any other volunteers.”

“I’ll go,” Boggs volunteered. Four more soldiers followed suit.

“Thank you for your sacrifice and bravery,” Coin said, not unlike a robot.

“We ship out first thing in the morning, the plan will be relayed to those going tonight. Not a word of this to anyone else, especially Katniss, got it?” Boggs ordered. Everyone in the room uttered agreements as they filed out.

As Haymitch began to shuffle out, Gale caught up with him. “Thanks for volunteering,” he said. “Katniss was telling me how you struggle being sober.” Haymitch took slight offense to that comment but didn’t let it show. Everyone treated him as some sickly old man, hell he was only 41. Granted he had drank most of his liver away and going cold turkey had been hard on his body at first but he was getting better.

Haymitch took a deep sigh. Being sober had somehow lowered his inhibitions and he found himself being more honest more often with people even if he didn’t really want to. Besides, Katniss hated him for letting Peeta be taken, Finnick was a mess, and he wasn’t remotely close with anyone else in 12, Gale was the closest thing he had to a friend aside from Effie who was stewing in her dorm, angry she couldn’t wear Capitol luxuries anymore. “I just— after seeing her in the interviews and what the Capitol’s doing to her— I just wanted to be the one to save her. I wasn’t able to save her from Snow for the past 8 years but I wanted to pull her from his clutches for the final time.”

Gale nodded, sighing deeply. “I’ll get her out. I’ll tell her you volunteered for the mission and that you’re waiting here for her, right at the hangar doors.”

“Thanks,” Haymitch smiled. “Can I ask, how come you’re going? Thought you were in love with Katniss and hated Peeta’s guts.”

Gale’s sigh turned exasperated. “She’s not happy. Not with Peeta in the Capitol. I just wanna make her happy.”

“Well good luck.”

~

Haymitch stood in the control room anxiously along with Katniss, Finnick, Beetee, and Plutarch. District 5 had just brought down the dam, cutting power in the Capitol, shutting down their defenses. Allowing Beetee to go in and wreak all kinds of havoc to keep them unaware of the airship about to enter the Capitol’s airspace. As they approached, Cressida entered the room. “Finnick? Haymitch? Can you come with me?”

“What for?” Haymitch immediately asked, not wanting to miss your rescue.

“I asked her to film some propo,” Beetee filled in, “keep their broadcasts clogged.”

Haymitch hesitated but Finnick seized the opportunity to help. “Okay,” he agreed, stepping out with Cressida. Wanting to not feel useless anymore, Haymitch followed the pair outside. Haymitch reveled in being above ground for the first time in six weeks. It was nice to breathe fresh air despite being surrounded by rubble and sinister white roses. Cressida directed them to the center of the rubble, lights pointed at them. “Okay, just take your time and don’t stop talking,” she instructed.

She held up her fingers, counting down from three before pointing one at the two victors, directing them to begin. Haymitch was admittedly not super comfortable in front of a camera so he let Finnick take the lead. “This is Finnick Odair, winner of the 65th Hunger Games.” He then paused.

“And I’m Haymitch Abernathy, winner of the 50th Hunger Games.”

“And we’re coming to you from District 13, alive and well. We’ve survived an assault from the Capitol but we’re not here to give you recent news. We’re here to tell the truth. Not the myths about winning the life of luxury or about gaining glory for your homeland.”

“The moment you leave that arena, you’re a slave,” Haymitch explained. “I won my games in a way I wasn’t supposed to and Snow slaughtered my family for it. But some punishments, whether earned or not, can last for years. It’s what happened to Finnick here, and my wife, Y/N L/N-Abernathy.”

“President Snow used to sell me and Y/N, or our bodies at least. We weren’t the only ones. If a Victor is considered desirable, the President gives them as a reward or allows people to buy them. If you refuse, he kills someone you love.”

“For seven years Y/N was ripped out of our bed in the middle of the night. Whether we were in the Capitol or in 12 they always came looking for her, never gave her a second to herself. And when she did return, I’d always find her battered and bruised. Usually in the same clothing she left in torn up into rags.”

“Now, to make themselves feel better, my patrons would make presents of money or jewelry. But I found a much more valuable form of payment. Secrets. See, I know all the depravity, the deceit and the cruelty of the Capitol's pampered elite. But the biggest secrets are about our good President, Coriolanus Snow. Such a young man when he rose to power. Such a clever one to keep it. How, you may ask, did he do it? One word. Poison. He stopped every mutiny before it even started. There are so many mysterious deaths to adversaries. Even to allies who were threats. Snow would drink from the same cup, to deflect suspicion. But antidotes don't always work, which is why he wears roses that reek of perfume. Help cover the scent of blood from sores in his mouth that will never heal. But he can't hide the scent of who he really is. He kills without mercy. He rules with deception and fear. His weapon of choice is the only thing suited to such a man. Poison. The perfect weapon for a snake.” Just as Finnick was about to continued Cressida stopped him.

“Wait,” she held a hand to her ear piece. “Beetee said they lost connection. The Capitol’s defenses are rebooting.”

Haymitch’s heart dropped. No, they had to get you out. They couldn’t be detected yet, he had to uphold his promise to protect you.

Probably thinking similar, if not the same, thing, he and Finnick both ran inside. They raced down into the control room just in time to hear Snow’s final words over the video. “Don’t you think I know your friends are in the Tributes Centre?” and with that all the screens in the room went dark.

There were various yells. Both from people trying to get in contact with the team and Katniss losing her mind. “We have to get them out, he knows,” she cried, turning to her mentor.

“There’s no signal, we can’t contact them,” Plutarch explained bluntly.

“No. Haymitch, he knew the whole time. He was taunting me.” Haymitch wrapped his arms around her in a fatherly embrace. “Did I lose them both tonight?” she cried into his chest, repeating the words over and over.

As much as Haymitch felt for the girl, he was grieving too. Grieving the loss of his wife as well as the broken promise he had made so long ago.

~

You had just been curled in a fetal position on your bed when Peeta’s broken voice called out. “Guys,” he caught everyone’s attention. You rolled over, spotting gas creeping along the floor. It was slowly crawling up the walls, climbing into the vents that led to each cell. You began to worry that it was a Capitol gas designed to torture you , similar to the fog Haymitch had talked about in the arena. But curiosity got the better of you as you pulled the thin blanket around your body tighter. Your hospital clothes had been destroyed so many times they had stopped bothering to give them to you. But you stepped off the bed, heading for the glass barrier where gas was just beginning to accumulate on your side. But just before you could reach it the chain around your ankle held, tripping you a little. Still defiant after weeks of torture you opted to get on your knees to stretch to try to reach the fog. But what you hadn’t noticed, as you carefully lowered yourself, was that the gas had really begun to fill the room. As you settled on the ground you caught a whiff of the gas, immediately making you lightheaded. Your limbs became heavy as it quickly lulled you to sleep, your last thoughts being of what the Capitol’s torture would be that required you to be asleep.

~

When you finally managed to pry your eyes open the first time you were blinded and hazy. You faintly heard someone yell, “Can we get her some clothes?”

You managed to turn your head to the side, realizing you were moving. Judging by the whiteness all around you, you were still in the hospital-torture place. But you soon lost consciousness again, not finding it until you were on the aircraft.

When you managed to open your eyes for good you were staring up at a black, dome like ceiling. Looking around just a little you could see the heads and shoulders of soldiers, judging by the all black gear. One face you spotted was Gale’s. His gaze, however, looked miles away as he stared at his feet.

You could hear the thrum of the aircraft, only ever hearing that when the Capitol transported you to the worst times of your life.

Adjusting yourself more you could now see your fellow prisoners also lying on the floor of the aircraft although you seemed to be the only conscious one. By now the soldier who’s feet you had been laying at noticed your movement. “Hey, my name is Commander Boggs, we rescued you from the Capitol. We’re taking you to District 13.”

District 13? The military man had told you that’s where the rebellion was operating out of. He said that’s where Haymitch was. You could cry you were so relieved. For the first time in your life you may know peace. Even if it’s just for a second before you have to finish this war.

Recognizing what you no doubt wanted to ask, the man spoke. “Yes, Haymitch is there. He’s waiting for you in 13.” Tears of joy slipped from your eyes for the first time in god knows how long. As you tried to sit up, Boggs gently pushed you back onto the collapsed gurney you were laying on again. “I need you to lie still. We suspect you have some internal injuries that need to be assessed before you really start moving.” You agreed, settling further on the hard cushion. You suspected that you had injuries that the Capitol wouldn’t bother to heal because they couldn’t see them. Largely from the harsh treatment of the men that had bought access to your body through Snow. Many of them had pulled out of you with blood coating them but it was always dismissed and you were left there, something clearly wrong but you were powerless to do anything.

“How long?” you managed to ask, your voice hoarse.

“About 15 minutes out. We’re gonna have to roll you in on the gurney though.” You didn’t really like the idea of being treated like you were mortally wounded but you nodded nonetheless.

Around you the others were starting to stir. The soldiers sitting above them murmuring comforts and explanations. No one really made a move until Johanna started screaming. She sat up, two soldiers immediately jumping on her to push her back to the ground. “Do you want us to sedate you again?!” One of the soldiers yelled. That finally got her to stop fighting. Once they released her she huffed, scooting over to another wall to lean against, sending everyone glares.

The next person to be fully conscious was Annie. You turned your head to find her already looking at you. “Annie,” you cried. You hadn’t caught more than a glimpse of her in weeks but you were all too familiar with her screams.

“Y/N!” she cried. She scrambled up from her spot on the floor, one of the soldiers moving to stop her but a signal from Boggs made them stop. She kneeled over you, pulling you into a hug. Despite the awkward positioning you began to cry at the first compassionate human contact you had had in weeks.

“You’re okay,” you said, observing her relatively untouched appearance. Her long red hair still flowed down her shoulders unlike Johanna’s shaved head. Her skin looked unmarred unlike you and the two other victors’ skin. The one thing that matched the three of you was how malnourished and tired she looked. You guessed that since she knew absolutely nothing about the rebellion and her fragile mental state protected her from Peeta and Johanna’s punishments.

“Annie,” Boggs caught her attention, “Finnick is waiting for you in 13.”

Tears filled her eyes. “He’s- he’s alive? Finnick’s alive?” she cried joyfully.

“Yes, he is,” Boggs smiled.

Your conversation was then interrupted by a man also dressed in all black gear walking into the cabin. “We’re landing pretty soon and are beginning to descend. Everyone should buckle in.”

With some gentle coaxing Annie went to sit on a proper seat beside the soldier whose feet she had been laid by previously. Johanna refused to move so they just let her hold onto something in her corner. Peeta was fine because he had stayed strapped to his gurney unlike Annie or Johanna because they didn’t require them. Meanwhile Boggs was reaching over you to strap you in. You gave him a startled, questioning look as he reached down. “It’s just to make sure you don’t slip out,” he explained. “Trust me you can get out of it anytime. See?” He unclipped the belt easily before fastening it again.

Relaxing a little you looked up at the ceiling, taking a deep breath as you felt the aircraft descend. When you felt the landing gear hit the ground you had a weird sense of feeling at home. You knew Haymitch was near.

~

Haymitch sat waiting with Katniss and Finnick for when you and the others would be back. The three victors sat in tense silence until the door slid open. Gale’s head peaked in. He didn’t need to speak, his presence said enough. The other victors were back.

Immediately he, Finnick, and Katniss were scrambling into the medical wing. There they found a scene of doctors and nurses running around trying to figure out how to help victims of torture. The first person Haymitch saw was Johanna. She looked so different, the only recognizable thing about her was her sneer as she fought the doctors.

“Finnick!” Annie’s desperate voice pierced the air.

The doctors then parted for a second, revealing you lying on a hospital bed, neck straining to find your husband. “Y/N,” Haymitch tried to call but it came out as more of a sob. The fact that you were confined to your bed wasn’t promising considering Annie had ripped an IV from her arm, leaping into Finnick’s.

As he got closer (he was in such a hypnotic-like state he was pretty sure he knocked a nurse over) he took in your appearance more. It actually broke him to see his wife look so frail, the Capitol clearly having starved you and men having abused you.

Once he reached your bedside he leaned over the rail, pulling you into a hug as best as he could. He could feel your nails dig into his back, trying to claw him closer as each of you began to cry into the crook of each others’ necks. “I love you,” he heard you whimper out.

“I love you too,” he cried. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I never should’ve left your side.”

“No no. It’s not your fault.” Before you could say anything else a doctor interrupted you.

“Mr. Abernathy? We need to take her into surgery.” At the mention of surgery Haymitch reluctantly pulled away. He turned, finding a few medical staff standing behind the doctor ready to take you.

“Wh- why?” he stuttered out as the staff were already beginning to roll you away.

“No,” you cried, “don’t take me from him!” He faintly heard one of them trying to calm you down.

“We’re sorry but testing done in the field shows she has severe injuries to her reproductive organs. Most likely due to…” he hesitated with the next words, “repetitive rape. We’re going in to stop internal bleeding but we’re unsure of other things we’ll find. We’ll update you as soon as we can.” And with that the doctor rushed off.

Haymitch stood there helpless, unsure of what to do. He knew that you were safe and under the care of actual doctors who wanted to heal you but people died in surgery all the time, especially outside of the Capitol. He felt like you had been ripped from him all over again.

He looked around again, realizing he had yet to see one person. Peeta. He got his answer as to where the boy was when he heard a loud crash in another room. Rushing over he found Peeta with his hands wrapped around Katniss’ throat. Without thinking he ran at the boy, trying to pry him off the girl who he had once been madly in love with.

“Peeta let go!” Haymitch heard himself yell. He managed to get him off Katniss for a second before the boy managed to knock his former mentor off. Haymitch went stumbling backwards into some shelves as Peeta brought Katniss to the ground again. By now Gale and Boggs had entered the room, finding the same scene Haymitch had.

Gale immediately began trying to pry Peeta off of Katniss but even he was no match for the very determined Peeta despite his malnourishment. It took Boggs knocking Peeta in the head with an iron tray to get the boy off of Katniss.

Everyone took a second to breathe a breath of relief before they started aiding the two unconscious victors from 12.

Part XI | Masterlist | Part XIII

[districtfourmermaid]

It's the Nut!

I understand Gale's rage. I know it. I know that when Gale says they could block even the train tunnel, he's getting carried away, thinking only of what the Capitol did to District 12. What these people working in the Nut facilitated. Katniss knows it, too.

"'We watched children burn to death, and there was nothing we could do!' I have to close my eyes a minute, as the image rips through me. It has the desired effect. I want everyone in that mountain dead."

Katniss pulls back for a moment, because she's also from 12, and she likens the Nut to a coal mine. But who knows better than Gale what that would feel like? His dad died in the mines just like hers. She could barely stomach the annual field trip down there and hates the thought of him working there. But he worked there. He knows exactly what the avalanche would inflict on the people. He knows very well how it will feel. And he says that if he were a spy in the Nut, he'd say "bring on the avalanches," because he's committed to the cause and knows the rebels will never win without taking the Nut and District 2. Katniss would do it, too, be willing to die for the rebels if she were in the Nut. There are only a "handful" of spies, after all.

Boggs, of course, is steadier and suggests leaving the train tunnel open for surrenders. Gale is usually very reasonable, so this moment is odd for him. Who doesn't say things worse than they mean in fits of rage? After what he saw in 12, saving all those people and it still not being nearly enough, he's not out of line. But he may be slightly blinded by that rage. Once he calms down somewhat, even he sees that leaving the tunnel is right. He's just cautious, saying they should be armed, because those "surrendering" surely will be. And he's right about that, too (Katniss's spleen might want to weigh in).

At the end of the day, though, the Nut is a military base. It's the key to 2, which is the last stop before the Capitol. People are dying across Panem every day. The Capitol wants a ceasefire? No! The fire will cease when the people are free!And for that to happen, the Nut must be cracked. I do not have sympathy for the workers in the Nut who are not rebel spies. Those from either 2 or the Capitol who are genuinely fighting to keep the Capitol in power. They chose their side.

When talking with Beetee, Gale said they're using the same rulebook Snow used when hijacking Peeta. That would be the same one used when 12 or the hospital in 8 were bombed. But then, he's not. This is no where near as bad as what the Capitol has done. District 12 hadn't even officially rebelled yet. They never got the chance. The Capitol bombed a whole District of poor, malnourished, overworked, heavily policed regular people and followed up their bombing of 8 with hitting their hospital. I will never understand why people look down on Gale for suggesting violence may be required against a military base that launches hovercraft to go bomb more Districts.

After the bombing of the hospital on District 8: "I remember all those years in the woods, listening to Gale rant against the Capitol. Me, not paying close attention. Wondering why he even bothered to dissect its motives. Why thinking like our enemy would ever matter. Clearly, it would have mattered today. When Gale questioned the existence of the hospital, he was not thinking of disease, but this. Because he never underestimates the cruelty of those we face."

Katniss and everyone else needs to remember this. The Capitol's cruelty and the lengths to which Snow is willing to go to retain power know no bounds. There can be no progress without taking action, and holding back because you don't want to be too mean to an enemy who thinks of you as lower than dirt does not work.

[shardminds]

@cauldronblssd gave me a prompt of ‘human feyre and lucien bonding back in spring’ so i took it and i ran. thank you cb 💓

before i feel safe / feyre & lucien (tamlin mention!!) / 332w (again, i wrote this on my phone so sorry for the lapslock!)

“you’re thinking too hard.” lucien reached his hand to bat at where she was tearing at blades of soft grass, deceptively comfortable without even a blanket to cushion them from the ground. she should have packed one anyway, instead of storming from the house with just her riding boots and a defiant streak a mile wide.

it was a surprise to see lucien saddling both their horses. it was less of a surprise when, half an hour later, she considered those knife tipped ears probably heard her grumble out of bed that morning, cursing the sun’s aggressive rays, and the decorative but useless gossamer curtains.

there was no doubt he’d heard their disagreement. gods, the crash of the crystal decanter still rang through her ears.

“feyre, i can hear you moping from here.”

she sighed, keeping her eyes to the clouds. lucien did the same. “is he always this—“

“stubborn? hot headed? blind?”

feyre didn’t want to pick one. and it felt cruel to suggest all three. but tamlin was. all three and more. it hurt to look at him and see the monster when all she wanted was to know the male beneath. in her time at the spring court, some things had shifted between them, boundaries irrevocably crossed.

“he’s got a lot on his mind. believe it or not, protecting you is unsurprisingly high on that list. you are our guest, after all.” lucien curled his little finger around hers, a childlike reassurance. despite his snark and sly charm, his displays of affection were much more subtle. a new route for their rides, quiet contemplation on sun dappled hillsides, space.

she paused, and then quietly “do i have to let him?”

i can take care of myself.

he didn’t mention the naga, or the bogge, or the suriel. or how close she’d come to being another dead girl across the wall.

he kept his eyes to the sky still, glinting gold illuminated by sun.

“that depends on you.”

[zenkor123]

Squad 452 and 451 on break WIP October 4th

Trigger warning: False SA memories. Sexual content, Morphling, effects  of torture  also from D13 treating Katniss badly, Katniss mentally spiraling, Peeta's delusions, Peeta recording all new memories because he does not want to lose his memories again may be triggering to some people.

I see Peeta marking a page  with my name   and curtly ask “what is this?”  Peeta looks up  and chuckles  “Tong asked me the same question,I’m  saving all new memories on paper to keep them safe, to protect memories of people I’m making pages for them Dr Aurelius suggested this.” 

“Katniss Everdeen, target of the capitol, lover of Gale, Mockingjay of the rebellion, hunter  of wild beasts” 

This is the step up from the bed red x he marked me before, at least. I have nothing further to say he put my age as likely 17! I try to avoid looking at the paper further so he continues writing.  This continues until he looks up and says

“Katniss I'm sorry for the way I've treated you since my return, trying to kill you, calling you a piece of work, ugly and small, you were doing whatever you had to survive, and have nothing to apologize for,  I really hope you and Gale make up”

From whatever Peeta thinks is real I did nothing to him, I’m his victim now, no I’m leaving “the capitol did this to you, you're not responsible for any of this!”   I go to the ventilation pipe in the women's restroom avoiding Peeta. 

Peeta asks Finnick “Hey Finnick, what the hell is going on with her? I know I or he did bad stuff before all this, I hate this so much but  It still feels like I'm out of the loop of something. Does anyone want to explain why Katniss is behaving so strangely? Or is that restraining order territory? 

“There's no way to know unless Coin stops threatening restraining orders, sadly it's pretty explosive” Finnick says  

Gale yells out  “And it's you,  it's all you,  Coin and Snow!”

Peeta  looks at Gale like he’s crazy, “So me, Coin and Snow are doing what exactly?

Finnick tries to disentangle the two,  “there's nothing you can do about it, it's out of your hands” 

To which Peeta nods “uhuh” but Gale does not back off  “Peeta you know deep down I see it in your eyes, what it is stop insulting all our intelligence”

Peeta shakes his head,  “The only time she ‘loved’ me was when either I or the  capitol were forcing me on her,she had to pretend to love me for food, but  her heart was always your,  it's why he gave Katniss the locket as some pathetic  type of apology”  

Boggs storms in and brings Gale to a private talk 

“I'm already working my ass off keeping Coin off our backs, what are you trying to do to provoke him into an episode?

Gale replies:

“ Isn't Coin’s whole thing exposure therapy? He's surrounded by triggers all the time and isn't allowed his morphling, he deserves to know the truth. Why is it required that he believe deranged lies in order to be a citizen of 13?  I will stop but Coin is hurting my best friend. At least exempt her from the watch that's destroying her.” 

Boggs replies  “District 13 believes that Katniss never cared about Peeta, Coin seems to believe it. The perception among 13 is that it's all an act for the cameras and the second he came back hijacked she kissed you in 13 and abandoned him giving Peeta to us. This is what 13 believes, but  Coin believes that Peeta is dead to Katniss even if she knows she loved him in the past. “

Gale says “That's not true, has  3 days of seeing her die inside made any impression on Coin?

“You know I opposed the allocations and knew this would happen and tried telling Coin this but she just laughed and said “now she cares about him what a bunch of crap! You are dismissed. “ 

Gale has a question: “why does Coin hate Katniss?”

Boggs answers “Jealousy, Coin does not like sharing the spotlight”

Katniss thinks: Gale is wrong, I am not dying inside, I will not go to the hospital wing, I will kill Snow. I am just a regular guard on his rotation. 

“I will talk to Coin to see what he can do”

I walk out 

“No, guarding Peeta is no different then guarding Annie I am keeping my rotation”

Boggs looks hesitant “look you've done better than I've expected, no one could have expected that you holding Peeta's hand would actually  calm him down, and while unprofessional Peeta needed to work out some of his demons in order to be comfortable In the same room withI you let alone on the watch, but Gale is right your breaking apart from the seams”

“I'm not I'm just fine, you said I'm doing fine, Boggs please your going to get me sent to the hospital wing, you can't give me special treatment” 

“Alright Katniss I can't guarantee Coin’s reaction but you can return to your shift”

So Boggs interrupts them and Gale disperses counting his ammo on the far side of the bench 

While this is going on Peeta, Leeg and Tong are discussing me,  I run back to the bathroom vent  not wanting to engage. 

I notice a brief puase until Peeta takes a deep breath and begins spilling words out:

“Annie, I don't get it, I was unfairly jealous of her, 13 should be the peak of her life, she has Gale, her family is safe, most of the  people who she knew growing up are alive. She as Mockingjay can fight snow. Yeah I did horrible things to her, she had to do certain stuff after her father died, she survived 2 arenas, but there are people far worse off than her. Like me for example.  After my return, only 13 really cared about a doomed mad mutt slowly clawing his way  to something resembling sanity.  But we all know that she isn't in the bathroom to pee, sighs  there's a brokenness to her, she's numb and is  as quiet as an avox. 

Annie sighs: “The heart works in mysterious ways” 

Tong says to Peeta: “Finnick injured himself rather than be seperated, if she cared about you she never would have left you in that state, fuck her”

“But Tong, the time she did visit I called her a piece of work and said she was small and ugly”

Tong responds: “would that bother Finnick, if Leeg went through what you did I would never abandon her ever. shallow teenage relationships  and actual connections are not the same thing”

“Maybe your right,if I had a love for real and she  was hijacked I don't think I could handle the hurt, I would need to be institutionalized. They showed me footage of how I was, it's pretty brutal, If  she really was my lover I wouldn’t want to be near me” ” Peeta says. 

“No not real Peeta, do you think this is easy for Finnick, it would hurt but most would never cower. It's not you, I think she'll get over whatever is bothering her" Tong replies

"Have I told you I really love your morphling bottles" Leeg said to Peeta

"Thanks!" Peeta says smiling

"I must say, in your second games, the Mockingjay really had us fooled during the beach"

"I'm confused about that as well"

"My 2 credits:  it's called the hunger Games, for a reason though only she knows"

"She's only 17 and she's already gone through hell and back she's just so young.  And when she's back she has to be the Mockingjay,  If I was her lover  she would probably handle the pain of a mutt lover, like a 17 year old" Peeta says.

"In D13 she would constitute an adult, now your infantalizing her, in D12 as you know she hunted for food.   But if she isn't mature enough to be by your side when you need her the most

But I don't need her! It's my recovery not hers!

Tong ignores the interruption

Then she was never mature enough to have a lover. Let's compare her to you,

Me?

"Yeah, you suffer from constant episodes, yet you still have the strength to fight through them, despite surviving the capitol you still haven't given up. If someone was hurt  I have no doubt you would run to the persons aid. Delly said you were making progress you were no physical or emotional threat to her yet she discarded you no longer had any use to her.

"You think to highly of me are you flattering me, I don't think I could handle a hijacked Lover honestly. This sounds like one of my jackered rants. She was only practical becuase she had to survive, it's District 12, but she feels strongly, she did all this to feed her family and keep Gale alive. She's not naturally a cold manipulator as your portraying, Its  something she was forced into just like everyone in District 12. "

Its hard for someone from D13 to imagine the barter and competition for the daily meal, but do you have any hard proof that  she ever had a lover?

"Maybe Gale but no"

Tong says "yeah when did you do anything normal  together, without a gun to your head?"

Peeta just nods.

“None that I know for sure, in the arena  we had to  play up that star crossed lovers strategy and get those sponsors, am I right? Peeta says

“In my opinion, yes, acting in love is not the same thing as real love unless you're the capitol."

Leeg speaks up "you are perfectly in the right for being mad at Delly for pulling the rug from under you and at Katniss for not doing one thing to help, she could have answered all your questions and don't give me the emotions excuse that just means she wasn't willing to put any effort into you.  But that bitch lost her chance, if she cared about you she would feel something when Coin challenged her but that bitch can't feel anything. Why the fuck does she deserve to be the Mockingjay?"

"She doesn't strike me as that much of an actor, but being fed lines by me, or Haymitch and having a gun to your head does wonders for your acting skills. And even before I imposed this, she had to let's just say um perform for supper.  That's why I believe she fell for Gale, she didn't need him and their relationship was one of  willing equals"

Hmm

"The one good thing about this sickening act is that she isn't as hurt by my mutation as she otherwise would be. I would be a full scale psychological torture device if it was real, as if kneeding her larynx isn't bad enough."

"There's lots of lies in the games, it must be so confusing for you" Tong says

Peeta responds

"That's because that's what Panem is, it's a  giant  twisted  game. And even if I was able to ask Katniss which are lies and truth, she probably doesn't even know. When I was verbally assaulting her about if she loved me or not she said "That's what everyone says"  now I gave her grief over this but I think that's her honest answer the full details are something she wouldn't want to discuss in public or she felt ashamed over her confusion."

Tong laughs : "from what your describing I don't want to know it makes me feel sick".

"I was hijacked to feel  mad, then I felt a longing at times for it to be real, but now I just cringe when I rewatch the lovey dovey part of the games. So much fucking implications, lies and subtext. I'm glad I don't have to touch it anymore."

Leeg says "Never forget that your supposed lover and wife left you to fend for yourself. That's why children in 13 call her catpiss"

Tong laughs.

"I don't think   I'm the same person, it's probably a good thing that I'm not, I don't see why she would want to help me. I'm talking about Katniss's Perspective if she was my lover, objectively she doesn't have to do anything"

Leeg "your compassion is why she never will deserve you, we're all talking about her moral backbone which she has none"

Peeta says "ugh, I'm glad she can't hear us but even if I was her lover at one point, there's nothing I can do to help her.  There are simply  some things that I will never know.  In all likelihood we weren't lovers  but if Gale was mutated I  don't think she would behave differently but who knows? So anyway, how's the  den in military sector going?"

Leeg: If Katniss was hijacked, how would you be treating her?

“Your not letting up on this are you”

“Nope”

“Well you're assuming the Star Crossed Lovers thing was real, which it wasn't. Um, I think I would try to help at first but then give up on her  after a week of watching her rant incoherently, if we were lovers; same thing but with lots of heartbreak, it would be really ugly, I might stay for longer"

You think you're this cold?

"Yes, well no, If we were lovers, then the pain of seeing someone who loved you, hate you, forget you, try to kill you, with a mutation that has no cure would be too much for me in the end. I think when I called her a piece of work I somehow knew her insecurities, I'm surprised she hasn't responded to this with a  mention of  my mom."

"Katniss sure would be an interesting hijacking victim" Tong says

"I don't think Katniss has it in her to kill someone the way the capitol wants,  with her bare hands, fast before security comes during the target's moment of weakness.  Sure she's a creature of instinct, but she needs to be mentally present to kill with a bow, maybe they would just  sharpen her teeth like Enobaria, and make her nails really long and sharp."

Wouldn't that ruin the disguise? The idea is who would expect someone from the capitol dungeons to be strong enough to do anything? Leeg says

" Maybe they would Snow her nails,  with a lethal dose, so the scratch is fatal, Jacker venom would  already be in her bloodstream, so they could use that. If she resists the  small dosages  the capitol would  equip her with modified antibodies."

"Then she would handle our Tracker Jacker problem!" Leeg says.

Tong and Leeg leave to refill their canteens. 

Finnick asks  Peeta "what makes you think she's mourning you"

"Well I don't know shit about her but she has cut herself from her family, and hides in closets holding the pearl from the quarter quell, and it's the way she hates me"

"Hates you?" Finnick says

"I haven't seen  it from anyone,  the bitterness  and snapiness, it reeks of pain,  because I huants her. Me not him, when I told her she's free, I made it worse for her.   I was being an ass about it until I saw her hiding in a closet."

Gale says "well yeah, deal with it"

"But that's just it I did bad shit to her, and to you, maybe it's him not me, besides her battered throat, I don't know Katniss, like he did  how da fuck do I know? I  never said her pain proves her his lover, her pain!  Gale is it you?

"Nope, this is your problem not mine" Gale says

"Oh fuck you Gale, first of all what if she wants to avoid the mental hospital for some reason, and is putting on a mask, nah she can't manipulate a door open something always leaks with her."

"When you were in the capitol, she walked around like a grieving widow"

"Yeah sure she did, what am I supposed to do? From watching her she hates pity of all kinds and I will only make things worse. If she was my lover then maybe she has some token to remember me, like that blasted pearl, only the ghost of my old self can help her if that's who she needs. What would she see in that damn  runt anyway?"

"Why are you paying so much attention to her?" Gale says

"If I can see who she is in the present, his past will be clearer, the doctors say it has value so there's that."

"Why do you care about that runts memories?" Gale scoffs

"There useful to me that's all" Peeta snaps angrily

"Just so you know the reason she wants to avoid being in the hospital? So she can kill Snow?

"Yeah it's a little  hero fantasy of hers, she's the Mockingjay after all" Peeta snorts

"She wants to kill Snow to avenge what happened to you, because your now a mutt she has no plan of returning, she became the Mockingjay to save your ass after you began sucking the capitol's dick"

Gale leaves the room without saying a word

Peeta runs through the door, his hands shaking, after what Gale told him, he radiates anger, His eyes look bloodshot, and his warts are red, and his hands are shaking,he left his gun back at the benches 

 "You, ... Am I really expected to believe that you cannot live in a world where the boy who raped you!  dishonored you! when you planned to die for him, is gone?"

I want to run  but can I leave the bathroom,  with him looking at me this way?  In the bathroom we have some privacy, maybe Coin won't hear us.

"Your not my rapist" I snap indignant

"Your dying" his hands continue to shake "for nothing, the runt has no value at all, none at all!  the nights before the arena, he enjoyed it, that sick fuck! That Sick, Sick Fuck!"

rape, he's hinted at something like that a few times, I feel uncomfortable talking about it with him, audience or no audience and move to leave as fast as I can, I'll sedate him once I'm out the door "I'm telling everyone what I did, I'll go to Coin herself with this, she can't give me  a restraining order"

I freeze and close the door, he leaves me no choice, "listen you didn't rape me, I initiated both times, me"

"But you were screaming, I remember it, well  wait wait, it was consensual, what about Gale, what about you getting pregnant"

"I didn't plan on leaving the arena and me,  Gale were not like that."

"What about your screams"

"There was  a drunk scuffle, in the street below us, it went on all night"

"You can sedate me now" His body continues to convulse. I press the button and give him a low dose so he wakes up in a short amount of time.

Finnick says “5 minutes until training starts again” This shouldn’t be a problem because Peeta will be up in 5 minutes. 

Will Coin really argue that Peeta should have continued believing he raped me because of an episode that led to sedation for just 5 minutes?

seeing Peeta's limp body I try to imagine not being able to tell illusion from reality. Not knowing if Prim or my mother loved me. If Snow was my enemy. If the person across the heater saved or sacrificed me. With very little effort, my life rapidly morphs into a nightmare.

[glapplebloom]

Exactly how I picture Trixie

After introducing us to Phyllis, Starlight is now officially in line to become the Head Mare of the School of Friendship after Twilight moves to Canterlot. Sometime later, Trixie is with Starlight hanging out at the school instead of getting lunch. Trixie is worried this would cut into friendship time while Starlight is worried about running the school alone. But a comment on Trixie gave Starlight an idea: get a Vice Head Mare. Twilight agrees it is a good idea.

After she leaves, Trixie thinks this was done so Trixie and Starlight can continue to hang out. Starlight tries to let her know that this is a legit position, but Trixie is not really getting it. Still, she participates the best she can and is up against Big Mac, Octavia, Time Turner... And Spoiled Rich is there for some reason. Starlight has three stages to test those auditioning to be Vice Head Mare. Stage 1: Substitute Teacher.

Big Mac, Octavia and Time Turner do a great job. Spoiled Rich fails miserably. As for Trixie, she does try to teach... For a minute. But when she noticed Gallus sleeping, she decided that taking a nap was a better idea. Now while this seems lazy, napping actually has some benefits even for adults as seen here. Starlight doesn’t think the same way, but she still likes the idea of a Vice Head Mare being a friend. And Trixie comes in to unintentionally convince Starlight to let her advance.

Next challenge: Parent/Teacher Conference. Octavia and Time Turner do well. Big Mac’s limited vocabulary gets him to step down from the competition. But when it comes to Trixie and Grandpa Gruff, they get into an argument about Gallus. Gruff is a grump while Trixie is arguing that Gallus deserves a better guardian. Honestly, good for Trixie to stand up for a student. I can see her roughing up a parent who would take things too far. But Starlight doesn’t see the positives in this either.

Starlight tries to make it VERY CLEAR that if Trixie does not step it up next round she’s most likely not going to get picked, but she GRAVELY UNDERESTIMATED THE EGO OF THE GREAT AND POWERFUL TRIXIE! It’s a Field Trip for the Final Round and Octavia takes them to a concert. While Gallus isn’t looking forward to it, Octavia’s friend DJ P0N-3 aka Vinyl Scratch being there really gets her points up.

Time Turner’s Field Trip is towards his lab. It's about time traveling, and his realization that we’re all time traveling to the future as we speak. Worst Field Trip of the two, but how about Trixie? Her idea is that to impress Starlight, instead of taking them to the location, she’ll bring the location to them. Trixie successfully teleports part of Froggy Bottom Bogg to them. Problem is she also brought a bunch of bees with her. That she accidentally knocked over and broke their hive.

And these ain’t your ordinary bees, they’re Flash Bees: electrical bees so their sting is a lot more painful. After Starlight took care of them, Starlight’s anger finally got through Trixie. And man, it is really harsh. Granted, after fighting off Electrical bees it's understandable and if this was pre-Starlight Trixie I would be for it. But Trixie has grown on me and even Starlight feels bad after she leaves.

Luckily Twilight shows up to give advice which leads to Starlight going to apologize to Trixie. She even compliments Trixie on the stuff she has done. Like Gallus saying nobody stood up to Grandpa Gruff like Trixie had. Trixie accepts the apology. We then find out nobody who signed up got the position. Time Turner decided to go back to his experiments while Octavia worried that being Vice Head Mare would take too much time from her music. Then why did you apply in the first place?!?

Trixie reconfirms that getting a Vice Head Mare is a good idea and even suggests the perfect person: Someone who is responsible like Starlight, detail-oriented like Twilight, smart in general and a friend. You know who this is, right? And luckily for Starlight, Sunburst got free time since Flurry Heart is older now and he always wanted to work in a school. And all this let Starlight give Trixie a job at the school: as Student Counselor. 

It ends with Trixie killing Phyllis. Overall, a fun episode. This really shows Trixie at her best and her humorously worst. And honestly the best sendoff for the Starlight/Trixie episodes. Shame it ended so soon. Click here to see the original review and how it fits in GLAB Canon.

[kylesvariouslistsandstuff]

Caught up on MONSTERS AT WORK...

*spoilers ahead*

This is an interesting show in that it's a Disney TV Animation production, and Pixar had a *lot* of involvement in it. Rumor had it, years ago, that Pixar halted the show for a brief bit and took a look at it... Hence it missing its projected 2020 release date and ending up debuting a year later, in July 2021. Other Pixar shows made for Disney+ were in-house Pixar productions, like CARS ON THE ROAD and DUG DAYS. MONSTERS AT WORK is the unique exception, much like BUZZ LIGHTYEAR OF STAR COMMAND.

With Pixar seemingly drifting from Disney+, now that streaming isn't this be-all end-all thing that the movie giants aggressively bet on, I wonder if future shows based on their beloved movies will be made still... And by whom? They themselves? Or Disney TV Animation? It was already something of a surprise when MONSTERS AT WORK was announced in late 2017 as a DTVA production, considering how much John Lasseter supposedly despised BLoSC and how in-house Pixar tends to keep things. Also curiously, this show's second season aired on the Disney Channel first and then dropped on Disney+. Once again showing where the tides are going...

(Also, Disney... Pixar... Where the heck is WIN OR LOSE?)

Season one of MONSTERS AT WORK is this sort-of in-between-quel thing, in that it takes place between Waternoose's arrest and the epilogue of everyone on the Laugh Floor in the original MONSTERS, INC. And ends there, with at least one scene recreated verbatim. I must say, that ICON studio really did a fantastic job making a show that looks like the original movie and doesn't look noticeable cheaper. Amazing to think that the original movie released in 2001 cost $115m and was *top of the line* in technical terms, and today this Disney+ show looks almost as movie quality...

This new season follows up directly on MONSTERS, INC.'s ending.

And because we're past the first movie now - which is going to be 23 this year, it was pretty cool to see the sort-of mundane stuff going on in the company and around Monstropolis. Softball games and old abandoned hallways and fun stuff like that, I also like how it integrated all the stuff established in MONSTERS UNIVERSITY. Worthington returning alongside Chet, Claire and a few others, plus Fear Co. finally being shown. Good stuff!

Season two kinda does this thing where it's still trying to be the OFFICE-style workplace comedy that the first season was, but also functioning as a big sequel to MONSTERS, INC. Pixar bypassed doing a sequel to MONSTERS, INC. by giving us a prequel instead, so it was definitely kinda weird seeing this show function - in its second season - as a sequel of sorts. A big conspiracy with Fear Co., Randall Boggs returning, some pretty high stakes too. A near-finale fallout for the two main characters as well. It feels like it's trying to aim for those great beats in both movies, reprising them in that Pixar sequel style, a trick that's quite noticeable from a mile away. Right down to Tylor scaring a kid in the same way Sulley accidentally did to Boo. Still, it was cool to see some worldbuilding there, and the characters just simply existing. Day by day in Monstropolis. I'd love to see more shows like that w/ big animated movie characters, honestly. Even if I wasn't entirely onboard some aspects of this show, it was still cool to spend time in that world again without it having to be a big sequel.

As a kid, watching MONSTERS, INC. on DVD multiple times and burying myself in the second disc's special features, I always wanted to see more of the Monster World. Outside of Monstropolis, outside of MU, etc. What other cities and towns are out there? Or other kinds of monsters for that matter? What's the wilderness like?

I feel like that's a world you can really, really explore. A lot of the early concept art for that movie suggested something even weirder and gnarlier. Like, where are all the monsters like these?

You kinda get that with "The Shrieker", the legendary monster that roams the archaic underbellies of the factory. I'd like to see more of that kinda stuff, Monster World history and lore, ya know? It's literally a goldmine of stuff to dig into.

But I suppose you can weave a ton of things out of unmade versions of Pixar movies, for sure.

I was always very curious about that one treatment done up in the late '90s where Boo - called by her real name, Mary - was a little bit older and Sulley was still named Johnson, where the premise is him hiding this kid for the whole runtime and then her getting lost in the city at one point. That had a somewhat eerie, more ominous mood, almost a completely different movie from the workplace comedy we ended up getting.

But it was the stuff like that on the DVD bonus features that stoked my imagination circa late 2002, and... Well... Nothing Monsters came about - in terms of screen media, not theme park stuff - until MONSTERS UNIVERSITY, 11 years and one cancelled Disney Circle 7 sequel later. The Circle 7 sequel that was being developed around 2004-05 had some potential, I think, but I don't know ideas from it can legally be integrated into a future Monster World project. You can kinda sense - as others have pointed out - that young Mike and Sulley getting lost in the human world in MONSTERS UNIVERSITY's 3rd act seems to echo the plot of Circle 7 MONSTERS, INC. 2.

I still wonder if Pixar will greenlight an actual sequel (which would easily make a massive billion, probably completely blow MU's great $730m+ take out of the water), and if it'll treat MONSTERS AT WORK as canon or not. But this second season certainly went big, bringing back characters from both movies and attempting all these big payoffs. I found it to be amusing at best, sometimes good even. I felt the first season locked together better, but this one - despite how I felt about some of the character dynamics - tried all the stuff, so that's cool. And it got me thinking of the Pixar monster movies again, so that's also neat.

[randomfoggytiger]

The Scully Family In-Depth: (Part V): Miracles, Lyle Parker, and Psychic Charlie?

We reach the end of Season 1 with the Scully Family-- but there's still a sizeable amount of information to breakdown before we bid adieu~.

The Legacy of Her Father’s Passing

Scully’s grief is no longer the focus of the series;

but it crops up here and there in the aftermath, as well as other small mentions of her growing up years or scattered family. 

In Miracle Man, Scully reveals that she grew up Catholic; this familiarity allows her to see through the twisted religious doctrine that is being used to cloud the case of miracles and false positives.

But more than that, she compassionately understands that Mulder “sees” Samantha everywhere-- an echo of her experience with Boggs in Beyond the Sea-- though she believes his visions are born from reactivated trauma and not from miraculous suggestion. Scully highlights this echo of her own experience when she says: "Mulder, don't discount the power of suggestion.... Imagine a miracle and you're halfway there."

In Shapes, Scully relives the unanchored loss and engulfing pain of her father's passing when she witnesses Lyle Parker grapple with his father's homicide.

When she first enters the hospital room, Scully settles into a chair, letting Lyle talk out his nerves and embarrassment a bit while she steels her face to deliver the bad news (her convulsive swallowing being the only giveaway.)

Finally, she quietly tells him about the tragedy: "Your father's dead." Her expression remains plastered, exuding the same strength and detachment she had shown Maggie during Ahab's funeral;

but it starts to crumble when Lyle reacts exactly like she had-- open-mouthed shock and grief, turning silently inward immediately. Flailing for words herself, she licks her dry lips

and tries to recapture his attention by establishing a connection over mutual understanding: "Lyle, I lost my father recently; and I know how overwhelming--."

Lyle cuts her off before she can finish: "Was it my fault?"

His question strikes right at the heart of Scully's recently resolved wounds regarding her relationship with the late Captain Scully, a question that both can only answer for themselves.

But underneath this surprising amount of pain, Scully still harbors suspicion: Lyle is a suspect... is this his confession? Lyle's follow up, however, lays suspicion far from his feet; and Scully's eyes drift downward, unreasonably ashamed of herself for her suspicions.

Scully's response to his question is in the same style that Maggie gave her at the funeral: "I don't know."

Lyle continues to mirror her soul, bringing to light what she had struggled with silently: "I can deal with death, y'know, living on the ranch, being close to Nature and all... you see how it all works-- things are born, things dies, everything else falls in-between. ...But if I caused it? If I brought it on... I couldn't, uh... I can't..."

He can't speak past the accumulating tears; and Scully looks down, away, back while nervously swallowing and rubbing aggressively at her left knee under her coat. She's trying to keep her own emotions in check and maintain her professionalism; but Lyle's words are reaching her, creating a war between comforting his loss and fleeing from this painful interaction.

Her sense of duty and deep empathy wins-- she might not be effusive, but Scully reaches out to clutch Lyle's arm in compassion.

And, though her first smile is forced and brief, she regroups and gives a more genuine second tug-of-the-lips to show the other man she understands and cares.

Brief Mentions of Scully's Family

In this script (thank you, @x-files-scripts!), Beyond the Sea establishes that Bill Scully (aged 32) and Charlie Scully (aged 25) are both at Captain Scully's funeral. Ages aside (since Charlie wouldn't have been old enough to have two children as old as they were at the funeral... unless there was an unsavory teen pregnancy backstory); but he also gets another mention before S1 closes.

In Roland, Scully mentions him, though not by name, when Mulder asks her if she has brothers: "Yeah, I've got an older one and a younger one."

Mulder then states: "...I believe in psychic connections; and evidence suggests it's stronger between family members..."

While Scully isn't sold on his theory (though she gives it a fair hearing and is willing to play ball enough to joke about needing to "call my brother"), it's worth reflecting on.

In future analyses, the Scully family often have uncanny senses, dreams, and visitations from beyond the grave. Scully saw her father's ghost in Beyond the Sea and One Breath, as well as the apparitions of the murdered women and Harold in Elegy and Mulder's later in This Is Not Happening, and received long-distance phone calls from her dead sister regarding Emily; Maggie had dreams about her daughter's abduction; and Melissa could communicate with her comatic sister in Beyond the Sea and, in The Blessing Way's deleted scene (which still counts, see here), could sense that Mulder and Scully's connection hadn't been severed which meant he wasn't dead like Scully believed ("You've lost touch with your intuition.")

Apparently, the Scully women weren't the only psychically-attuned Scullys: Charlie Scully, according to a cut script, was supposed to have escaped a plane crash by "being told not to board." Mulder and Scully were supposed to investigate his innocence, with Mulder's theory bent towards proving he had psychically saved himself. (I could be wrong; correct me if I am.)

But, for now, these remain unexplored; and will-- in Charlie Scully's case, anyway-- likely never have concrete answers.

And that concludes season 1-- stay tuned for season 2 and onward~.

Thanks for reading~

Enjoy!

[lythea-creation]

Broken Toys - Johanna Mason x fem reader (Chapter 22)

Chapter 1

Previous Chapter

word count: 2.449

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

None of us was able to sleep properly tonight. At least I was not freezing thanks to Finnick.

I was drifting in and out of sleep when I heard Peeta's voice: “The issue is that I don't know what is real anymore.”

“Then, you should ask, Peeta. That's what Annie does”, Finnick suggested.

Right. Due to Annie's mental state Finnick was great at dealing with broken people. Maybe that was why I was feeling so comfortable around him and somehow safe. I knew that I could trust him to support me when I needed him.

“Who should I ask? Who can I trust?”, Peeta questioned.

“Well, us for example”, Jackson assumed. “We're your unit.”

“You're my guards”, Peeta shot back.

“That too. But you saved many lives in 13. We don't forget such things”, she proclaimed.

Silence erupted until Peeta addressed Katniss again: “Your favorite color … is it green?”

“Yeah.” She nodded. “And yours is orange.”

“Orange?”, he wondered.

“Not a bright orange. A muted orange. Like the sunset. At least that's what you told me”, Katniss recalled.

When Katniss, Gale, Finnick and I returned from our propo the next day, Jackson had invented a game for Peeta: 'true or not true?'. He told us about a memory and we agreed or corrected him.

We were divided into different groups for guarding him.

Gale and Katniss were each put together with one of the other soldiers while Finnick and me were assigned together to one. Of course that had a reason.

Gale was an expert when it came to Peeta's questions about district 12.

Finnick and I could tell him about both his games as we had been mentors during Peeta's first games and his allies during his second. Though Finnick was a greater help than me because I had mostly concentrated on Rue during the 74th Hunger Games. And Finnick had been together with Peeta almost the whole time during the Quarter Quell.

The rest of the questions was up to Katniss, which was not an easy task for her. I could only imagine how Katniss was feeling by imagining Johanna in that state. I was extremely grateful that at least Johanna's memories were alright.

On the next day we were sent to a blocked off street district for more spectacular video clips. We were all wearing special protective clothing just in case.

Gale was the chosen one to hit the actual pod while the rest of us was shooting around aimlessly once again.

Pretty frustrating being a great sniper and never hitting a target at the same time.

The explosion led us to throw ourselves onto the ground.

Afterwards Cressida made us replay the situation over and over again to get a better shoot. Though it was difficult to stay serious as Mitchell was an even worse actor than Katniss.

“4-5-1, get a hold of yourselves!”, Boggs scolded us, although he was barely hiding his grin.

He was still looking at us when he stepped onto an orange brick and triggered a mine.

Once again an illusion turned into reality. Our laughter turned into screams as Boggs' blood tainted the ground and the fake smoke was replaced by real.

Another explosion erupted leaving me completely disoriented.

I took a deep breath and carefully made my way through the smoke. I could not rely on my ears as the loud noise of the explosion had influenced my hearing.

Finnick came into my sight first. He was desperately trying to revive Messalla, who had been flung against a wall by the explosion.

I nearly slipped when I approached Katniss, Homes and Boggs. The ground was covered in blood and parts of Boggs' legs.

Nausea overcame me, but that was not new to me.

Boggs had lost both legs and literally clung onto the holo. He had to be in a lot of pain. Considering the blood loss he would not survive.

“Incapable of command. Submit the top security check to unit 4-5-1, soldier Katniss Everdeen. … Say your name”, I heard Boggs' weak voice through the ringing in my ears.

“Katniss Everdeen. What did you do?”, Katniss wondered.

“Get ready to retreat!”, Jackson yelled.

Finnick shouted something back and pointed to the sector we had come from.

A black, oily substance streamed out of the street and the gaps of the buildings were creating a black wall. Knowing Snow it was definitely deadly.

I watched Homes and Katniss pulling Boggs with them. The substance was approaching us quickly.

“It's fruitless! We have to leave him behind. He's going to die in a few minutes anyway. That'll just spare him more suffering!”, I realized and made Katniss and Homes let go.

“I'm sorry, commander”, I whispered.

He simply smiled at me, showing me that I had evaluated the situation correctly.

Suddenly I heard a lout sound. Peeta had tried to hit Katniss with his gun, but had hit the ground instead.

Mitchell managed to hold Peeta to the ground, but the latter was stronger and kicked Mitchell a few steps back, making him stumble into a trap.

Mitchell was lifted into the air trapped between barbed wire. The blood was streaming out of his body.

“Don't move”, Katniss yelled at him, although we both knew that he would not survive.

In the background I heard explosions.

Gale and Leeg one had been shooting at the ground the whole time to create us a safe way to the next building.

Peeta moved to attack Katniss again, but I pushed her out of the way, dodged Peeta's punch and kneed him in the groin.

Castor and Pollux dragged him away while I pushed Katniss toward the building.

Gale and I were entering the building last and now I was feeling seriously sick.

A few seconds later Gale and I were throwing up, because of the fumes we had inhaled.

In the background I heard Peeta resisting and kicking against something. Later I noticed that they had trapped him inside a wardrobe.

Leeg two, Mitchell, Boggs. We had lost so many already and the real games had just started a few minutes ago.

The surveillance cameras had definitely filmed us after all the pods we had activated and we could not contact our allies.

Jackson was the new commander now and of course wanted Katniss to hand over the holo, which the latter refused to do. Katniss lied that Boggs had given her the holo because she had gotten the special order of Coin to assassinate Snow.

Now the unit split up as we pointed our guns at each other.

It seemed like either Jackson or Katniss was about to die, when Cressida interjected. The one who was not on anyone's side: “It's true. That's why we're here. Plutarch wants us to film everything because he believes that the war will be over when everyone sees how the mockingjay kills Snow.”

Jackson hesitated. Then she pointed at the wardrobe Peeta was in. “Why is he here then?”

“Both interviews with Caesar Flickerman have been filmed inside Snow's private quarters. Plutarch thinks that Peeta could lead us there because he's the only one familiar with the area”, Cressida resonated.

Impressive. She was lying convincingly without a second of hesitation.

That settled it. Although Jackson was still suspicious and grumpy, she helped Katniss handling the holo.

We decided to get out the same way we had entered the building as the substance had probably activated the other pods and made the cameras useless.

So we put on our gas masks and followed Katniss.

The substance had turned more or less hard. We did not sink into it and did not leave any footprints. At least one positive thing on such a terrible day.

Homes was carrying the unconscious Peeta while Cressida and Leeg one supported the light-headed Messalla.

On the way further into the city I realized that Katniss had been right about the activated pods. I spotted dead tracker jackers and destroyed buildings.

The further we got away from the source of the substance the thinner it covered the ground.

We hid inside one of the Capitol's buildings to reorganize and evaluate the situation.

More explosions erupted from where we had come followed by the TV turning on startling us.

“Don't panic! It's just a special broadcast. All TV's in the Capitol turn on automatically”, Cressida soothed us.

The screen showed the video of us since the mine Boggs had accidentally activated.

But the cameras had not seen us escaping out of the building again, that was now nothing more but a burning ruin. They happily declared our death.

“Finally we have some luck”, Homes stated.

True. Though something else was bothering me.

I imagined this broadcast being shown in district 13 where our families and friends were waiting for us to return.

I thought about Johanna who had probably just gotten over her relapse and had to deal with the fact that she was in 13 instead of the battle field, far away from me.

I thought about the pregnant Annie, who had seemingly lost her husband and father of her unborn child.

I thought about Prim, Katniss' mom and my family who had after two Hunger Games finally lost their children.

But that was another difference to the previous Hunger Games. No trackers.

“And what are we planning to do next, now that we're dead”, Gale cut through the silence.

“That's obvious, isn't it?”

I had not even noticed that Peeta was conscious again. “Next … we are killing me.”

“Don't be silly”, Jackson shot back.

“But I just killed one of us!”

“You pushed him away. You couldn't know that he would stumble into a trap”, Finnick tried to soothe him.

“So what? He's dead, isn't he? I didn't expect that. I've never felt like that before. Katniss is right. I'm the monster. I'm the mutt. Snow turned me into a weapon”, Peeta cried.

“It's not your fault, Peeta”, Finnick reminded him.

“You can't take me with you. It's only a matter of time until I kill the next. Maybe you think it'd be more human to leave me behind, but then you could just hand me over to the Capitol right away. Do you think you'd do me a favor by sending me back to Snow?”

Gale promised to kill Peeta before that could happen, but Peeta wanted a nightlock pill. A poisonous pill everyone of us had gotten for the case that one of us got captured. Coin did not want more Peeta's and Johanna's. Honestly I did not want to share their experiences either.

In the end Katniss somehow persuaded Peeta to trust us and we started looking out for food.

Luckily Messalla knew where the citizens of the Capitol were hiding their food. They even had cookies! Each of us got one of the thirty food cans.

When we had switched to dessert and were handing around some cookies, the TV turned on again and our portraits were shown on the screens, like the pictures of the fallen tributes in the arena.

Then President Snow himself appeared on the screen and talked about the victory over the mockingjay. He presented her as one girl out of many, randomly chosen and made to the face of the rebellion.

But Snow's speech did not last too long as district 13 still had Beetee. Mixed feelings spread inside of me when I saw Coin. “Dead or alive, Katniss Everdeen will remain the face of the rebellion. If you should ever waver in your resolve, think back to the mockingjay because there you'll find the strength you need to free Panem from the oppression.”

“Didn't know that I mean so much to her”, Katniss joked earning laughter from Gale and me and confused stares from the others.

Were they not aware that Katniss' death was actually her wish?

A picture of Katniss in front of sparkling flames was shown before Beetee let Snow take over again.

“Tomorrow morning, when we will gather Katniss Everdeen's dead body from the ruins, you'll see who she is. A dead girl who could not save anyone, not even herself.”

Coat of arm. Hymn. TV off.

“Though they won't find her”, Finnick said what we were probably all thinking.

Katniss turned on the holo and I watched all the blinking lights.

“How are we supposed to get through that labyrinth of pods? They're growing in numbers and the pods earlier haven't even been detected by the holo”, I pointed out.

“Let's exclude anything that won't work first”, Finnick suggested. “The streets aren't an option.”

“Neither are the roofs”, Leeg one assumed.

“Maybe we can retreat by using the way we came from. But then our special order would have failed”, Homes noted.

Katniss confessed the truth. That there had never been a special order from Coin.

“That doesn't matter now”, Jackson stated.

Most likely she had not believed Katniss anyway.

“We can't stay here. We can neither go above nor to any side. So there's only one option left.”

“Underground”, Gale concluded.

After a huge discussion Peeta 'agreed' to accompany us because we refused to kill him.

When we arrived underground we were welcomed by the suffocating smell of chemicals, moldiness and sewage. Pollux was completely pale and shaking.

“My brother worked here for five years before we've been able to buy him out. He hasn't seen the sun once”, Castor explained.

Out of all people Peeta was the one who found the right words: “Then you've just turned into our most important ally.”

Both brothers smiled.

There he was, the old Peeta. The kind, gentle boy, who always found the right thing to say. The selfless boy who tried to help wherever he could.

His words turned out to be correct as we were moving fast.

After six hours the exhaustion overpowered us. It was three am. And therefore it would take the Capitol some more time to figure out that we were still alive.

I took the first watch because I was not exhausted enough to have a chance against the nightmares. Sometimes I was lucky enough that the exhaustion shut them down.

Indeed I managed to sleep several hours in a row later on, only to be woken up by Finnick.

I was busy waking up when Katniss told us to stay silent.

Actually I thought that everyone obeyed, but there was still a sound moving through the tunnels. A whisper calling out Katniss' name.

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

Next Chapter

[ibringyouasong89]

@medicaldoctordana

So I went and wiki'd this question...because, ya know, you can TRUST *wink, wink* the internet, but pretty much this popped up in the paragraph concerning Mulder's time at Oxford. "After the disappearance of his sister and the divorce of his parents, Mulder attended Oxford University — (PILOT). His tenure there was from 1983 until 1986. — (UNUSUAL SUSPECTS). The ten years between his sister's abduction and his enrollment at Oxford University are largely unaccounted for. Mulder's credentials are also unspecific about precisely which program he participated in while at Oxford.

During his time at Oxford University, Mulder watched a documentary about an insane asylum. In one section of the program, a patient named Creighton Jones claimed to have been abducted by "fire demons." The documentary gave Mulder nightmares. — (OUR TOWN). Mulder was probably affected by the "fire demon" documentary due to his fear of fire and because he imagined what might have happened to Samantha if she had been abducted the same way as Creighton Jones claimed to have been.

On August 10, 1985, Mulder submitted a criminal profile of killer Luther Lee Boggs to the FBI. Later, the document helped send Boggs to the North Carolina gas chamber but he received an executive stay. — (BEYOND THE SEA). The script of "Beyond the Sea" characterizes Mulder's profile on Boggs as having been written for the Violent Crimes Bureau. In "Pilot", Mulder is described as having written a monograph on serial killers and the occult that helped catch a murderer in 1988. Although there is insufficient evidence to establish exactly when Mulder wrote this monograph (prior to 1988), it is likely he wrote it while studying at Oxford, as there is no evidence to suggest he participated in such an intense academic period before the murderer's capture and, in the episode, Mulder's time at Oxford is mentioned directly before and in the same sentence as the description of him having written the monograph. Similarly, Mulder mentions, in "Little Green Men", that he took music appreciation with Professor Ganz, where he learned that the famous composer Johann Sebastian Bach had a genius for polyphony. Like the writing of his monograph, there is not adequate evidence to determine whether Mulder studied music appreciation at college.

Despite his negative reaction to the fire demons video, Mulder graduated from Oxford University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology. — (DREAMLAND II) *degree here* Kinda blurry but this was the best they had to go with the info.

It then goes on to state that he graduated with "honors" from Quantico in 1986...so it's possible that he might've done more research-based training on psychology, but as you suggested, did not do anything clinical...or if it was clinical based, it was purely for observation (most likely of criminals for the profiling part of BSU that he was being ushered into). As to whether or not he had a PhD from Oxford is no longer in dispute...I know a lot of people like to canonize that he obtained his PhD from Oxford, but people also have to understand that when it comes to education in America, it was VASTLY different, in terms of career criteria, than what was described to us "peasants" who were forced to either go on to get a Masters, PhD, in order to get a well-paying career...and that's just to get a guarantee for an interview to get your foot in the door! Back in the 70's, for example, a person could graduate with a bachelor's degree in finance, business, photography, art history, theology, or whichever they chose to pursue...and if in need of a job, they could go and teach for two years. There was a thing known as "TPD - or, Teachers Per Diem," that basically allowed these people to become teachers, for two years, without any educational credits pertaining to their degree - no educational pedagogical knowledge to fall back on, no training to deal with children of varying ages, no prior experience in handling classroom management; they had to self-teach themselves on how to do lesson-planning and curriculum-building - and after the two years, if they wanted to, they could go get certified or move on to a job within the field they had earned their bachelor's for...especially if they were white, heteronormative men. Fox William Mulder, for all intents and purposes (and I'm sure people will debate this as regarding his sexuality, but bear with me here), was a white, heteronormative man whose family members guaranteed him social capital (with his father's connections due to his work at the State Department for the government) and also socio-economic standing (since they were inherently wealthy enough to live on Martha's Vineyard and also have a summer home in Rhode Island...which are all basically very..."waspish" areas in New England). Fox Mulder himself may have never fit the mold, per say, of being a typical "rich boy," given his attitudes towards such things as an adult, but it was also part of his background and childhood experiences and environment. He grew up...very comfortably. Much more so than Scully, who was a child of four, living off her father's navy salary with her three siblings and mother, and basically moving from place to place, and living in the family barracks stationed at the naval bases. Idk if CSM and the Syndicate had any say in what kind of education Scully was able to obtain by the time she was ready to go to college (whether they *nudge, nudge* someone in admissions to guarantee her a place due to her high-test scores), but more or less, she got into college and medical school due to her own merit. Anyway, just my $0.02 this morning to add to this discussion, which has been fascinating to witness as it unfurled.

Re Fox “not a psychologist” Mulder

He has a very valid point when he says this.

While in the pilot he is described as “an Oxford educated psychologist” and utilizes his knowledge of psychology for profiles in the violent crimes unit and on the x-files, he is very much not a psychologist.

At least here in the US, you earn the title of “psychologist” after you have obtained a masters degree or higher (such as a PhD or PsyD) and/or accreditation from a society/state/etc. (PsyD is a doctor of psychology which is different from an MD who practices psychiatry- psychology and psychiatry have differences as well) This is very nuanced and in laymen terms is questionably acceptable to use the term psychologist in reference to Fox Mulder, however, technically he is correct— he is not a psychologist.

The reason is due to credentialism and ethics, anyone can get an associates or bachelors in psychology but “higher education” is a way to gatekeep the profession and to protect the utilization of the knowledge you learn as a psychology student due to the nature of the study. There is higher moral and ethical stakes the more educated you are so only the highest educated may claim the title of psychologist. This concept falls into “scope of practice” and is most applicable in medical and related fields.

(Disregarding moral and societal implication of this act- it’s a complicated issue)

For example, You shouldn’t try hypnosis on someone until you’ve been adequately trained on the technique and consequences (neutral term). These standards are often set by entities such as the American psychological association and is often why you cannot practice psychology without a license- a degree alone is not enough to prove capability and responsibility.

In Dreamland 2 we see his diploma from Oxford University and he has a bachelor’s of science in psychology. He is not trained in clinical psychology, educational psychology, industrial psychology, school psychology, etc. His degree in psychology is one of science so it’s very likely his education had a focus on research and statistics more so than broad theory and principles. (Difference between a Bachelors of Science and a Bachelors of Arts in psychology).

All in all, yes he has a degree in psychology but he is not a psychologist. It’s very likely he would have had the time to get at least a masters before recruitment to the FBI but it is never established he has more than a bachelors from Oxford. I am also not well versed on psychology degrees in the UK and how the education and credits transfer to the US.

[swinging-stars-from-satellites]

how to bend, not how to break

(shoutout to @alittlemorelight for suggesting Jon Foreman's "Learning How To Die" as a cancer arc song!!)

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

1. Her best friend kisses her under glaring flourescent lights in a hospital hallway, or maybe she kisses him, or maybe it's both of them at once that does it; her seeking refuge in him, feeling safer in his arms than she has since her diagnosis, him needing to convey and confess something he can't put into words. They don't talk about it, but she doesn't push him away, even when she sees how hard it is for him to watch her slip away. Her nose bleeds and she lets him hand her tissues he keeps in his pockets nowadays. They don't talk about that, either, but she doesn't push him away.

2. She doesn't kiss him when he sees her slight shudder, the shiver she can't quite hide after the cryobiology case in Massachusetts, and puts his coat around her shoulders. She has a hard time staying warm these days, even under her usual layers; even at home, curled under extra blankets with her knees pulled up to her chest. Turning up the thermostat in her apartment would be like admiting defeat, and she is not ready to concede that yet. Mulder sees her shiver, standing beside the car as they finish giving their statements, and silently slips out of his coat and tucks it around her. She tries to protest, tells him like always that she's fine, the memory of Dr. Yonechi bursting into flames just bothers her, but he offers a tiny smile, his head leaned close to her, and just says "it's alright." He means her weakness, but he won't say it, and that is enough to make her stop talking and slide her arms into the too-long sleeves. Mulder's hands rest on her shoulders for a little too long to be normal, and she does not push him away. She doesn't kiss him again, like she suddenly wants to, but she doesn't push him away, either.

3. She does not kiss her best friend when she is wine drunk on her own couch and feeling warmer than she has in weeks; she doesn't, because it's not her partner. The real Mulder wears a vaguely stricken look for the rest of the evening and won't move from his place at her shoulder as she speaks with the police officers who come to take Eddie van Blundht away. She doesn't give him a disapproving look or sigh that she's alright, he doesn't need to hover like this, like she's something fragile (she is). She doesn't push him away. Maybe it's the lingering effects of the wine, in vino veritas and such, but the truth is, she wants him close.

4. She does not kiss him in the back stairwell of a mental hospital after she has seen a ghost. This time, she does push him away. She cannot believe, refuses to. It's the same as the Boggs case, back in the first year of their partnership: she is afraid to believe. She confesses, tells him what she's seen so that it is not kept to her, and she sees the desperation light in his eyes when he snaps at her; he only does that when he's afraid. She wants him to kiss her when he says that he is, that he's scared of the same thing she is, but she is frightened and frustrated, and she pushes him away. They still haven't talked about Philadelphia or why it happened.

5. She finally kisses her partner again, this time in a hospital in Rhode Island because he can't stop apologizing; she is not angry with him, just frustrated and afraid, because if he'll go to such lengths with her arguing against it every step of the way, put himself in that danger with her fighting to keep him safe, she doesn't want to think about what he'll do once she's gone. He can't stop apologizing, avoids touching her even though she can see how deeply he craves comfort; she can't stop remembering how small and broken he looked on the floor of that house. She kisses him while they wait for the doctors to discharge him, and she can taste his tears.

"Scully," he whispers unsteadily, after, "I'm so-"

She kisses him again so that he knows she will not push him away. They cannot lose each other any earlier than they must. He doesn't push her away, either.

6. They still don't talk about it, but he kisses her at her dining room table with her for once taller than him. She leans down, kisses him back. It happens just before another nosebleed starts, and then she is standing, shaky, in front of the sink, and Mulder looks like he wants to hold her tight enough that even cancer can't take her. She wishes he could; she asks him to turn up the thermostat and does not kiss him again before he leaves. He is faking his own death, and she is approaching hers. She doesn't push him away, in fact she'd give nearly anything to hold him close, not let him walk out her apartment door and leave her alone, but she doesn't kiss him.

7. She does not kiss her best friend and partner when she is lying on what will be her deathbed. He comes to her, aggravates the nurses and her brother, and kisses just about every part of her but her lips. There is a boundary, just now, and the boundary is death. He stares into her eyes when he presses his lips to her knuckles, then whispers her name, barely audible because her mother and brother are standing in the doorway.

"Scully," he breathes, "I-"

She shakes her head. "Don't," she pleads. She cannot let him say it and then lose her.

She doesn't let him tell her what she already knows; she doesn't tell him her part either. But she doesn't push him away, instead clings to him when he leaves. She does not have a thermostat to turn up, here, and she doesn't know if she will ever be warm again. She wants him close.

8. She does not kiss him when she tells him the cancer is in remission and he falls to his knees in shock and ecstasy, but she does let him tell her he loves her. He says it again and again into her hair and the crook of her neck, until she takes his face in her hands and he goes still, reverent. She smiles a watery smile, and then she does kiss him, soft and slow and salty with tears, even though her mother is about to walk into the room and see.

"I love you too," she says, and now they are both crying. This is the first time they've talked about it.

[babygirldennis]

This shit is fake bby!!!

Here she is.. My masterpost of all the dumb, illogical bits of info contained within these s15 “leaks” that make me fairly confident they are complete bullshit. It also includes my little tinhat theories that have absolutely no evidence.

I will be putting it all under a Readmore in case you don't want to risk it or if you simply Do Not Care

First up, I'd like to point out that these call sheets repeatedly give very detailed backstories to characters that have few lines which conveniently paints a picture of each episode's plot. And I'm not an expert so correct me if I'm wrong, but after looking at other similar casting calls, they only ever include the demographic and necessary skills.

Basically who in their right mind would write up casting calls that give away so many spoilers? Seems like that could cause and issue if they were leaked lol. But anyway that's my 1st point. But onto the actual content

So the conceit of this episode as a whole is that during the pandemic, the gang "gamed the system" and received three (3!) Loans to start businesses that went bankrupt. One of these businesses is implied to be the one started by dee and charlie who end up selling to Qanon shaman. Already this is so impossible baby.

1. We've already seen the gang try to get a loan and it didn't work. They don't have good ideas. Ur telling me, they managed to finagle 3 separate loans for 3 separate business ideas from an actual bank?

2. Maybe I just have bad reading comprehension but how does one have a business that is both fictitious and bankrupt?

3. If the customer is supposed to be Qanon shaman, an actual real life guy, why are the only descriptors white and male? They say he's shirtless so are they going to paint on all of the tattoos he has? And if so, doesn't that kind of ruin the dramatic reveal when charlie "throws in" the viking helmet? Why would he do that anyways? Sus.

Moving on

Alright this episode would fucking blow for obvious reasons but im going to refrain from looking at this through my gay dennis thruther lens because im biased.

Purely from a narrative standpoint, a woman hasn't been shown to be interested in dennis in nearly 5 years during the wade boggs episode. Ever since, every single woman he approaches has been actively creeped out by him. And now I'm supposed to believe that 3 "smart, passionate woman" (In Their Twenties!!!!!!) agreed to go on a date with him? And Anna even slept with him! Just because he what? Agreed with her? I'm not buyin it.

Plus the concept of this scenario lacks any potential for comedy. When iasip gets political, they always discuss a very specific topic using hyperbolic situations and flawed metaphors. If this is supposed to be a political episode, what ultimately lukewarm point would rob be trying to make here? So far we know they're ranting about

The patriarchy

Privilege

Socialism

No more personal responsibility(?)

The... nature of power in society(??)

How on earth would an episode like get approved? This shit sounds like a Ted talk. It sounds like it was written specifically to sound like a political episode so boring and pointless it would generate outrage and mile long essay posts from Tumblr users and reddit users alike. Almost like this one lol.

On a completely unrelated note, do not try and convince me that Frank "casual cock ring wearer" Reynolds is unable to perform.

Jeez this is getting out of hand fast. Let's move on

Ok now we're starting to getting into the Ireland of it all. Let me go on a bit of a tangent here about all this.. Now I thinq there are just 3 possibilities. Either this is all a publicity stunt and there is some truth to the Ireland rumors, the entire thing could be bogus from some weirdo fan (ps, if a fan did write this I want you to know I fucking hate you. You did this to me), or it is a publicity stunt but Ireland is just more bullshit.

I am going to assume it was a publicity stunt, otherwise I just wasted my entire evening and I can't have that kind of mentality rn. Additionally, I'm Going to tinhat here for a second and say that the Ireland rumors are true, but the details are different.

I say this because if they were going to do filming in Ireland, they probably figured that that information would be impossible to hide. In essence, my completely unfounded hypothesis is that this leak was their fucked up little way of controlling the situation while simultaneously messing with us.

Ok tangent is over, returning to the casting calls. From the looks of it, dee starts a "scam" acting class and has some very devoted students (Note that Tony was also the name of the porn shop owner. Seems weird!) Presumably after the gang replaces her with a monkey as the title suggests.

Honestly, there isn't too much here that's a red flag to me... seems like a nice little dee-centric episode that is the link to the Dublin angle. Assuming I am At All right, this could be a genuine plotline for Dee. However, the monkey could be a red herring and there could be a whole different side plot with the guys. who's to say. Next one!

Ah yes this is the dennis we all know and despise.. no red flags for me here really, I'm also running out of steam because idk if it shows, but I am majorly sleep deprived atm. Anyway I'm going to the next one

Okay this is where things start getting weird again ough a migraine just hit, anyway back to my earlier point about how casting calls would never contains major spoilers bc the people who see these wont be under any kind of NDA..

These ones reveal that bonnie dies. Again, that info wouldn't be in a casting call.

But also they suggest charlie has a irish penpal named Shelley who is his biological father. First off charlie is illiterate, although as pointed out by @undeadbreeze shelley could also be communicating in symbols. However, this scenario is still unbelievable to me for a couple reasons:

1. Bonnie's last name is Kelly obviously, and we know it's her maiden name because Jack's last name is also Kelly. But Shelley's last name is... also Kelly? In the context of this big ol hoax, it feels like it was written to show that look! his last name is the same as charlie's! That's how you know that's his dad! But It would be way too big of a coincidence if charlie's dad happened to have the same last name bonnie.

And 2. There's the whole mystery of charlie's long-lost sister from 'charlie got molested' but never any mention of a brother which according to this, shelley has been pretending to be his brother for years. And we all know how much rcg loves their continuity, it seems uncharacteristically lazy to just tack this on without any prior buildup.

And finally let me talk about mac for a second and specifically the line in gus's summary "both are gay men who are attracted to the priesthood for all the wrong reasons"

Iasip has commented on pedophilia in the priesthood many times in the past which leads me to believe that they are implying that mac is a pedophile? Please let me know if I completely misread the implications of that statement, but if not, then that is completely insane and one of the biggest indictators that this is fake. Mac is awful, just like everyone in the gang but he is definitely not a pedophile.

However even if i did completely misread that, it's still proof this is fake.. For all his faults, Rob put a surprising amount of care and effort into mac's coming-out. It hasn't been perfect, but Mfhp in particular firmly established that mac's faith is integral to his identity so Its unlikely that rob would throw all of that away for a cheap shot at priests.

Ok my brain is irradiated sludge at this point, but in conclusion. I hope that 1. I'm right, at least about it being fake (Otherwise damb that'll be so humiliating for me) And 2. This eases ur fears a bit. I don't want to lose all faith in future seasons bc I love iasip and miss the gang. If you read this far youre insane but I literally love you so goddamn much because I spent so so long tapping this out on my silly little phone

Please feel free to add on or message me your thoughts and opinions I need to know I'm not the only one who uhhh went a bit insane. And finally: whoever made these is a cunt. Mwah.

[lily-orchard-gossip-blog]

I mean, I can personally empathize with KP on one front; minor or no, Boggs went out of his way to slander KP over what amounted to a misunderstanding. That slander hit hard and is something many people believe about KP to this day. His mother never did anything about her son's actions and Boggs himself offered a half-assed apology at best. He may have been a kid but his actions did - and continue to do - obvious damage to KP's career and mental health. I'm not saying Boggs should be burnt at the steak for screwing up as a minor, but that really shouldn't excuse his actions either.

That said, latching onto Lily because she defended KP is incredibly unwise. Anthony C already did a fine job going up to bat for her and explaining why Boggs and company's behavior was shit, why exactly does she NEED Lily? Not to mention KP herself has shown behavior which really makes me question her empathy, like laughing at inappropriate moments when Mikaila was sharing her abuse story on stream (alongside Lily, oddly enough).

I'm positive the only reason Lily defended KP in the first place was because she wanted the clout that comes with associating with a big name fan. That, and romantic/sexual gratification. It could even be possible she's being groomed similarly to how Patch was (because despite what Lily suggests, adults can absolutely be groomed under the right circumstances). Sooner or later KP is going to have to deal with that revelation Lily doesn't actually care, and it's not going to be fun.

From what I've gathered, KP's youtube career has been stagnating/going down hill for a while now (though that seems to be the case for a lot of the old Brony analysis community), and Anthony C doesn't really seem all that active on youtube as a whole.

That, combined with the fact that the other ex Brony youtubers that she could have tried to befriend, don't seem to like her all that much. (Plus, Lily did organize a commenting harassments campaign on Silver Quill for KP, which would not have done her reputation any favors.)

In a weird way, getting Lily's fanbase to come watch her video's and give her support probably seemed like a good idea to her. Plus, as a bonus, Lily is willing to hate the same people as her, and encourages her to go on vengeance quests against those who wronged her, and who doesn't want to give into bitter feelings of anger?

I can't say I know what's good for KP's career or not, but I can say that I don't really view KP positively, knowing that she would have heard all of these things Lily has done, and still does, and chose to become part of the group and help boost Lily's reach.

It just doesn't sit right with me.

[moviediary]

She’s All That (1999)

Rich and popular makes a bet with his “friend”, whose personality is pretty much summed up by the fact that he has frosted tips, that he can turn any girl into the prom queen after getting dumped by his longtime girlfriend. 

Now don’t get me wrong, I love this movie, but every time I watch it I can’t help but be amazed at how absurd it is. I mean, cliché plot aside, every individual piece that makes up this 1 hour and 30 minute ode to the individual is completely insane. What universe does this take place in? What high school do they go to?

That being said, I really like the opening shots to this movie, it definitely gives you a good introduction to the main character. Laney Boggs. She’s political and messy and 100% down to her bones an art student. She isn’t afraid to be dark.

In contrast I feel like the first meeting of the main love interest really doesn’t set him up to be who the writers want you to think he is. I mean he rolls up to school in a bright yellow Jeep with a Mr. Prez vanity plate. Then you see his shoes when he gets out of the car, fuckin’ ugly ass leather loafers. I’m sorry I know this means nothing I just have a hard time believing this jock wears these fucking shoes they’re so god damn ugly.

Every moment that introduces him makes it seem like he should be the villain, he has pretty much no redeeming qualities that we can see besides his wit (barely) and good looks. I just don’t understand why we’re supposed to like him, this is Sixteen Candles all over again. Hot rich guy, is an asshole, for some reason I still root for and love him. How does that work? What makes these characters so grossly likable? I mean, his name is Zack. That alone raises a red flag for me. That’s a frat boy asshole name. Zacks are friends of Kyle that’s all I’m saying.

Once we get through his painfully douchey introduction we get introduced to Zack’s equally douchey friends frosted tips and Gus from psych. (don’t ask me what their actual names are it’s not important anyway, that is essentially their personalities) The first thing we hear is them talking about summer break and their vacations, further driving home how rich they are and how weird it is that adults write movies about teenagers having gratuitous amounts of sex with adults. Then Zach tries unsuccessfully to say something philosophical about them graduating soon (I have to keep reminding myself that he’s supposed to have like the 4th highest GPA in their class) They then meet the most 90s girls I have ever seen. Who I guess are supposed to be popular? One thing I do like is how diverse all the characters are, they don’t all look exactly the same which I feel tends to be a problem with high school movies.

So we finally meet the “popular girl” Taylor Vaughn, Zack’s girlfriend and she immediately breaks up with him (which honestly is probably a good idea anyway) and his “friends” fucking laugh at him which he really had coming. I mean. Look at his hair. 

This launches what is probably one of my favorite narrated flashback scenes of all time, not because the topic is particularly interesting but because I love the way they have Zach interrupt her inside of the flashback. It’s a very small addition that really gives the scene style. Also we see this hot girl start dating Shaggy??? Also one of the villains from the original Scream???( he only really plays one character.) Makes me laugh every time. Also makes me a little uncomfortable every time since she’s in high school and he’s who knows how old but whatever not important. This also leads to one of my favorite exchanges in the whole movie. 

Taylor wraps up her spring break story time with one of the rawest lines I've ever seen in a 90s movie (she really did that to him) and the director throws in a classic high school movie trope, everyone actually caring enough to stop and watch this exchange. And while I usually hate this kind of character worship, since this movie is already so bizarre and unrealistic it actually kinda fits

We then cut to Laney’s art class which includes her teacher that for some reason thinks her art isn’t personal enough and two clown obsessed Lydia Deetz knock offs. I have to say I do love this part where the art students literally suggest that she kill herself in order to have her art recognized. Very realistic conversation between art students. 

That whole scene is really funny though because it doesn’t feel like it belongs in this movie. Even the music doesn't fit which is only emphasized by the sudden bell ringing transition back into a stereotypical high school movie. It reminds me of movies like the craft, the way it’s cut together, the way the characters talk, how Laney just stares straight ahead after not saying anything. It seems like she could have chosen a completely different movie to be in. Like if the movie was a chose your own adventure, she could have been in a different genre entirely and the movie would have been about her and those girls faking her death to get recognition and make money from her paintings. which would have been sick. but that isn't the movie I’m watching. Which I’m reminded of when fucking Zack comes back on screen.

Also right before the scene where the actual bet is introduced we meet the school’s resident DJ??? which isn’t important at all but is so strange that I feel the need to point it out. Like they don’t just have a guy who does the announcements they have like a disc jockey who is just there all the time??? There are just so many little things in this movie that make it so weird.

So fucking Brock pukashells pulls up and Zach just flips. Which is understandable it is a very gross moment but he just fucking goes off about Taylor and how she’s not that great and he could get with any girl in the school. His friends point out that bitch boy forgot that Taylor Vaughn is “an institution” and basically Zach with tits. She’s very important. This is something I never get about movies like this, has anyone actually been to a high school where someone was that well known. But also not liked? Like sure she’s hot, but she’s also a grade A bitch to everyone. and according to Zach nothing more than a C minus GPA in a Wonderbra. 

Once you get through the misogyny plus ultra scene and they finally make the bet, frosted tips has picked the girl Zach has to turn into the prom queen. Scary inaccessible Laney Boggs. He’s got 6 weeks to make her popular. He starts off his first exchange with her in the best way possible. By calling her brother Spaz (as his name). Again, we’re supposed to like this guy I think. I don’t know when he’s supposed to become a likable character but I can’t imagine it’s during all these scenes where he just legit insults people.

I also love all of the clips we get to see from Brock’s time on The Real World Which make me really question why all the girls fan girl over him given that he’s actually the worst, even on the show. We also get introduced to Zack’s sister who probably should have been a lesbian given how queer coded her character is besides the fact that she desperately wants a boyfriend. She even goes to an all girls school it would have been perfect. But alas, this movie is gay-less.

We are then introduced to another b-plot in this movie, Zack’s indecision about college. This was I guess to make him more human? or something? To sort of flesh him out and give him problems but honestly he doesn't have any problems. Later in the movie Laney points this out to him, he can do whatever he wants. This whole college thing is resolved fairly quickly later in the film too, it’s not very important it’s just the only thing we see about Zack besides being a perfect high schooler throughout the whole movie. Well that and his terrible performance art and being an asshole. 

After we see that Zack has been accepted by every Ivy League school and their mother (I’m not jealous I swear) we take a brief Taylor being a bitch detour before getting back to Zack making an ass of himself. This time he’s bothering Laney at her job which is awesome we love that. Again I don’t know why we like this guy he does like 3 nice things the whole movie. Anyway she gets defensive like she always does and he fumbles around trying to talk like he’s a normal person and not a walking cliché and then there’s this really strange exchange where he tries to asked her for help in art classes and she says “you don’t take art” and he’s like “how do you know?” and she’s like “Why haven't I seen you in any of my classes?” and like, I get what they were going for but what kind of high school is this? how does she have time to take more than one art class? How is she already an art major before she’s in college that’s not how high school works. I only ever had one school where I could take more than two extra curriculars and that was in middle school and it was only because they fucked up and put me in four hours of study hall and so I just went to all of the art classes that were offered. But that’s different. And am I way over analyzing this movie? yes. Does anyone but me care about this shit? probably not, but I’m gonna talk about it anyway.

I also really like Laney’s best friend who’s kind of just there, all the time, he’s such a good wing man. He also made the best excuse to get out of seeing that weird ass art show she’s in. He’s like, oh good I don’t have to see another Mitch show. He’s probably in his underwear in all of them, I wouldn’t want to go either. I think it really says something about the performance art world though, because this is probably the most believable part of the whole movie. If someone told me that his is just an actual performance art piece that they used in this movie I would absolutely believe them. Also one of the weird gremlins in this piece says what is probably my favorite quote ever which is “my soul is an island, my car is a Ford” like what the fuck is that I love that so much.

I really want to know how they came up with this shit, it’s so perfect. It also is another one of these parts in the movie that doesn’t really add anything. A lot of the movie is like this, I feel like 90% of this movie is weird filler scenes and the rest in plot. Like it’s so obvious how it’s going to end that you barely even need to watch most of the movie, and even when you do watch most of the movie it always kind of feels like it only half has something to do with the plot. I’m not even going to talk about the weird hacky Sack scene, I can’t handle how embarrassing and cringey it is I pretty much always skip through it. What a dick move of Laney’s to even put him in that situation. The whole “your eyes are really beautiful” scene is also really strange, both his lines and her reaction don’t really make sense. Through most of this movie when they actually talk to each other I feel like they don’t have any chemistry. It’s the same when he subtly blackmails her into going to the beach with him. He’s awkward and barely says anything that prompts a response and then she just goes full WOKE EMO on him and like, they really do have nothing in common I do not understand their relationship. And then his friends show up and he’s like, “If we’re gonna be friends we’ll have to deal with them eventually” which like, 1: wow get some friends you actually like maybe? And 2: how are you guys friends, you’ve barely ever managed to exchange civil words on screen. Actually maybe that makes sense, this is why he thinks this is okay (besides the whole bet thing) maybe he doesn’t realize he’s supposed to actually like his friends and girlfriend. Because it really seems like he doesn’t like any of them, which I get. Except for Gus (not his name but whatever) because that guy’s actually pretty funny and spends the whole movie calling frosted tips out whenever he sounds too much like Kenny from Can’t Hardly Wait.

The whole beach scene is kinda take it or leave it too, there are a lot of moments where we see Laney hang out with Zack and other people but honestly through the whole movie there really isn’t a whole lot of growth. We don’t actually really see them bond or talk, we’re supposed to believe their relationship is growing but I guess that must be happening off screen because I don’t see it.

One of my favorite parts is when Zack forces the JV soccer team to clean Laney’s house, the kid answering the jeopardy question and her dad just realizing they were there. Oh man, gets me every time. The makeover scene is also pretty cute, I always love those. Also the whole “new, not improved, but different Laney Boggs” thing is adorable and I appreciate it.

The evolving of the characters and their relationships don’t happen gradually, what little is actually shown is pretty much in like 3 parts, the opening, the party scene, and the end. The characters are very flat for most of the movie and they have very little personality, but the party scene is very fun to watch. From “Gracias, papi!” to Laney turning Misty into a clown, and then the Give it to Me dance sequence. And even though the characters haven’t really given me a good reason to care about them my heart still hurts a little for Laney when Taylor ruins her dress. That’s the thing about this movie, I shouldn’t care, I shouldn’t like these characters, but I still do, and I have no idea why.

The Brock dumping Taylor thing was great, the parallel was expected but I actually think it added to the story. In fact most of the things after the party actually feel necessary to the movie which is nice. Even the soccer practice actually leads to something. I don’t know what it is about the 2nd quarter of this movie that feels so empty but whatever it is it’s enough that I saw a noticeable difference when I got to the third act of this movie.

It’s a small part but I also really love the alternative clubs that make signs in favor of Laney for prom queen. They’re just so fucking funny to me. I mean, Hygiene club? Prisoners club??? What?

Then they pull another fast feelings thing on me again. They throw the mom painting scene at me and like, wow that’s sad. Then Zack tries to garner sympathy for the problems that he makes for himself. Then boom they flip on me again they’re cute and I like them. Then she says that weird thing about prom and he just dips man. And like, Why do they gotta do me like that? I cannot seem to decide if I like these characters or not it’s so weird how this dialogue is written.

And then the dream happens? Definitely one of the best scenes in the whole movie. So fucking perfect. It really just adds to the weird slight surrealness of this whole movie.

Then we go back to the school and suddenly everyone is dressing like Laney? In support I guess? Again can I just ask what fucking school they go to? And then there’s the beat boxing scene? Where they rap about who’s gonna be prom queen? I’ve never even met anybody that invested in the outcome of who’s gonna be prom queen except for those running. I don’t even think I know anybody who voted. Even so, I do love the beat box scene, they really spit some bars.

Also I just noticed that in that super fucked cafeteria scene, you can see Buffy make a cameo? Just a fun little trivia fact. But seriously that cafeteria scene is fucked. Like, the pubes on the pizza? I wish no one had thought of that ever. Also can I just say I would undoubtedly rather get my ass kicked than be forced to eat pubes. I don’t know what they were thinking that isn’t even a question.

It’s also really uncomfortable how good frosted tips is at acting like he’s not a douchebag. What a creep. If that were a real guy I’d be tempted to call him a sociopath. So gross. But I suppose it’s good for the story line.

The end of the movie wraps up pretty fast honestly. Zack’s dad and him finally communicate which fixes Zack’s only problem immediately because that’s just how easy it is. He was just projecting the whole time, his dad had literally no problems other than being a typical rich dad. Then of course we get another moment with the school DJ who I guess just gets to play and say what ever he wants whenever he wants. Am I the only one who thinks it’s really inappropriate how sexual that guy’s announcements about prom are? Maybe it’s just me and I had a really different high school experience but I feel like people are way too focused on sex when they make movies about high school. Other shit was going on you know? It’s just odd for me to think about grown adults writing and pitching this movie.

Zack really is such a bitch boy though, he doesn’t even try to explain anything to her, just lets her get hurt and lets Taylor be a bitch to her without saying anything. He doesn’t even try to tell her that frosted tips was just as much a part of it as he was. Honestly I kind of wish that frosted tips wasn’t such an asshole his whole heart to heart with her at the door before prom could have been really cute if I didn’t already know he was a lying scumbag. But I guess Laney just gets the lesser of the douchebags.

We finally get to the prom, inarguably the best part of the whole movie, all the little bits and pieces. The sex doll guy is always funny as hell. The DJ being the school DJ works really well brings a lot of closure to that whole weirdness. Also that dance scene is fucking great, has absolutely nothing to do with the plot, which actually works since about 40% of the things in this movie have nothing to do with the plot of this movie. I absolutely unironically tried to learn this dance, man I fucking wish prom was actually like this. I don’t know about you guys but for me, both of my proms were not nearly this theatrical. I spent my first one playing black jack the whole time and my senior prom was full of people that were way too white to dance. Anyway, Laney doesn’t win and she leaves early. Zack gives a pretty boring speech. Taylor goes off on everyone. Frosted tips tries to get Laney in bed and everyone gets upset.

The whole thing ends with Laney coming home to find Zach waiting for her to make sure she’s okay, which is sweet and all but like I can’t help wondering how long he had just been standing there waiting. Especially since it seemed like her dad was just ignoring him. That’s just a funny image to me. Anyway, they dance in the backyard. They kiss. It’s cute. Zack loses the bet so he accepts his diploma naked which I’m pretty sure is indecent public exposure but sure.

Overall it’s a very cute movie. The clichés are sort of made up for by all the weird 90s movie things. Plus it has a pretty great soundtrack. I know I sort of really went in on this movie but to be honest I really enjoy watching it. I’m not sure why. It’s pretty bad when you think about it any deeper than surface level. But it’s also just really fun and the characters are weird and there’s too many duffel bags to be normal and it’s just funny. It’s really weirdly funny. And it has that same non-conclusion that a lot of teen rom-coms have where they just can’t really give you all that much and just make sure they’re happy even if you know there is no way they can continue a relationship outside of high school. It may sound like it, but I’m not mad at it. If you haven’t already I’d say watch it. Watch it as a relaxing mindless good time activity. At the very least you won’t be bored, but if you get sympathy embarrassment like I do then maybe skip a few parts.

As of right now this movie is not available for free on any streaming sites (yes I own it on DVD don’t @ me)

Final Verdict:

Actual movie review: 6/10

How fun is it to watch?: 8/10

[unholyholland]

Tom Holland || Nervous

a/n: well it’s 3:40 am in jersey and i cannot sleep for the life of me. i’ve had this idea in my head for a while so hopefully you guys enjoy!!

Summary: Tom and you are working on a film together and grow closer than you thought, eventually catching feelings.

Coming from a small town to being on the big screen, you never expected to actually be pursuing your dreams. Your career as an actress was just about to take off because you got a part in the remake of She’s All That, one of your favorite 90′s films. You were having an amazing time on set being Laney Boggs but you were also having fun filming with your costar Tom Holland, who is playing Zack Siler. You two really hit it off and everyone around you could see your friendship developing even better everyday. What no one knew though is that you had a major crush on Tom, but you wouldn’t think he’d reciprocate.

The night before your kiss scene, you were studying your lines but kept losing focus just thinking about the kiss. It’d been a while since you've kissed anyone so you hoped you weren't bad at it but also just the thought of you kissing Tom gave you butterflies and made you wanna pass out at the same time. You were in the middle of a line when suddenly your phone buzzed. It was Tom facetiming you. You didn’t hesitate to answer. His face then appeared. He wasn’t wearing a shirt and he was wearing his glasses, god he looked so cute. You both smiled, “Hey! I need help.” Tom said eagerly. You giggled “Sure whats going on?”, he paused for a little bit then spoke again after some time. “It’s this scene, there’s a few parts I wanna run with you, do you mind if I stop by?” You suddenly got nervous, could tonight be the first night you kiss Tom? You quickly snapped out of it and told him to come by.

As soon as you hung up, you immedately threw on different clothes and prepped in whatever way you thought possible for Tom when he came over. He showed up 10 minutes later and as soon as he walked in, he hugged you but you could tell his vibe was a little off. You didn’t wanna bring it up though, so you decide to just brush it off. “So, here’s the thing,” he spoke, “I forgot my script back in my trailer and I don’t feel like running back to get it.” You laughed a little. “No worries, we’ll just use mine.” You guys started running through a lot of stuff, even tried thinking of lines that you could improvise at tomorrow’s shoot. You guys also had some music playing in the background to help make this a little more fun than it was work.

You didn’t realize you’d been running lines for 3 hours until you looked at the time and it read 12:30 am. “Shit, it’s getting late and we gotta get up early tomorrow.” you said, slightly disappointed that you guys didn’t run through the kiss. Tom looked at his phone “Oh yeah, wouldn’t wanna interupt your beauty sleep.” you smirked at him and threw a pillow at him. You started to walk towards the door until Tom said something else, “There’s is one more thing I wanna go over.” You looked at him and groaned, but were happy to be spending more time with him. He stood up and looked at you in a way he had never looked at you before, even while you were filming. “It’s the kiss scene,” he looked down and then looked back up at you, hesitating before speaking again, “I want it to be as passionate as possible, like it’s the best kiss in film history. But I’m not sure how to go about it.” Your heart started beating at a million beats per minute you could feel it so hard against your chest. You gulped a little, but not loud enough for him to hear. “Well, um, maybe...” you walked closer to him “You should start by putting your hands around my waist...” you suggested. He walks closer to you, putting his hands around your waist and pulling you closer to him. “And maybe you could wrap your arms around my neck, as if we were dancing.” You proceeded to do so, and that’s when you realized the music was still on and Is There Somewhere by Halsey was playing. You guys by instinct started dancing, not really saying much for about 30 seconds into you both dancing. You finally spoke up, “What do you think we should do after that?” He smiled at you, placing his hand softly on your cheek. “I think we can pretty much take it from here, but before we do...” he stopped, and that’s when your smile slowly faded, thinking this is where he’d reject you and tell you he just wants to be friends. He noticed your sudden change of expression, and quickly spoke. “You doubt yourself too much,” you gave him a confused look. He giggled “I like you y/n, a lot. And I didn’t want to kiss you without you knowing that.” All you could do was smile at him, he took that as consent to kiss you, which it definitely was. He pulled your face in closer and your lips touched very lightly, both of you just waiting for the other to make a move. The anticipation was killing you, and you could tell it was killing Tom as well. You both moved in at the same time and before you knew it, you guys were kissing so passionately that you kind of blacked out for a second. It was the best kiss ever, and you guys kissed up until the end on the song. When the song finished, you both pulled away. You guys rested your heads against each other for a full minute before Tom said something you’ve been waiting to hear. “You have no idea how long I’ve waited to do that.” You smiled, “You’re telling me.” You kissed Tom a few more times before he left but when he did, you immediately went to bed to try to fall asleep as soon as you could. You were just too excited to be filming the kiss scene tomorrow with Tom that you wanted it to come sooner than later.